Call it the luck of the Irish.
It’s the first project from his new production company with producer Alan Moloney, Big Things Films.
“So we changed it up.”
Cillian Murphy and Zara Devlin in ‘Small Things Like These’.Enda Bowe
Was there a specific emotional path that you had never explored before as an actor?
It’s rare these days that you have a genuinely good protagonist.
Do you know what I mean?
Cillian Murphy in ‘Small Things Like These’.courtesy lionsgate
But he has very good impulses.
He’s a good father, he is a good husband, he’s a good member of society.
But then he does this radical thing, which I don’t believe is a premeditated act of heroism.
Cillian Murphy in ‘Small Things Like These’.courtesy lionsgate
I did want to ask you about him being such a quiet guy.
Well, I’m one of those actors that always tries to cut my own lines.
That, to me, is the best, most interesting part of filmmaking.
Cillian Murphy in ‘Small Things Like These’.courtesy lionsgate
I just love that.
And Tim, our director, is just so gifted mining for those performances.
[Bill’s wife] Eileen is probably an example of that.
Cillian Murphy in ‘Peaky Blinders’ movie.Netflix
And probably Mrs. Kehoe, who works in the bar; she’s an example of that.
Bill, up until this point, is an upstanding member of society.
He’s the coal man; he’s well-trusted, but you do not step out of your lane.
I’m curious how those bits of information informed you about his own emotional maturity and capabilities.
It’s the whole engine of the story, that backstory of him and his mother.
That’s what is driving him, his coming to terms with these realizations.
So that’s why it was so important to get those flashbacks right.
We never caption those “30 years earlier.”
We just step into the past.
Louis Kirwan is really fantastic as young Bill.
Were you on set for Bill’s childhood scenes?
What was it like watching him at work?
It was the 11th hour when we got him.
And then he turned out also to be a brilliant actor.
So we just got lucky.
Let’s talk about Emily Watson and that face-off, that showdown.
Was that one of those scenes you were excited to get into?
We’ve just done another film together, so we have actually worked twice together now.
But yeah, she’s amazing she’s so bloody chilling in this film.
It just chills your blood.
It’s all about the subtext, right?
It’s all about what the characters are thinking, and the space in the scene.
They’re talking in mundanities and banalities, but yet what’s actually at stake is huge.
It’s human agency and freedom and life and human rights but they’re talking about tea.
I want to ask aboutPeaky Blindersand the upcoming movie.
Are you doing aPeaky Blindersmovie?"
I felt like we ended the TV show very elegantly.
I thought it was an excellent kind of ambiguous but clever ending.
Netflix
You made the final season during the pandemic.
There were the strikes last year.
Did there come a time when you felt it has to be now or never?
Is it something you would’ve wanted to come back to in 10 years, or did it matter?
I mean, I’m getting older, so we got to do it at some point.
[Laughs] You just have to be patient, though.
you’ve got the option to’t just make the film for the sake of making the film.
I really want to make a film that satisfies the fans.
It has to take it up another notch.
And I think this one will.
