Fans have been sharing their opinions – which are pretty varied – on a Cillian Murphy movie from years ago that the actor himself has said in the past that he doesn’t like.
Murphy is one of the biggest actors on the planet, having starred in heaps of Christopher Nolan movies – including Oppenheimer, which is out this weekend – as well as huge TV shows like Peaky Blinders, but some of his movies aren’t the most well known.
For example, he was great in Breakfast on Pluto, which was quite a small production, and fantastic in Danny Boyle’s cult classic Sunshine.
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But, it’s his appearance as a terrorist in Wes Craven’s 2005 flick Red Eye that really has people talking.
Murphy plays Jackson Rippner, a suave talking – and dashingly handsome – domestic terrorist who has kidnapped the father of a woman he’s seated next to on a plane in order to coerce her into his plan to assassinate the head of US Homeland Security.
It was a box office success, and has a 79 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that it can’t be the worst film of all time.
As well as Murphy, it starred Brian Cox and Rachel McAdams as the female passenger and her father.
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Anyway, after years of people discussing his role in the film – which was often replayed on US cable TV – he seemed to have had enough.
In an 2021 interview with UPROXX, he was asked about a propensity towards playing villains, and said: “The guy in Red Eye? He’s a bad guy. If you look at any of my other films…”
The interviewer said: “Red Eye is a good movie.”
Murphy responded: “Everyone keeps f***ing saying that.”
Then, after the interviewer brought up the fact that it’s constantly on TV – or was a few years ago – the Batman Begins star added: “My point is – Jesus – can I stop talking about that movie?”
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After being reminded he brought it up, Murphy explained: “I was trying to make a point that aside from those two characters [who are definitely bad guys], and there were only two, I think the rest of them exist in this in-between area, which is humanity.”
In a later interview, he expanded on his thoughts about the film.
He said: “The honest answer is I haven’t seen that movie since it came out like 15 or 16 years ago, whenever it was.
“I also think that, when I was a younger actor, I was really, really hard on everything that I was in.
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“I hated watching myself.
“I hated looking at myself on screen.
“I remember when I saw it was like ‘Oh, that’s kind of a schlocky B movie. Rachel McAdams is excellent in it.’
“But I didn’t think I gave a very nuanced performance in it.
“But, listen, if people love the movie then that’s great. I’m pleased with that.
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“I’m less hard on myself now when I look at stuff. I’m less hypercritical of my work. But that’s probably a hangover from that to be honest.”
Anyway, fans are still out there watching it, and they’ve got some opinions.
One person wrote: “Cillian Murphy saying he hates Red Eye is like him saying he hates me and he wishes I wasn’t born.”
Another said: “Yo if you want to see Cillian Murphy in a really good movie before you go see Oppenheimer, you gotta watch Red Eye.”
A third wrote: “Cillian Murphy in Red Eye was first time I ever watched a movie and was legit scared of AND turned on by the villain.”
In case you do want to watch it, it’s out there on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, so get stuck in.
Or, you could keep up to date and go see Oppenheimer when it comes out on Saturday.
Topics: Celebrity, Cillian Murphy, TV and Film
Tom Wood