Throwing shapes

Cillian Murphy is making his debut at the Gate Theatre in Neil LaBute’s play The Shape Of Thing, which opens on February 5th. Now that may not mean much to you but to Cillian it’s a hell of a deal, coming hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed success in the movie Disco Pigs. And a major part in the BBC’s adaptation of Trollope’s period drama, The Way We Live Now. Murphy also appears in the forthcoming film, When Harry Became A Tree and he will be making a new movie, Intermission, shortly.

Not bad for a guy of 25 who, for at least two years played in a “jazz-funk” band called The Sons of Mister Greenjeans and yeah, Frank Zappa fans, the name of his band does come from the title of a Zappa song.

“I’m a big fan of Zappa, he’s one of my heroes,” says Cillian, “But these days I just play music for myself, for enjoyment, I don’t gig anymore.

“The move to theatre wasn’t a deliberate move, it just happened,” he adds. “I’d seen a few productions in Cork and, just out of curiosity, went along for the audition of Disco Pigs and got it! And the play got a lot of attention when we brought it to the Dublin Fringe Festival and I just loved the thrill of it all. Not that I changed career immediately. I went home and thought about it for a while but then we brought Disco Pigs to Edinburgh and that’s when I realised I’d go for acting full time. And the buzz I got from acting wasn’t like anything I’d ever experienced before.”

Cillian clearly is still getting that buzz.

“Doing that BBC production was really hard for me because I’m there among all these British actors – me a guy from Cork!” he explains.”So I really felt intimidated by it all. But I really love challenges like that. Any part that will actually stretch me as an actor.”

The Shape Of Thing, written by Neil LaBute, is a “provocative look at our obsession with image and what happens when the lines between art and life are blurred.” Cillian plays one of four college students who have “two seemingly ordinary relationships”. But he doesn’t want to give away too much about the play.

“It is about the blurring of life and art and really subverts the whole art world, to a degree,” he says. “And I love that aspect of it because I have a bit of a problem with that whole area at the moment. I think there more than a bit of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ about the whole art world. The Turner Prize, for example, which was won by a guy whose art is ‘minimalist’ and one of his exhibits was a piece of blue tack on a wall! Another was a scrunched up piece of paper and a light going on and off! That pisses me off and The Shape of Thing addresses all that.”

Neil LaBute also wrote In The Company of Men, Our Friendly Neighbours and Nurse Betty, all of which are among Cillian’s favourite films.

“The character I play has this massive transformation within the play, so it’s a big journey for me to take as an actor,” he says. “So all in all this really is a great way to start the New Year.”