[[quoteright:299:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Cillian-Murphy-1_789.jpg]]
->''"Cillian Murphy, who has angelic looks that can turn sinister, is one of the most elegantly seductive monsters in recent movies."''
-->-- '''David Denby''', ''The New Yorker'' review of ''Film/RedEye''

Cillian Murphy is an Irish actor known mostly for three things. First, his chameleon-like ability to adapt to a wide variety of roles and seem to inhabit them. Second, his amazingly blue eyes, and third, being extremely pretty. He was born on May 25, 1976 and started his career in entertainment as a rock musician. Cillian is a rather private fellow, and he doesn't normally discuss his personal life in interviews.
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A sampling of the films he has been in:
* ''Disco Pigs''
* ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater''
* ''Film/{{Intermission}}''
* ''GirlWithAPearlEarring'' (he was cast as a butcher, which is quite ironic, because he's a vegetarian)
* ''The Way We Live Now''
* ''Film/BatmanBegins'' (With cameo appearances in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' [[Film/TheDarkKnightSaga and]] ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'')
* ''Film/RedEye''
* ''BreakfastOnPluto''
* ''TheWindThatShakesTheBarley''
* ''{{Film/Sunshine}}''
* ''PerriersBounty''
* ''{{Peacock}}''
* ''{{Inception}}''
* ''{{Watching The Detectives}}''
* ''Film/TronLegacy'' (uncredited cameo)
* ''InTime''
* ''Film/RedLights''
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!! He provides examples of:
* AttractiveBentGender: When he plays the transgender Kitten in ''BreakfastOnPluto'', he isn't exactly unattractive. [[http://www.moviecritic.com.au/images/cillian-murphy-as-kitten-in-breakfast-on-pluto-dra1.jpg At all.]] The same goes for his role in ''Peacock''.
* AwesomeDearBoy: His stated reasons for doing ''Film/BatmanBegins'' include a desire "to be near the Batmobile" and he did his ''Film/{{Tron Legacy}}'' cameo because he was a huge fan of the original as a kid.
* BerserkButton: Reportedly, mispronouncing his first name. Specifically, [[ItsPronouncedTroPAY it's pronounced with a hard C]], as in "Killian."
* DoingItForTheArt: He has said this is the only reason he does many of his films and he almost never does it for Money.
* DudeLooksLikeALady
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Notable example being when [[Creator/ChristopherNolan the director]] of ''Film/BatmanBegins'' tried to find excuses for him to [[TheGlassesGottaGo take off his glasses]] so there could be more screentime for his baby blues.
** From the ostensibly straight reviewer at [[http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/1798/batman-begins/ Ruthless Reviews]]:
--->"I listed Murphy last cause I simply have to mention that this guy is too good looking. Look, Christian Bale is a handsome dude, but Murphy (who plays Scarecrow) is fucking gorgeous. I was getting lost in his dreamy eyes, man. Like Holmes, Murphy was way too young for his supposed profession (in this case a psychiatrist); unlike Holmes, he was so good looking that I bought it."
** The author of Cracked.com's 2006 [[http://www.cracked.com/article_15036_crackeds-oscar-rundown-part-one.html oscars]][[http://www.cracked.com/article_15037_crackeds-oscar-rundown-part-two.html rundown]] thought that he should have won best actress for the following reason:
---> "Not technically a woman in the genitals-sense. But he can act the shit out of Dame Judi Dench, and he's so, so pretty. Your tender eyes make my fluttering heart soar, Cillian. Your gaze is like a rainbow that ends in my pants. Oh Cillian..."
* FakeAmerican: In quite a few of his roles. He does the accent very well, especially considering how notoriously hard the Irish Accent is to shed.
* NoPronunciationGuide: His name is pronounced Killian. People more familiar with UsefulNotes/AmericanEnglish frequently think it's Sillian. Or Chillian.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He was born May 1976 and a [[HotDad father]] to boot, but he still looks in his twenties.
* OneOfUs: He's quite the nerd, citing AwesomeDearBoy for taking his roles in Film/TheDarkKnightSaga and Film/TronLegacy, and calls himself an "avid gamer."
* PrettyBoy: Obviously.
* SelfDeprecation: When asked how he would've portrayed Batman, he laughed and said, "Come on, do I really look like Batman material to you?"
* StupidSexyFlanders: You know it.
* TypeCasting: After ''Film/BatmanBegins'' and ''Film/RedEye'', he became best-known for being an incredibly creepy villain. He's sworn off playing villains again, though, which is really quite tragic.
** Jury's still out on ''Film/TronLegacy''. We don't know if Ed Dillinger Jr. is going to be a case of GenerationXerox, an UnwittingPawn, or a WildCard.
*** Though a GenerationXerox would place him under TheRival with a side of JerkAss, since [[FandomSpecificPlot (despite what fanon says)]] Dillinger Sr. wasn't the villain in the original. He was just a thieving jerk.
* VocalDissonance: His deep voice doesn't suit his gentle, almost androgynous features.
** Averted in ''BreakfastOnPluto'', where he sounds decidedly female much of the time.
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