Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Cillian Murphy quite literally wandered into acting. At the age of 20, he walked up to the door of the Corcadorca Theatre Company in his hometown of Cork, Ireland, and knocked.
He told the person who answered that he’d be interested in getting involved in any upcoming shows, and the man suggested he try out for a new play called “Disco Pigs,” about a pair of reckless teenagers.
It was Murphy’s first audition, and he got the part. The Enda Walsh play was a big success, moving to larger and larger theaters and eventually leading to a film adaptation in 2001 from director Kirsten Sheridan.
That film caught the eye of filmmaker Danny Boyle, then looking to cast a fresh face for his post-apocalyptic thriller “28 Days Later.” The rest is history — or history in the making as, 20 years later, Murphy is continuing to seek out bold projects with some of the best filmmakers working today.
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