Cillian Murphy, the hot 30-year-old actor and owner of the kind of soulful blue eyes and bruised lips that break hearts at 100 paces, fought Batman to get to our shoot. Having vanquished zombies in 28 Days Later..., Murphy is now turning bad to play the Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, with Christian Bale as the rubber-suited hero. It's a long way from studying law and playing in a band.

 

"I haven't had a burning desire since I was five to be an actor, but I started drama at uni, and that was that." Murphy was inspired by Irish actors such as Liam Neeson and Stephen Rea, who escaped typecast Irish roles to become international stars "Someone told me, 'you're an actor who's Irish, not an Irish actor.' And you shouldn't be limited by your extraction."

 

So Murphy's first role in the U.K. was as an upper-class Englishman in a Trollope adaptation. Up next is a Neil Jordan film, but for now, says Murphy: "I'm happy playing a baddie and wearing masks. It's the child in me. There are very few young male actors who would refuse."