Автор: David Germain

Last year Cillian Murphy was glamming it up as a 1970s cross-dresser, coercing his airplane seat-mate to help in an assassination, and spraying terror-inducing magic gas on the good people of Gotham City.

Now the Irish actor is delving into his country's blood-soaked past with the Cannes Film Festival entry The Wind That Shakes the Barley, a historical saga about Ireland's struggle for independence and civil war in the early 1920s.

The film hit close to the heart for Murphy. The action is set on his home turf around Cork in southwest Ireland, where his family lost a cousin in the guerrilla campaign against Britain, which sent in infamous Black and Tan squads to suppress calls for freedom.

"A distant cousin was shot in the back by the Black and Tans and died as they were taking him from safehouse to safehouse," Murphy told The Associated Press in an interview. "There's a plaque for him down in Cork. He was 17."

Since his breakout role as a Londoner on the run from raging zombies in 28 Days Later..., Murphy has become Ireland's next great export behind Guinness, Colin Farrell and Liam Neeson.

Murphy played back-to-back villains last year, as the fear-mongering Scarecrow in Batman Begins and the assassination conspirator in Red Eye. He delivered a gleefully flamboyant performance last fall in Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto, playing an Irish youth abandoned as a baby who becomes a cross-dressing witness to the explosion of culture and Irish-British violence in the 1970s.

With its eclectic soundtrack, that film allowed Murphy to indulge the old rock star fantasy he's had since youth, when he started out playing in bands.

Murphy also has had roles in Cold Mountain and Girl With a Pearl Earring and starred in the offbeat ensemble tale Intermission, which featured his countryman Farrell.

While 2005 was a breakout Hollywood year for Murphy, he said he aims to mix those big American productions with smaller films, including periodic returns to Ireland.

"The people that I admire are like Liam Neeson and Brendan Gleeson (both co-stars in Breakfast on Pluto), who manage to work in those big studio movies and yet come back and make very intelligent, very worthwhile smaller films," said Murphy, who turns 30 next week.

"I think it's important to look beyond your Irishness," said Murphy, now living in London. "Liam Neeson said to me once, 'I'm not an Irish actor. I'm an actor who's Irish.' See what I mean? There's a distinction there, so you can go and play other parts, play American, play British. It's important to do that."

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is among 20 films competing for top honours at the Cannes festival, which runs through May 28.

Murphy stars as an Irish medical student whose plans to work at a London hospital are sidetracked when he decides to remain at home and take up arms with his friends and brother against the British troops terrorizing the countryside.

Director Loach, known for working with non-professional actors, said Murphy slipped seamlessly into the cast of comparative unknowns.

"He was a huge surprise," Loach said. "He was terrific, he was magnificent, and I wouldn't say this in front of him because it's embarrassing, but he's a man of great integrity and humility in the best sense. I think his integrity is transparent. You can see it in his eyes. He does what he believes in.

"And I think he's convincing as a medical student. He did a bit of research into the doctoring part, and I think he's got a very good bedside manner."

Next up for Murphy is the science-fiction tale Sunshine, reuniting him with 28 Days Later... director Danny Boyle. Murphy plays an astronaut who's part of a team trying to revive the dying sun.

Murphy has been taking time off to spend with his six-month-old son, but he hopes to shoot a romantic comedy in New York City soon.

"I've been lucky to be in some great Irish films, and I want to continue to work at them," Murphy said. "But I also want to continue to work in Hollywood, too. It's just choosing the right ones, because Hollywood makes some amazing, amazing films. For all the trash every year, there are some masterpieces coming out of there, and people who don't see that are just shortsighted."