Cillian Murphy has garnered plenty of praise and attention in recent years for his performances in Peaky Blinders and, more recently, Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer, which was released last summer.
However, while Murphy has become a great lead actor in recent years - even winning an Oscar for his leading role in Oppenheimer - he has no problem being a strong antagonist when necessary.
In fact, some of his most critically acclaimed performances throughout the 2000s featured him being the primary villain rather than a protagonist.
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One such film in which he played the primary antagonist was the movie Red Eye, which came out in 2005 and starred Rachel McAdams as the lead playing Lisa Reisert, a hotel manager.
The film, which recently arrived on Netflix, has gained plenty of attention from viewers, many of whom had never seen or heard of the film.
One scene in which Murphy’s performance especially connected with viewers was when he let it be known that he had kidnapped the father of McAdams’ character and that she had no choice but to comply with his demands.
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That scene, in particular, gained traction on Netflix's Facebook page, where commenters complimented Murphy’s creepy performance.
“He is effortlessly creepy in this scene,” one user said, “What a fantastic performance. A great actor indeed.”
“[Cillian] was so evil in this,” another comment noted. “Rachel and Cillian Murphy had great chemistry in this movie!”
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While Murphy’s performance in Red Eye has been highly praised, both at the time of its release and since the movie landed on Netflix, the actor is not too big of a fan of the 2005 flick, though he has given plenty of praise to McAdams when speaking about it in the past.
In an interview with GQ, Murphy said: "I think it’s the duality of it. It’s why I wanted to play it. That two thing, the nice guy and the bad guy in one.
"The only reason it appealed to me is you could do that [snaps his fingers] turn, you know? I love Rachel McAdams and we had fun making it. But I don’t think it’s a good movie. It’s a good B movie."
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Though Red Eye features a strong performance from Murphy in its own right, the Irish actor’s 2005 is best known for a different film in which he played the antagonist.
Batman Begins saw Murphy play the villainous Dr. Jonathan Crane, better known as Scarecrow, opposite Christian Bale’s Batman.
The film also marks Murphy’s first appearance in a film directed by Christopher Nolan, which marked the beginning of a regular partnership between the actor and legendary director.
Nolan and Murphy would go on to work with each other several times since, with the actor reprising his role as Scarecrow in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, as well as appearing in Inception in 2010, Dunkirk in 2017, and - of course - playing the titular role in the aforementioned Oppenheimer in 2023.
Topics: Film and TV, Cillian Murphy, Netflix
Dylan Murray