'We were just kids': Inside Oscar nominee Cillian Murphy's 28-year love story with wife Yvonne

H?e may be one of the world's most celebrated actors, with his first Oscar nomination for his role in the film Oppenheimer under his belt, but Cillian Murphy was a little-known theatre actor when he first met wife Yvonne McGuinness.

The Irishman, who has been nominated in the category of best actor in a leading role at the 96th Academy Awards, was a student when he won a starring in a small local play in Cork, Ireland, in 1996.

Murphy previously told The Guardian it was around this time he met his Irish-born wife, after she reportedly came to see his band perform.

READ MORE: Stars who scored their very first Oscar nomination in 2024

The play, Disco Pigs, became a smash hit and went on a world tour lasting two years, during which McGuinness was by his side.

"She came on tour with us. It was so exciting, 20 years ago or whatever it was ¨C we were all just kids, trying to find our way ¨C but such a special, special time," he said.

After getting an agent, Murphy left his band to devote himself to acting, first on stage and then in independent and short films, before Disco Pigs was made into a movie in 2001.

Around this time, Murphy and McGuinness moved together to London, where she attended the Royal College of Art.

As his career began to take off internationally, so did his private life, with Murphy and McGuinness marrying in 2004.

READ MORE: Startling words McConaughey's wife told him before their wedding

The couple had their first of two sons, Malachy, the following year.

By 2006, Murphy had won the starring role in the film The Wind that Shakes the Barley, about the Irish Civil War and Irish War of Independence.

He was keen to take the role because of its link with his birthplace of Cork, and previously spoke of fond times filming the movie.

"I was living at home with my folks, my wife was pregnant with our son, and we were running around the hills of west Cork," he said.

The couple's second son, Aran, was born in 2007.?

READ MORE: Why Kyra Sedgwick didn't immediately fall for Kevin Bacon?

It was Murphy's appearance as Scarecrow in the 2008 film The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins, that really catapulted his career to the next level.

The couple remained based in London until 2015, when they decided to relocate to Dublin to be closer to their respective families and the boys' grandparents.

"We wanted them to be Irish, I suppose," he said of the decision, adding it was "amazing how quickly their accents adapted".

"Even within a year of moving back, they are fading into this rakish west Brit kind of thing, which, I think hopefully, will get them lots of girls when they're 15."

The most captivating love stories in popular culture

View Gallery

In 2013, Murphy took up the role of Thomas Shelby in the BBC television series Peaky Blinders, about a criminal gang in Birmingham after WWI.

During filming, which wrapped in 2022 after six seasons, he based himself in a rented apartment ?in Liverpool, England, while his wife and children stayed behind in Dublin.

He has admitted "it takes ?time" to decompress after returning home from a role.

"My wife can see it happening. 'OK. Tommy's gradually leaving. I'm getting Cillian back'," he has said.

Murphy praised his wife for her part in his latest role, the 2023 movie Small Things Like These. He said it was McGuinness who suggested adapting Claire Keegan's novella for the big screen.

While the pair has largely shunned the limelight during their 20-year marriage, Murphy credits his wife for keeping him grounded.

"It's very important to have somebody like that. My life hasn't changed in any way, really. I still have the same friends and we go to the same places," he said.

He gave a glimpse of the 'struggle' of the life of an actor in an interview with GQ, saying, "That work-life balance thing is hard. I have an amazing wife and I couldn't do this without her and her understanding. But it is a struggle."

For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

He gave another rare public call-out to McGuinness when he took to the stage to receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards in January.

"Thanks for putting up with me ¨C putting up with the half me and the shadow me and the absent me, the remains of me when I'm doing a film like this or work in general. You're always there. I love it. So thanks, guys," he gushed to McGuinness and his eldest son, who joined them.?

McGuinness was also by his side in January at the 2024 Golden Globes, where he was named best actor in a drama motion picture for his role in Oppenheimer.

The pair are set to walk the red carpet again on March 11 at the Academy Awards, where he is tipped to win his first Oscar. ?