Cillian Murphy speaks about his ‘very intense chat’ with Roy Keane

Simon Kelly

“Everything he stands for, I love.”

During the media circus that led up to Cillian Murphy eventually winning the Best Actor award at the Oscars this year, we learned a lot about the Irish star.

Among the snippets of info we gleaned from the media-shy Oppenheimer star during his exhaustive press tour was his love for fellow Cork legend Roy Keane.

In a recent interview, Murphy detailed running into Keane, who he says is a ‘kindred spirit’, at an airport once.

Speaking to the Financial Times, the 47-year-old said: “[Roy Keane] is actually one of my favourite people.

“I met him once in an airport, and we had a very intense chat for about an hour and a half.”

“He’s got that thing, that Cork sense… straight to the heart of the issue. He’s a legend. Everything he stands for, I love.”

Cillian Murphy speaks about his ‘very intense chat’ with Roy Keane

It isn’t the first time the Oscar winner gushed over his compatriot, telling RTÉ earlier in the year: “I mean, to me, no one will be more famous than Roy Keane coming out of Cork.

“I’m a big Roy Keane fan, so he’s always number one for me.”

Keane has similarly been asked about Murphy during his media duties, with Stick to Football host Gary Neville asking the former United captain to try and get the Douglas-born actor on the show.

“He’s from the south side of Cork, I’m from the north side,” Keane joked, with Neville hinting towards a rivalry not dissimilar to Liverpool and Everton.

It’s clear to see a similarity between the two, not just because of their home county, and a sit-down interview has to be on the cards in the future.

Discussing his Oscars win in the interview, Murphy spoke of how important being the first Irish-born actor to win the coveted award.

“The Oscars looms very large in our cultural landscape,” he told the publication. “I remember as a kid when Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker and Neil Jordan [other Irish creatives] won. They’re massive.

“And I felt very strongly about my Irish identity: it was very prominent in my thoughts, because it’s an American awards ceremony, and you do feel as though you are representing. And because you’re aware of how much people at home are invested in it.

“You want to be the best you can.”

Murphy can be seen next in the Irish film adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These, which debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.