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Cillian Murphy approaches a significant personal milestone this year, turning 50 on May 25. Alongside this, he prepares for the release of his latest project, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. The Cork-born actor has built a remarkable career, with his role as Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders cementing his place as one of the most iconic British TV characters of recent decades.
Reflecting on his achievements, Murphy has moved from his early stage work—including a breakthrough in the 1996 play Disco Pigs—to earning a Best Actor Oscar in 2024 for his performance in Oppenheimer. Yet, beyond his artistry, he remains grounded, known for his steady nature and strong personal life with his wife, artist Yvonne McGuinness, whom he married in 2004. The couple have two sons, Malachy, 20, and Aran, 18.
Balancing Reflection and Forward Motion
As he nears his half-century, Murphy admits to contemplating the passage of time.
“You’d be lying if you said it like you didn’t think about it, because it’s the first time that you’ve got less years left than you have lived. But I’m not hung up about it,”
he says. This acknowledgment reveals a blend of awareness and acceptance as he looks both backwards at his journey and ahead to new ventures.
Murphy has revisited two pivotal points in his career recently: reprising his role in the latest installments of 28 Days Later, and, more notably, returning to Thomas Shelby. Since the show’s 2013 debut, his portrayal of the Birmingham gang leader has spanned six seasons, representing a quarter of Murphy’s life to date.
After the sixth season aired in 2022, plans for a seventh were derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that, a film script continued to develop, eventually lining up the timing and logistics for production.
On his decision to return, Murphy explains,
I was always available if they felt like there was more story to tell,
reflecting his openness to continuing the story in a different format.
And it was exciting to see if we could move from telling a story in six hours to two hours. And could we keep the same elements that the fans love and the people associate with Peaky, but make it into a feature film. That was the challenge.
The New Chapter for Thomas Shelby
The film, set in 1940, takes place six years after the final season of the series. Tommy Shelby, now distant from his notorious Birmingham streets, grapples with his own past and present amid the turmoil of World War II. He spends time writing memoirs and self-medicating, yet old troubles inevitably resurface.
Murphy points out that Tommy is not the same man viewers left in 1934.
As happens to us all, that vitality was wearing off,
indicating a matured, changed character shaped by years and experience.
Reimmersing himself into Tommy’s persona is not instantaneous for Murphy.
Every time, it always takes a number of months. It’s not just putting the cap on and like, lighting a cigarette,
he remarks.
When you’re in it, it feels very, very familiar. But it’s not instant.
The actor’s commitment highlights how deeply inhabiting such a complex role demands time and effort beyond physical appearance or mannerisms. The character’s ongoing story continues to draw viewers into the gritty post-war Birmingham world, one rooted in real historical pain and trauma.
Historical Background and Story Roots
Show creator Steven Knight’s inspiration comes from stories passed down by his parents about Birmingham’s Small Heath district after World War I. The city lost over 12,000 men in battle, and many survivors returned burdened by physical injuries and psychological scars. Murphy recognizes that Tommy Shelby and his brothers are shaped by this context.
I think Tommy and his brothers and all the men of that age are products of that. They thought it was impossible that it could ever happen again. And then it does,
Murphy explains.
The series portrays the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) in its earliest episodes and revisits it in the film during Luftwaffe bombings in the Blitz. Tommy’s wartime service is woven throughout the narrative, underscoring how the two major conflicts frame his life and the gang’s violent existence.
The Irish Influence Within Peaky Blinders
Murphy highlights the long-standing Irish element within Peaky Blinders, which continues in The Immortal Man. The film’s soundtrack prominently features Fontaines DC, an acclaimed Irish band, among other Irish musicians. Barry Keoghan, a fellow Dubliner, joins the cast as Tommy Shelby’s son, Duke.
Murphy previously worked with Keoghan on the 2017 film Dunkirk, and they have maintained occasional contact since. Reflecting on Keoghan’s talents, Murphy offers praise:
He’s gone from strength to strength,
he says.
He has that thing where you just put a camera on him, and he’s instantly interesting. And he has a sort-of dangerous quality to him on camera, but he also has this vulnerability. They are sort-of contradictory traits, but he has them all.
The actor’s appreciation extends to his youngest son Aran, who is pursuing his own acting career with roles in Taika Waititi’s upcoming sci-fi film Klara and the Sun and the legal drama series War on Sky and HBO. Murphy notes,
He’s just a massive fan of film and television and theatre,
adding,
“It’s not really a surprise that he would find his way into it. I’m just happy to support him and let him off, find his own way in it.”
Upcoming Work and New Roles
Next month, Cillian Murphy will begin shooting a prison drama alongside Daniel Craig, directed by Damien Chazelle, known for films like Whiplash and La La Land. Though he anticipates that his busy schedule will limit celebration of his 50th birthday, Murphy expresses an interest in slowing down in the future while continuing to take on various acting and producing roles.
He has embraced producing since the third season of Peaky Blinders, finding the experience highly creative and rewarding.
“I love it because it’s actually very creative for me. And I think it helps for the other producers, to have somebody that’s on the ground,”
he explains.
I’ve also learned so much, and I love being involved in the post-production, being in the edit, working on the score.
Murphy stresses that curiosity, not ambition, has driven his career.
Ambition was never really the driving force. Curiosity was more the thing,
he says.
Recognition and Irish Film Industry Pride
Although Murphy will not attend the Academy Awards on March 15, he celebrates the strong Irish presence at the ceremony, including Jessie Buckley’s award for Best Actress and a nomination for John Kelly’s short animated film Retirement Plan. Murphy speaks highly of Ireland’s flourishing film industry:
I think the film industry in Ireland is brilliant. It’s going from strength to strength,
he says.
He also shares a lighthearted take on watching the Oscars live:
I go to bed at half past nine, so it’s unlikely,
he laughs, showing a humor and down-to-earth attitude in keeping with his approaching 50 years.
The Role of Music in Murphy’s Life and Peaky Blinders
Before acting, Murphy was a musician in his teens, performing as vocalist and guitarist with the Cork band Sons Of Mr Green Genes. His passion for music has continued, including involvement in organizing the Sounds From A Safe Harbour Festival in Cork and hosting a radio show on BBC 6 Music.
Music has always been integral to Peaky Blinders, starting with its first season in 2013 and continuing through the new film. Murphy credits Antony Genn and Martin Slattery, who composed the film’s score, for their work. As a producer, he helped assemble the soundtrack featuring Nick Cave, Lankum, Amy Taylor of Amyl & the Sniffers, and Fontaines DC’s Grian Chatten.
The release of Fontaines DC’s album Romance in London coincided with the film’s production, inspiring a key scene when the band performed the track “Romance.” Murphy recalls,
They play that song Romance, and there’s this lyric in it where he says, ‘In with the pigs in the pen’. It was like he had written it for this film,
enthusing,
So then we chatted to him about composing more music.
In addition to original tracks, Chatten and Lankum contribute to tracks such as “Hunting the Wren,” and Chatten sings on a cover of Massive Attack’s song “Angel,” included twice on the soundtrack. Murphy concludes,
I’m really proud of the music on this,
expressing his deep connection to the soundtrack’s role in the film’s atmosphere.
Release Details for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man will become available on Netflix from Friday, March 20. The official soundtrack will be released on March 6, coinciding with the film’s limited theatrical release in select cinemas, making it a much-anticipated continuation for fans eager to revisit Tommy Shelby’s world.