Cillian Murphy is a theatre and film actor from Ireland. He rose to prominence with his sublime performances in both independent and mainstream films. Despite beginning his career as a rock musician, he declined a record deal and focused on his acting instead. He made his debut on the stage in 1996 as Darren in Enda Walsh’s play ‘Disco Pigs’. His performance received critical recognition and he continued to hone his skills portraying one interesting character after another at Dublin and London’s theatre scene. Soon enough, film offers started to pour in. One of these led to his first collaboration with Danny Boyle in the post-apocalyptic film ‘28 Days Later’. Since then, he has garnered a reputation for playing volatile characters. While he does have a thriving career in movies, he has shown deep reluctance to forego the stage. In the last fifteen years, he has been part of some of the most audacious, iconic and influential projects in the history of cinema. He worked again with Boyle in ‘Sunshine’, played the vicious antagonist opposite Rachel McAdams in ‘Red Eye’, and teamed up with Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight Trilogy, ‘Inception’, and ‘Dunkirk’. In 2011, he was chosen as the patron for the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the National University of Ireland Galway.