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Striking Irish actor Cillian Murphy was born in Douglas, the oldest child of Brendan Murphy, who works for the Irish Department of Education, and a mother who is a teacher of French. He has three younger siblings. Murphy was educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork. He went on to study law at University College Cork, but dropped out after about a year. During this time, Murphy also pursued an interest in music, playing guitar in various bands. Upon leaving University, Murphy joined the Corcadorca Theater Company in Cork, and played the lead role in "Disco Pigs", amongst other plays.
Various film roles followed, including a film adaptation of Disco Pigs (2001). However, his big film break came when he was cast in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002), which became a surprise international hit. This performance earned him nominations for Best Newcomer at the Empire Awards and Breakthrough Male Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.
Murphy went on to supporting roles in high-profile films such as Cold Mountain (2003) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), and then was cast in two villain roles: Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka The Scarecrow, in Batman Begins (2005) and Jackson Rippner in Red Eye (2005). Although slight in nature for a villain, Murphy's piercing blue eyes helped to create creepy performances and critics began to take notice. Manhola Dargis of the New York Times cited Murphy as a "picture-perfect villain", while David Denby of The New Yorker noted he was both "seductive" and "sinister".
Later that year, Murphy starred as Patrick "Kitten" Braden, an Irish transgender woman in search of her mother in Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto (2005), a film adaptation of the Pat McCabe novel. Although the film was not a box office success, Murphy was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical and he won Best Actor for the Irish Film and Television Academy Awards.
The following year, Murphy starred in Ken Loach's The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006). The film was the most successful independent Irish film and won the Palm D'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Murphy continued to take roles in a number of independent films, and also reprised his role as the Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008). Nolan is known for working with actors in multiple films, and cast Murphy in Inception (2010) as Robert Fischer, the young heir of the multi-billion dollar empire, who was the target of DiCaprio's dream team. His most well-known work is starring as Thomas Shelby in the British TV show Peaky Blinders beginning in 2013.
Murphy continues to appear in high-profile films such as In Time (2011), Red Lights (2012), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the final film in Nolan's Batman trilogy.
Murphy is married to Yvonne McGuinness, an artist. The couple have two sons, Malachy and Aran.- Actor
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Tom Sturridge was born in London, England. He is the son of actress Phoebe Nicholls and sometime-actor and full-time director Charles Sturridge, and the grandson of actors Anthony Nicholls and Faith Kent. His maternal great-grandfather, Horace Nicholls, was a prominent photographer.
Tom started his acting career under the guidance of his father's directing, in a re-telling of the Gullivers Travels TV production, when Tom was just 11 years old.
After returning to schooling, Tom attended the prestigious Winchester College but dropped out before he completed his A-Levels.
He returned to acting in 2004, with roles in 'Vanity Fair' and an excellent performance in 'Being Julia'.
In 2005, Tom played a demanding role in a TV production about William Shakespeare, playing William Herbert 'the fair youth', the gay lover of Shakespeare. A tough role handled well saw Tom go from strength to strength as an actor. In that same year, he played a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role in a bizarre mock documentary about two conjoined twins turned rock stars called 'Brothers Of The Head'.
In 2006, Tom took a part in a psychological thriller called 'Like Minds' (also known as 'Murderous Intent') and although that movie may have failed on some levels, it was the chilling performance by Tom Sturridge that won most of the positive notices.
Next, it was rumoured that Tom Sturridge was supposed to be cast in the big Hollywood production 'Jumper', but was dropped in favour of a bigger star in the person of Hayden Christensen.
Next, in 2009, after a nearly three-year absence from the big screen, Tom returned in an all-star comedy called 'The Boat That Rocked', directed by Richard Curtis. The fine cast also included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, and Bill Nighy. Although the movie didn't set the box office on fire, it did further show Tom's potential as a future leading man.
Next, stepping up his acting credentials even further, Tom appeared in a stage play called 'Punk Rock'. So good was he in that role that he won the 2009 Critics' Circle Theatre Award.
Upcoming movies: 'Waiting For Forever', 'Junkhearts' and 'On The Road' promise to continue Tom's ascendancy as one of the UK's best new actors.
Tom has a younger brother and sister, Matilda Sturridge and Arthur Sturridge; both have followed Tom into the acting profession.