Cillian Murphy is at the peak of his powers

Exactly 20 years on from being offered a record deal with an emerging Cork band, Cillian Murphy is glad he chose acting instead, writes Esther McCarthy

HE’S one of the country’s most acclaimed talents, showing his versatility and screen presence in movies like 28 Days Later, Batman Begins and Inception, and as the chilling Thomas Shelby in TV’s Peaky Blinders.

However, Cillian Murphy has told how he felt like “an interloper” early in his career, and didn’t even conceive the notion that a successful movie career was a possibility.