“I don’t think it’s a good movie.”
Oppenheimer, 28 Days Later, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy – There’s a whole load of movies that stand out amongst Cillian Murphy‘s back catalogue.
However, it seems that some movie fans, particularly those in the United States, recognise the Cork man most from a rather overlooked 2005 thriller – Red Eye.
That’s right, apparently the Wes Craven-directed flick gets a surprising amount of attention when American fans think of Murphy. However, it’s clearly not the actor’s favourite project.
Cillian Murphy still shocked by ‘B movie’ role most Americans know him for
When told about the “imprint that Red Eye had on Americans of a certain age” in his recent interview with GQ, The Oscar nominee replied by saying it was “crazy”.
In the movie – which also stars a pre-Succession Brian Cox – Murphy plays Jackson, a seemingly very nice airline passenger who turns out to be actually be a cold-blooded killer and subsequently embroils poor Rachel McAdams in a terrorist plot to assassinate a politician.
“I think it’s the duality of it. It’s why I wanted to play it,” Murphy said about the rather bizarre role. “That two thing. The nice guy and the bad guy in one. The only reason it appealed to me is you could do that [snaps his fingers] that turn, you know?
“I love Rachel McAdams and we had fun making it,” Murphy added. “But I don’t think it’s a good movie. It’s a good B movie.”
McAdams obviously reciprocates Murphy’s love, telling the interviewer, “They say the nicest people sometimes make the best villains.”
Describing her time on set with the Irish star, McAdams said: “We’d listen to music and gab away while doing the crossword puzzle, which he brought every day and would graciously let me chime in on.
“I think the number one question I got about Cillian way back then was whether or not he wore contact lenses.”
For what it’s worth, Red Eye may not be the most memorable film, at least for non-Americans it seems, but it’s a very fun way to spend 85 minutes of your time and it’s also available to stream on Paramount+.
