Irish actor Cillian Murphy, pictured here in 2023.Getty Images
Cillian Murphy was on hand in London last night, Thursday, October 24, for the UK premiere of his new Irish film "Small Things Like These."
On the red carpet, Cork native Murphy discussed what he found to be the biggest challenge in creating the film, which is an adaptation of Irish author Claire Keegan's Booker Prize-nominated novel of the same name.
about last night 👏 the cast and filmmakers of #SmallThingsLikeThese attended the UK premiere in London
one week to go until #SmallThingsLikeThese is out in cinemas pic.twitter.com/owPhUEuG6k
— Lionsgate UK (@LionsgateUK) October 25, 2024
“We really tried to be faithful to the script itself, or, sorry to the book itself, I should say because it’s such a beautiful, beautiful, perfect novella," Murphy told the PA news agency on the red carpet on Thursday evening.
“So that was our biggest challenge, I think, was to keep faithful to the book.
“And then we just wanted to tell the story in a gentle, delicate way, leaving enough space for the audience, really, to come in to it to find their own way into the stories.”
Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy has said the “biggest challenge” in filming Small Things Like These was staying “faithful to the book” pic.twitter.com/fGgdR1eota
— PA Entertainment (@PAshowbiz) October 25, 2024
A synopsis of "Small Things Like These" says the film reveals truths about Ireland's Magdalene laundries - horrific asylums run by Roman Catholic institutions from the 1820s until 1996, ostensibly to reform “fallen young women.”
Earlier this year, Murphy said making "Small Things Like These" was a "labor of love" and that he couldn't wait to talk about it.
In the film, Murphy - who this year became the first Irish-born actor to win the Best Actor prize at the Oscars - plays father and coal merchant Bill Furlong who discovers startling secrets kept by the convent in his town, along with some shocking truths of his own.
Murphy is joined by Emily Watson, Michelle Fairley, and Eileen Walsh in the new movie that is set in Co Wexford and was filmed in Ireland.
based on the best selling novel by Claire Keegan, #SmallThingsLikeThese - coming to UK cinemas November 1 pic.twitter.com/1fqJt5A4hF
— Lionsgate UK (@LionsgateUK) October 22, 2024
While the film is already getting Oscar buzz, Murphy's own co-stars have been heaping the praise on the film's star.
Watson, who plays Sister Mary, told RadioTimes.com this week: "When I encountered him [Murphy] on set, he was utterly immersed in Bill Furlong.
"So he was very, very quiet, like a simmering, you know, unexploded bomb, in a way - didn't really say very much, was utterly in it."
Walsh, who plays Murphy's on-screen wife Eileen, further told RadioTimes.com: "He adored everybody that came on set.
"He'd be kind of going, 'Oh, wait till you meet the guy playing... I worked with him 30 years ago.'
"But he's amazing. However tenuous the link, everybody was on set for a reason, and he was also brilliantly able to change hats.
"So they'd shout 'cut', and we'd go and have a quick 10 minute break or whatever to reset... and he would have to take an email or have somebody, you know, ask a producer question or whatever.
"And there was a time and a place for that. He just managed to really stand in his value, I think, throughout it. But he has such a drive for this particular project as well. He's very passionate."
"Small Things Like These" will arrive in theaters in Ireland and the UK on November 1, followed by a US release on November 8.