Cillian Murphy, the actor who portrayed J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film “Oppenheimer,” recently revealed that he doesn’t like taking photos with fans.
During an interview with GQ magazine in Dublin, Ireland, the Oscar-nominated actor was approached by a fan who wanted a quick picture with him.
“Oh, I don’t do photos,” Mr. Murphy told the disappointed fan before having a brief conversation with him.
The 47-year-old explained that once he started following his no-photo policy with fans, it changed his life.
“I just think it’s better to say hello and have a little conversation,” he said. “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.”
Mr. Murphy also revealed that the majority of his friends are not in the film industry, saying a lot of his character research as an actor comes from observing regular things in life and being 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,” he said. “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?”
It wasn’t the first time Mr. Murphy, who was nominated Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony for his “Oppenheimer” performance, has spoken candidly about his avoiding the spotlight.
In an interview with The Observer last year, Mr. Murphy said that although he loves his profession, he does not like the attention that comes with it, such as when a fan recognizes him in public and suddenly starts to film or take pictures of him.
“I really don’t go out much,” he said. “People are so underwhelmed when they encounter me, so I’m very happy with that. And I’m always happy to chat. What I don’t like is people surreptitiously taking photographs, which someone said is like the amateur Stasi.”
He continued: “I’ve been sat on the tube and people have started filming me. I don’t want to be like, ‘poor [explicit] celebrities,’ that is not what I’m trying to say. I’m very happy and privileged and all of that. But I think this thing of having cameras everywhere is something we need to sort out.”
“Or maybe I’m just old,” he added, laughing.
Much like with his personal life, Mr. Murphy has been on a mission to keep his family on a low profile and out of the public eye.
“For me, it’s just about the work. If you behave like a celebrity you’ll be treated like one. I admire people like Matt Damon—he just continues to do brilliant work and that’s it. That’s the model I’d like to follow,” the “Peaky Blinders” actor, who has starred in many hit movies such as Mr. Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” trilogy and “Inception,” said in a previous interview.
He currently lives in Dublin with his wife, Yvonne McGuinness, and their two sons. The couple has been married since 2004 after they met at one of his rock band’s shows in 1996 before he stepped into the world of acting.