Actor Cillian Murphy’s latest film, “Small Things Like These,” is a deeply contemplative narrative of an Irish family man whose childhood trauma is unearthed after a routine coal delivery to a Magdalene laundry, an institution where “fallen women” were housed and often abused by Catholic nuns.
The actor is no stranger to roles that involve reckoning with the past. In March, Murphy won the Academy Award for best actor in “Oppenheimer,” in which he played the titular architect of the nuclear bomb.
Murphy said he views art as a potent mechanism for addressing serious social issues.
“I think art is a gentler way of having that interrogation, and I think if a book or film can be entertaining but also gently provocative, I think it’s probably a healthier way to look at it,” Murphy told The Culture Show host Jared Bowen.
“Small Things Like These,” for example, allows audiences to contemplate a story of severe harm.
“We know that the abuse and the cruelty was carried out by those people in power in these institutions. We know who the victims and the survivors are,” Murphy said. “But where do the rest of us sit on that spectrum, between ... innocence and complicity?”
The film, an adaptation of a 2021 novel by Claire Keegan, is also Murphy’s first foray into producing. Through his newly founded production company, Big Things Films, the actor hopes to continue crafting stories that “speak to the human experience.”
“I really want to make stories of a human dimension ... if that doesn’t sound too pretentious,” said Murphy. “But your job as a storyteller is first and foremost to entertain ... and there’s a lot of discussion about what sort of films we will make. But for me, they have to be entertaining and hopefully then stimulating as well.”
Murphy’s roles in “Small Things Like These” and “Oppenheimer” contrast strongly with that of his long-running role as Tommy Shelby, the irascible mobster in the crime drama “Peaky Blinders.” Though Murphy concedes that he has “aged alongside” the character, and retains a deep connection to him, very little of Tommy Shelby carries over to his other roles.
“He’s an exhausting character,” said Murphy, laughing. “He’s relentless, you know, never sleeps or eats, doesn’t have much joy in his life. So no, I don’t walk around with him at all. But when I’m playing him, it’s quite all-consuming.”
Murphy’s keen ability to inhabit the characters he plays carries over to his role in “Small Things Like These,” though he hesitates to call himself a method actor.
“I think inevitably if you do something in a very concentrated fashion for 17 hours a day, and you’re walking around in those shoes ... there’s some transference,” said Murphy. “I think the 'method’ is whatever it takes you to get to the end result, and every method for every actor is entirely different. And whatever it takes, fine. As long as you can be a decent person and be kind to your colleagues.”
Small Things Like These is in theaters now. To hear more from Cillian Murphy, listen to the full interview above. Listen to The Culture Show daily at 2 p.m. on 89.7.
