“Probably the best”: the series Cillian Murphy called a “generationally good television”
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy is tackling a social topic seemingly close to his heart in his next film, based on Max Porter’s boarding school novel Shy.
Murphy, now a clear favourite of the historical epic director Christopher Nolan, bided his time for years early in his career. For a period, Murphy was relegated to a series of admittedly potent and complex supporting roles before Nolan finally arrived at the lead role that was meant for him, as the father of the atomic bomb, J Robert Oppenheimer.
It’s a monumental and morally grey part that carries worldly implications, and combined with Murphy’s proven dramatic talent, it was a straight shot for him to get his first Oscar nomination and win. Fans of Peaky Blinders had long known that Murphy was more than capable, as the other half of his fame is due to his portrayal as the ever-morally fraught crime boss Tommy Shelby, doomed to always be balancing his love for his family with the smartest decisions for their business.
In a recent interview with The Observer, Murphy said he is drawn to these challenging roles as famously tormented figures because “[he has] zero interest in playing characters that are seemingly content”.
He explained, “First of all, I don’t think that exists. Second of all, we don’t see ourselves in those people. I think everyone is fucking struggling, to a greater or lesser degree.” In his brand new Netflix film, Steve Murphy plays the titular lead, an exhausted teacher struggling to help his students at a school for troubled boys.
Murphy’s charge was originally a supporting character in the novel Shy, with the author serving as the film’s screenwriter, which is written from the perspective of one of the students. Having previously collaborated with Porter, Murphy said that he would be interested in telling a story about “a care worker or someone who is trying to do good but is crushed by the system,” when Porter revealed that he had imagined a backstory for one of the teachers in Shy, and the movie was created with him repositioned as the protagonist.
Murphy’s parents were both teachers themselves: “It kind of never stops, being a teacher,” says the actor. Steve is a story about the demands of society on young men, who aren’t given the support they need, emotionally or systemically. The students in Steve are seen as lost causes, while the desperate staff of this underresourced school are trying to find a way to connect with them.
Murphy compares Steve to a notable example of modern television: Netflix’s Adolescence, depicting the fallout of a 13-year-old boy being accused of the murder of a classmate by his family. As Steve is set in the 1990s, Adolescence contrasts in how it also deals with the effects of modern technology on a young person: “Adolescence dealt with that in a way that I think is probably the best I’ve ever seen it dealt with… but our film, by taking away [social media], you realise that the problems still exist.”
Another recent, high-profile title that conveys themes of how an uncaring world shapes young people, particularly as it relates to toxic masculinity and failing systems of education and care, is ‘Best Picture’ nominee The Holdovers. Among these three titles and many more are multiple pairings of potential companion pieces, which, as Murphy says, highlight the same issues from different angles.
Murphy also suggests that such stories are both specific to certain generations and timeless. Coming of age will never not be difficult, and quality film and television serve to deftly emphasise the particular strenuous circumstances that make it a mountain.
