'Oppenheimer' Star Cillian Murphy on His Complicated Relationship with Fame: 'It Fetishizes Everything'

Cillian Murphy isn't in it for the fame.

The Oppenheimer actor, 46, gave a rare wide-ranging interview in Rolling Stone UK for the magazine's June/July 2023 cover story, where he lamented about the negative aspects to being recognized in public.

"It fetishizes everything: You can be walking down the street and someone takes a picture like this is a f---ing event," Murphy said. He added that while "it kind of destroys nuance and human behavior," he understands "that's part and parcel of" the job of a famous actor.

Having moved with his wife Yvonne McGuinness and their two teenage sons from London to Dublin in his home country of Ireland about eight years ago, Murphy said, "Fame evaporates with regularity. I'm around [this restaurant] all the time and no one gives a f---ing s---. Nobody cares."

"But if … one of the guys from Succession walked in here, I'd be all intimidated and shaky," the actor admitted. "When you're confronted with someone you've invested a lot in, or you think is amazing, the encounter is strange."

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For Murphy, "the best people" in the business — for example, his fellow Irish actors (and recent Oscar nominees) Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon — are "not doing it for any other reason but love of the craft."

"They have a compulsion to make work, not to be famous or get attention," he explained.

The Peaky Blinders star told Rolling Stone UK that he isn't a fan of going out in general, and is usually "at home mostly, or with my friends, unless I have a film to promote."

"I don't like being photographed by people. I find that offensive," Murphy said.

It might be hard for some fans of his work to separate him from some of the more sinister characters he has played, including the Scarecrow in Batman Begins (2005), Jackson Rippner in Red Eye (2005) and Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders.

But in reality, "that charisma and swagger" in a character like Shelby "couldn't be further from" him, Murphy said.

"I think it's the Tommy Shelby thing," he explained. "People expect this mysterious, swaggering … it's just a character. I do feel people are a little bit underwhelmed."

"That's fine; it means I'm doing my job," Murphy added. "Peaky fans are amazing. But sometimes I feel a little sad that I can't provide — like — that charisma and swagger."

Oppenheimer is in theaters July 21.