Cillian Murphy (born 25 May 1976) is an Irish film and theatre actor. He is often noted by critics for his chameleonic performances in diverse roles and distinctive blue eyes.

A native of Cork, Murphy began his performing career as a rock musician. After turning down a record deal, he made his professional acting debut in the play Disco Pigs in 1996. He went on to star in Irish and UK film and stage productions throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, first coming to international attention in 2003 as the hero in the post-apocalyptic film 28 Days Later. Murphy's best-known roles are as villains in two 2005 blockbusters: the Scarecrow in the superhero film Batman Begins, and Jackson Rippner in the thriller Red Eye. Next came two contrasting, widely acclaimed starring roles: his Golden Globe Award-nominated performance as transgendered outcast "Kitten" in 2005's Breakfast on Pluto and a turn as a 1920s Irish revolutionary in 2006 Palme d'Or winner The Wind That Shakes the Barley. 2007 saw Murphy on the London stage in Love Song and onscreen in science fiction film Sunshine.

A resident of London since 2001, Murphy often works in or near London and has no desire to move to Hollywood. Uncomfortable on the celebrity circuit, he customarily gives interviews about his work, but does not appear on television talk shows or discuss details of his private life with the press.

Early life

Evans was born in Sudbury, Massachusetts to a dentist father and a dancer mother. He has two siblings, Carly, and Scott, and an adopted sister, Shanna. Evans is of Italian and Irish descent and is a Catholic. He graduated from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in 1999 and had originally planned to attend NYU after graduating high school.

Career

After completing his junior year in high school, Evans traveled to New York where he interned at a casting agency and took a summer acting program. That same summer he met an agent that helped him get his start in acting after completing high school. Evans had small parts on television series such as Boston Public and The Fugitive and a role in the TV series Opposite Sex before landing his first notable role as Jake Wyler in Not Another Teen Movie. The film contained a somewhat notorious spoof of the Varsity Blues movie, where (to attract the attention of a girl) Evans entered the room wearing nothing more than whipped cream and cherries covering his "nipples" and crotch, and a banana sticking out of his buttocks.

After filming wrapped on Not Another Teen Movie, Evans landed several more lead roles in The Perfect Score and Cellular. He also starred in a few independent films where audiences got to see a different side to Evans. In London, Evans played a strung out drug user with relationship problems. He was then chosen to play the Human Torch in the 2005 comic book adaptation Fantastic Four. Evans has worked opposite some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Kim Basinger, Diane Lane, Scarlett Johansson, William H. Macy and Donald Sutherland. He was named 'Male Superstar of Tomorrow' at the 2005 Young Hollywood Awards. Evans has been featured in many well known magazine publications. Recently, Evans reprised the role of Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in the sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Next up for Evans is the role of Diskant in The Night Watchman, co-starring Keanu Reeves, and Jimmy in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, co-starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Ellen Burstyn and David Strathairn. The latter is based on a play created by Tennessee Williams.

Evans is also working on a supernatural thriller, Push, along with Dakota Fanning and Camilla Belle.