Cillian Murphy has been winning numerous awards for his lead role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Recently, he has just won the BAFTA Film Award 2024 in the Best Actor category and is a clear frontrunner to win this year’s Academy Award as well. Apart from his as-usual class acting, one thing that caught the attention of the fans was his staggering fees for the movie. As per the reports, Cillian Murphy was paid a high amount of $10 million for the lead character of J. Robert Oppenheimer in the movie.
However, the Peaky Blinder actor has something to say about his salaries and his net worth. In a chat with The Guardian, the actor said that he thinks this job is overpaid. Despite such fame, he enjoys thanks to his brilliance in this profession. He likes to keep things to himself and tries to stay away from the spotlight.
Cillian Murphy Thinks Actors Are Overpaid
Cillian Murphy has always been one of the most talented actors in Hollywood, and now he is regarded as one of the biggest names as well. All thanks to his success as the father of the atomic bomb in Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer.
Cillian Murphy has a net worth of $20 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He has been in films that have grossed amazing collections at the box office, including The Dark Knight, which grossed $1 billion worldwide.
After he got his deserving popularity after the Batman Begins movie, the actor reportedly charged around $3-5 million. Post that, the actor earned around $1 million for the supporting roles he played up until Oppenheimer, in collaboration with Nolan. The latest and sixth collaboration with Nolan has earned him a whopping $10 million for playing J. Robert Oppenheimer.
He is most definitely not the highest-paid actor in the world, nor is he among the top actors who earn a huge amount of money for their one particular role. Yet, the actor feels this acting profession is overpaid. He asserts that though it has the potential to become one of the highest-paid jobs, it’s not fair when they earn way too much than doctors and nurses who dedicate their whole lives to the common people. Murphy told The Guardian. (Via Hello Magazine)
“I’m just a f*cking actor. There are doctors and nurses and f*cking people that work. I struggle with that. I mean, actors are overpaid, you know? It’s nice when you get paid, when you’re young, and you’ve gone from having no money, but the Catholic guilt kicks in immediately, and I’m like ‘It’s all going to go wrong. You don’t deserve this’. And I don’t.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Murphy told The Guardian that he does not enjoy the “personality side of being an actor.” When not working, the actor loves having quality time with his wife Yvonne McGuinness and his boys.
Cillian Murphy is Someone Who Tries to Stay Away From the Spotlight
The Irish actor is now basking in the award-show glory. He is getting the fame he should have had years back. Despite such popularity, he is not like other Hollywood stars. Rather, he is someone who likes to keep things to himself and tries to stay away from the spotlight. Murphy has admitted he finds the glare of the spotlight “challenging”.
Speaking to GQ, he revealed he doesn’t take photos with fans anymore. He said:
“Once I started doing that it changed my life. I just think it’s better to say hello, and have a little conversation. I tell that to a lot of people, you know, actor friends of mine, and they’re just like: I feel so bad. But you don’t need a photo record of everywhere you’ve been in a day.“
He is also not a very big fan of spending his life only in film festivals and promotions as an actor.
“I have a couple of friends who are actors, but a majority of them are not,” Murphy said. “The majority of my buddies are not in the business. I also love not working. And I think for me a lot of research as an actor is just fu****g living, and, you know, having a normal life doing regular things and just being able to observe, and be, in that sort of lovely flow of humanity. If you can’t do that because you’re going from film festival to movie set to promotions… I mean that’s The Bubble. I’m not saying that makes you any better or less as an actor, but it’s just a world that I couldn’t exist in. I find it would be very limiting on what you can experience as a human being, you know?”
He stays true to himself and is dedicated to his family and refrains from making frequent work-related moves. He also thinks that it’s not his ideology of living such a simple life that will make him a better actor and worse actor than others. However, he does believe that the life he lives is the best for him. He finds comfort in this humble life and continues to captivate audiences worldwide just like he has been doing for a long time.
