Editing Cillian Murphy (section)

===1996–2002: Theatre work and early roles===
Murphy pressured Pat Kiernan until he got an audition at [[Corcadorca Theatre Company]], and in September 1996, he made his professional acting debut on the stage, playing the part of a volatile Cork teenager in [[Enda Walsh]]'s ''Disco Pigs''.<ref name="From Cork to Gotham" /> Walsh recalled meeting and discovering Murphy: "There was something about him&nbsp;– he was incredibly enigmatic and he would walk into a room with real presence and you'd go, "My God". It had nothing to do with those bloody eyes that everyone's going on about all the time."<ref name="IHT11"/> Murphy observed, "I was unbelievably cocky and had nothing to lose, and it suited the part, I suppose".<ref name="LAT pale blue eyes">{{cite news |author=Abramowitz, Rachel |date=8 March 2007 |title=Cillian Murphy: More to offer than pale blue eyes |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-11-ca-cillian11-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=10 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620034239/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/11/entertainment/ca-cillian11 |archive-date=20 June 2008}}</ref> Originally intended to run for three weeks in Cork,<ref name="From Cork to Gotham" /> ''Disco Pigs'' ended up touring throughout Europe, Canada and Australia for two years, and Murphy left both university<ref name="Independent action hero" /> and his band.<ref name="TONY 2005" /> Though he had intended to go back to playing music, he secured representation after his first agent caught a performance of ''Disco Pigs'', and his acting career began to take off.<ref name="Back Stage 2005">{{cite news|author=Riley, Jenelle|url=http://www.backstage.com/news/luck-of-the-irish_2/|title=Luck of the Irish|newspaper=Back Stage'|date=18 November 2005|access-date=9 August 2007|archive-date=30 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030105200/http://www.backstage.com/news/luck-of-the-irish_2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

He starred in many other theatre productions, including [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' (1998), ''[[The Country Boy (play)|The Country Boy]],'' and ''[[Juno and the Paycock]]'' (both 1999).<ref name="WillisBlum2002">{{cite book|last1=Willis|first1=John A.|last2=Blum|first2=Daniel C.|title=Screen World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9NVkAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Crown Publishers|isbn=9781557834782|access-date=27 February 2016|archive-date=28 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628232406/http://books.google.com/books?id=9NVkAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> He began appearing in independent films such as ''[[On the Edge (2001 film)|On the Edge]]'' (2001), and in short films, including ''Filleann an Feall'' (2000) and ''Watchmen'' (2001).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://directory.irishfilmboard.ie/films/36-filleann-an-feall |title=Filleann an Feall |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203356/http://directory.irishfilmboard.ie/films/36-filleann-an-feall |archive-date=4 March 2016 |work=Irish Film Board |access-date=2 March 2014}}</ref> He also reprised his role for the film adaption of ''[[Disco Pigs]]'' (2001) and appeared in the [[BBC]] television mini-series adaptation of ''[[The Way We Live Now (2001 TV serial)|The Way We Live Now]]''.<ref name="Back Stage 2005" /><ref name="Shape of Things">{{cite web|url=http://www.gate-theatre.ie/theshapeofthings.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050208220438/http://www.gate-theatre.ie/theshapeofthings.html|archive-date=8 February 2005|title=The Shape of Things|publisher= Gate-Theatre.ie|access-date=26 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Will |date=28 August 2011 |title=Cillian Murphy interview |newspaper=[[The A.V. Club]] |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/cillian-murphy-64107 |url-status=live |access-date=2 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030200046/http://www.avclub.com/article/cillian-murphy-64107 |archive-date=30 October 2014}}</ref> During this period, he moved from Cork, relocating first to [[Dublin]] for a few years, then to London in 2001.<ref name="Boston Globe 2006">{{cite news |author=Heller, Scott |date=1 January 2006 |title=Murphy's law: seek diversity |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |url=https://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/01/01/murphys_lawseek_diversity/ |url-status=live |access-date=22 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618172855/http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/01/01/murphys_lawseek_diversity/ |archive-date=18 June 2008}}</ref> In 2002, Murphy starred as Adam in a theatre production of [[Neil LaBute]]'s ''[[The Shape of Things]]'' at the [[Gate Theatre]] in Dublin. Writing for ''[[The Irish Times]]'', Fintan O'Toole praised Murphy's performance, "Murphy measures out his metamorphosis with an impressive subtlety and intelligence".<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Toole |first=Fintan |date=7 February 2002 |title=Reviews |language=en |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/reviews-1.1049523 |url-status=live |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017134910/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/reviews-1.1049523 |archive-date=17 October 2020}}</ref>