With roles in Oppenheimer and Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy is an instantly recognisable actor, but despite his Hollywood status, the star has managed to keep his sons out of the spotlight.
The star and wife Yvonne McGuinness share two sons: Malachy, 18, and Aran, 17. The actor has always been a hands-on dad, telling the Guardian in 2006 that he would visit his wife Yvonne during filming breaks when she was pregnant with their son.
“My wife was pregnant with our son, and we were running around the hills of west Cork shooting up Black and Tans,” he explained to the publication.
In 2019, Cillian reflected on the difficulties in raising his teenage sons while working as an actor. “That work-life balance thing is hard,” he said to GQ. “I have an amazing wife and I couldn’t do this without her and her understanding.
© Getty Images“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.”
While some children may feel embarrassed by their famous parents, this isn’t the case with Malachy and Aran who will join their father to watch his films during family nights together. Cillian told Rolling Stone in 2023: “We don’t do ‘Dad’s Movie Night’, but they like some of my films. They say all my films are really intense.”
© Alberto E. RodriguezThe actor is very close to his family and during an acceptance speech at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, he said: “Two-thirds of them are sitting down there. We had to leave one of them at home doing exams. But just thanks for putting up with me — putting up with the half me and the shadow me and the absent me, the remains of me when I’m doing a film like this or work in general. You’re always there. I love it. So thanks, guys.”
While Malachy and Aran have grown up outside of the public eye, Aran has expressed an interest in following in Cillian’s footsteps. At the age of 11, he played Hamnet in a production of the same name, which focused on the life of William Shakespeare’s son.
© Getty ImagesThe budding actor has since appeared in 2022 hit Lola and is due to make an appearance in Klara and the Sun alongside Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams.
Cillian spoke to HELLO! at the Oscar Wilde Awards on 7 March and said of his son: “I’m very, very proud of him, he’s a great, great actor.”
