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Cillian Murphy has been in show business for decades, but he’s only now being recognized for his obvious on-screen talent. The Oppenheimer star has won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a SAG award for his performance in the 2023 drama, and now, he is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture at the 2024 Oscars. But if it weren’t for his family, the Irish actor wouldn’t be where he is today. Cillian shares two sons with his wife, Yvonne McGuinness.
During a 2016 interview with The Guardian, the Peaky Blinders actor explained why he and Yvonne decided to leave London and return to Ireland to raise their boys.
“We wanted them to be Irish, I suppose,” Cillian said while also noting they wanted the children to live closer to their grandparents. “It’s amazing how quickly their accents have adapted. Even within a year of moving back, they are fading into this rakish west Brit kind of thing. Which I think, hopefully, will get them lots of girls when they’re 15.”
The 28 Days Later actor then described his sons’ personalities. Though Cillian remembered having “bravado” when he was at that age, he noted that they seem more confident in themselves than he was in himself.
“I don’t know, they seem better adjusted than I was. More sure of themselves,” the father of two told the outlet. “I’m happy about that. For me, it was something that took a long time to figure out: that it’s all right to be you, that it’s all right to be an individual.”
Three years later, the Inception cast member opened up about how his “work-life balance” grew “hard” due to juggling multiple roles as a working actor.
“I have an amazing wife, and I couldn’t do this without her and her understanding,” he told GQ in 2019, before acknowledging, “But it is a struggle … I think it is for any dad whose work takes him away, which it generally does, and which consumes him, which my work does.”
Get to know Cillian and Yvonne’s sons, Aran and Malachy, below!
Malachy Murphy
Cillian and Yvonne welcomed their first-born son in 2005. It’s still unclear what Malachy is up to today, as his dad made it a point to keep his family’s lives out of the spotlight.
Aran Murphy
Like his father, Aran — who was born in 2007 — became an actor. Per his IMDb profile, Aran landed a role in the 2022 movie Lola. Two years later, he was confirmed to be starring alongside Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams in Klara and the Sun. Previously, Aran built his resume with stage productions, performing as Shakespeare’s son in Hamnet, which his famous father opened up about during a 2021 interview with The Guardian.
“He was so chilled about it, you know?” Cillian began. “He would come off stage and ask what the score was in the Liverpool game. And, again, you’re slightly jealous of that! There’s the danger that overanalyzing everything can erode the simplicity.”
Aran doesn’t appear to have a public social media presence, as an Instagram account with his name was set to private.
This story originally appeared on Hollywoodlife
