The overlooked masterpiece that changed Cillian Murphy’s life: “It profoundly affected me”
Cillian Murphy is steadily building his case as one of the greatest actors of his generation. As a dramatic leading man, he’s wowed in everything from the seminal Irish war film The Wind That Shakes the Barley to Christopher Nolan’s billion-dollar, Oscar-winning smash Oppenheimer. Then there’s his franchise success, from Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later to replacing John Krasinski in A Quiet Place Part II to his appearances across the aforementioned Mr Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy. Basically, if it can be done, Murphy can and will do it.
The Irishman’s rise to power can be traced back to appearances in several short films in the late 1990s, but his love for the movies began way before then. He’s spoken about his love for fellow countryman Brendan Gleeson and how he helped inspire him to become an actor, but, in conversation with Radio Free, he name-dropped an obscure 1970s drama that was pivotal in his early appreciation of the art form.
“When I was about 15 or 16, it was Halloween, and we wanted to get a scary movie, myself and my brother,” he recalled. “We went to get it, and the guy gave us the wrong movie. And it’s kind of ironic, the title of the movie, but it was Scarecrow. And it was Gene Hackman and Al Pacino. And it profoundly affected me. I didn’t realise that films could do that to you. And it’s weird, I suppose, because it’s not up there with the classics. Nobody really talks about it. I really think it’s the last classic, you know. So, yeah…it stayed with me, and I started watching loads and loads of films.”
Scarecrow, directed by Faye Dunaway’s former partner Jerry Schatzberg, is about two drifters who dream of starting a carwash business together. Max (Hackman) and Lion (Pacino) are on the road together from California to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but their own personal agendas end up distracting from their entrepreneurial ambitions. Murphy mentioned that the movie’s title was ‘ironic’ because ‘Scarecrow’ is the name of the character he plays in the ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, the role that first introduced him to an international audience.
Despite falling in love with Hackman and Pacino’s performances, Murphy put off his entrance into the acting world until later in life. “I didn’t start acting until I was like 20,” he revealed. “I was playing in bands…wanted to be a musician for ages.”
Things changed for the future Tommy Shelby after a trip to the theatre, one that would end up having massive consequences for the future of pop culture. “I saw a play in Cork, and it was unbelievably cool and sexy and brilliant, and I knocked on the door of the theatre company and asked them for an audition. They gave me a part in a play called Disco Pigs, which I did, and then they made that into a movie, and then I continued on from there.”
Though it has something of a cult status these days, Scarecrow is a largely forgotten part of both stars’ respective histories. Plans for a sequel were tentatively drawn up across the 2010s, but when Hackman decided he was retired, it died a death. Still, it helped kickstart the career of a bonafide superstar, so for that, we must all be very grateful.
