Cillian Murphy's dad: 'He’s got a job like the sons and daughters of other people'

The father of Oscar nominee Cillian Murphy has spoken about his son’s matter of fact reaction to the nomination and revealed that he and his mother are unlikely to travel to the Academy Awards ceremony in March during an interview broadcast on RTÉ's Ráidió na Gaeltachta.

Speaking on An Saol Ó Dheas with presenter Helen Ní Shé, Ballintemple man Breandán Ó Murchú said that while the media was obsessed with the success being enjoyed by his son Cillian at present, and while that was fine, there was more to it than that.

“There are so many things happening in the world, that we should be sensible about these things and that’s what he’s saying himself as well,” said Breandán. 

“We’re very pleased with him and very happy that he’s getting on so well.” 

When the news came through, Cillian was at home with his parents. “We were all here, there are four of us and each is as important to us as the other, we were all together and we had a cup of tea and the story came and we were delighted.” 

Cillian’s father admitted to not being fond of the fuss or ‘puililiú’ that comes with his son’s fame but recalled his son’s early interest in drama during the interview. 

“He was always lively, a lovely little fellow, full of chat, and he always liked to have an adventure going on in his imagination constantly – he was full of spirit and life and imagination.

“He loved being in the company of other children and I’d say he made up a lot of stories and they did a lot of wild things from time to time – he was very mature as a young person and, I’d say, when he was at school he annoyed a teacher or two as he found it difficult to sit still while in national school, you know the way with young lads.” 

His early interest was in music and the rhythm of music, his father noticed. “It’s interesting that, as he grew older, he showed an interest in the old ‘Fiannaíocht’ stories about Diarmuid and Gráinne, that surprised me.

“Anything that was exaggerated or larger than life, he enjoyed that, and I suppose there’s a link between that and drama, I don’t know.” 

His father recalled that Cillian didn’t seem to be very interested in his studies during the year but when he set his mind to it, he did very well in exams and so on. 

“He didn’t want to spend all his time studying and when he went to Presentation College, they were very good, there were one or two in particular who noticed his interest in literature and that he had an aptitude for writing.

“When they had a band, they gave Cillian and his friends an opportunity to go on stage, and there were a few people who helped him on, including the author Billy Wall.

“Cillian was lucky to meet him, he was also very interested in history.

“I don’t think he showed an interest in acting until he met Pat Kiernan and the gang in Corca Dorcha.

“He told me then that he saw Clockwork Orange on stage and this had an enormous impact on him.

“He said somewhere that we didn’t bring him to the theatre when he was young but he forgot that he had three younger siblings and that made it more difficult to go to plays.

“If I was starting again with him, I’d bring him to more plays because it’s clear that he had a deep interest.” 

Meeting Pat Kiernan and Enda Walsh gave Cillian the confidence he needed to immerse himself in theatre, his father said. “He got the taste for it and followed his heart, he knew then this is what he wanted to do.

“He didn’t want to do it for publicity or anything, he just wanted to do it right, I must give him that.” 

Mr Ó Murchú said that Cillian wanted to do things right and that was something that pleased his father. “That’s something you wouldn’t expect from young people – you know yourself about boys, he’d lose school bags and other things like all young lads but when he put his mind to it, you’d know he wanted to do it right and that helped him enormously.” 

When Cillian made his breakthrough with the stage production of Disco Pigs, he was still a Law student in UCC and his parents were getting conflicting advice from different sources saying that he should pursue his career in theatre as he was so obviously talented, while others were saying that he would be foolish to abandon his studies for the stage.

They saw him on stage in his first production, Frank McGuinness’ Observe the Sons of Ulster. 

“He was very good in that, I thought, though I didn’t think he was better than others in the play or anything like it but we knew he was very serious and then Disco Pigs was a revelation for us because it was on a different level entirely.

“Pat and Enda, it was clear that they were on a different level as they were so creative, himself and Eileen Walsh, the professionalism of that work amazed us and there was no stop to him after that and he met with very nice people who helped him on the road and they helped him.

“We’re very pleased entirely for him, I don’t like to say we’re proud of him because it’s his achievement, not ours,” he said. 

“We brought him into the world and we did our best but we don’t see at all that we had a hand in the work that he’s doing at present but we’re not going to lose our wits and neither is he.

“We don’t like to make too much fuss about him, he’s got a job like the sons and daughters of other people and the difference, he gets a lot of publicity.

“All the same we’re so happy for him and pleased.” 

He said that he and his wife were in an empty cinema when they went to a 5pm screening to see him on the big screen and were very impressed.

Mr Murphy is looking forward to seeing Cillian’s newest film, Small Things Like These, which is based on a Clare Keegan book and said that his son learned a lot on the Ken Loach film, The  Wind That Shakes the Barley. 

“I remember he came home one evening after filming and he was very worried about something that happened during that day’s filming, as if it were something that really happened, and that’s down to how immersed in the work he was and the methods of Ken Loach, that work came from the heart for that movie, I felt.” 

He said that film allowed people, including Cillian’s mother’s people and his own family who were involved, to talk about that period. 

At home, Cillian will talk about anything before he will talk about the movies and while his parents ask him questions from time to time, and he answers them, they don’t want to fuss too much.

As for going to the Oscars, Breandán and his wife don’t intend to travel. “If he’s nominated for a BAFTA, we will go there as it’s closer to home and when he comes home from the Oscars, we will make him a cake.”