aaaaaaaaaaaagh…. I love Cillian Murphy. I could just die writing this article right now, I love him so much.

Now don’t worry, I don’t love him quite the same way I love Leonardo DiCaprio! So I’m not cheating on my crush or anything here. I love Cillian in a weird way – like that evil bad boy you know you could never really love but you can’t help getting the chills whenever you walk by him.

If you don’t get the chills when you see Cillian Murphy, you aren’t human.

I think his look is actually one of his most fascinating characteristics. It seems most movies tout “bad guys” who are either really ugly or ridiculously good-looking (“50 Shades of Grey”, anyone?). And Cillian Murphy is neither. I mean, he’s a very nice looking guy but

1) he doesn’t have the typical drop-dead gorgeous model look (ahem, Jamie Dornan)

2) when he’s playing a “bad guy” role, he can take on a certain amount of ugliness. But you still kind of want to fuck him…. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s weird!

Either way, I think his acting chops are the heart of what makes him so appealing. His unusual but attractive look is enhanced by a pair of blues eyes that seem like they could slice you right in half if you caught him on a bad day. He portrays characters with a series of layers that rivals most any actor or actress I’ve ever seen. It takes some serious talent to be able to occupy a character and then be that’s character almost entirely through the expressions in your eyes.

But this blog is about the human in the celebrity, so let’s talk about that – as talented as Cillian is, he still puts his pants on one leg at a time! He appears to be a devoted husband and father and he has dealt embraced his life as an actor – maybe better than most. He seems to really roll with the punches. You don’t see him aching for the attention, nor does he hide out to avoid the crowds. He loves what he does just like an carpenter, teacher, or businessman would and takes the lifestyle that goes along with it in stride. From the interview I’ve seen, he truly does seem to be “Made” for acting.

And he’s tried other things – his original plan was to become a lawyer. He would certainly have been intimidating! But he quit law school and took a gander as a guitar player in a band for a few years. I find that humorous for some reason. It seems so obviously a bad match for him, but then again, music is art just as acting is art. And the artist within him is clearly a huge part of who he is:

It’s easy to take the check, you know, but if you want to have any longevity, just take things that have artistic merit in them. I want to do quality. If it’s good telly, I’ll do it. If it’s good theater, I’ll do it.

Let’s finish this out with a few more quotes if his that reveal his level of humanity. there’s the information I always want, that fascinates me most: what is his relationship with fame? Particularly considering how smoothly he seems to handle it:

If you behave like a celebrity, then people will treat you like a celebrity, and if you don’t, they won’t. There’s not much to write about me in the tabloids.

Pretty straightforward. But has he fallen victim to Hollywood? Does he only hang with the elite now?

I’ve a very, very close-knit group of friends from Ireland. They and my family are the most important things to me.

There you have it. He still has his same old friends. Which is amazing because I’ve heard fame can reek havoc on one’s relationships. These friendships must be of high value to him to have lasted all this time.

Lastly, I’m always curious how performers see themselves. Did they “fall into” acting? Was it a deliberate choice? Have they had to develop their skills or were they inborn? The final word goes to Cillian:

I think there’s such a thing as a performance gene. If it’s in your DNA it needs to come out. For me it originally came out through music, then segued into acting and came out through there. I always needed to get up and perform.

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