Cillian Murphy may play a ruthless villain in “Red Eye” a suspense thriller at 30,000 feet directed by Wes Craven, but the 29-year-old Irish-born actor is quite reserved when it comes to talking about himself.
And there’s a lot to talk about — he’s currently involved in two films and he just completed a third. After he’s done with his latest project, Murphy’s looking forward to kicking back at his place in London and spend some quality time with his wife, Yvonne McGuinness.
Murphy recently sat down with the Metro in a Beverly Hills hotel suite to talk about his recent work and what he thinks of his budding career.
How are you at promoting your films? I don’t do talk shows. I won’t because that makes you a personality then. I perform when I’m acting, I don’t perform as myself. And I don’t think I’d be very good at it. I’m not able to turn it on.
Do you have a fear of flying or had any harrowing experiences?
“No. Thank God, no.”
Your character is pretty ruthless. Are you ruthless in certain situations?
“No. I’m typically quite relaxed with people. It’s inanimate objects that make me angry. Things never work for me. Anything mechanical, it just breaks.
What genre would you like to tackle? “A Woody Allen movie, an intelligent comedy.”
What was your favorite part of making this film?
“I can’t pinpoint one particular thing. You always put it down like ‘I’ve done that, it’s done.’ I can’t watch a film more than once because it’s a closed book. It’s a full stop. It’s weird coming back and talking about it eight months, or a year later. I’ve done three films since then.”
What’s your take on the United States? “I love coming here. New York and California, you only think they exist on television as a kid … I’m kind of mad at your president.”
What’s your take on Hollywood? “It’s a one-industry town. I think you can smell the bulls--t very quickly. There is an industry built around the bulls--t. Like the stupid magazines and the stupid TV shows. People want to see that and read about that and that’s fine, but I’m quite happy not to do that.”
Is there is an actor that you would like to most represent?
Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, Jeff Bridges. I like their choices in movies and I love their performances.”
Do you resemble their early careers? “I’m not going to compare myself to those great movie stars, but I admire them tremendously.”
Do you have a favorite villain? “Jack Nicholson. He is the best. He was at a screening I was at and had his sunglasses on the whole time.”
What’s on the horizon? “I wouldn’t mind stopping for a while. Just hanging out. Stay at home, take walks and buy milk and things.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 19, 2005. Read the original PDF.