Editing Cillian Murphy (section)

===2002–2004: ''28 Days Later'' and breakthrough===
Murphy was cast in the lead role in [[Danny Boyle]]'s horror film ''[[28 Days Later]]'' (2002). He portrayed [[pandemic]] survivor Jim, who is "perplexed to find himself alone in the desolate, post-apocalyptic world" after waking from a coma in a London hospital.{{sfn|Dendle|2012|p=200}} Casting director Gail Stevens suggested that Boyle audition Murphy for the role, having been impressed with his performance in ''Disco Pigs''. Stevens stated that it was only after seeing his slender physique during filming that they decided to feature him fully nude at the beginning of the film.{{sfn|Raphael|2011|p=124}}{{sfn|Derry|2009|p=263}} She recalled that Murphy was shy on set with the tendency to look slightly away from the camera, but enthused that he had a "dreamy, slightly de-energised, floating quality that is fantastic for the film". Released in the UK in late 2002, by the following July, ''28 Days Later'' had become a [[sleeper hit]] in North America, and success worldwide, putting Murphy in front of a mass audience for the first time.<ref name="Variety Diorio">{{cite news |author=Diorio, Carl |url=https://variety.com/2003/film/news/summer-summary-a-fish-tale-1117890252/ |title=Summer summary: A fish tale |work=Variety |date=3 August 2003 |access-date=17 August 2007 |archive-date=17 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017134909/https://variety.com/2003/film/news/summer-summary-a-fish-tale-1117890252/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Variety03">{{cite news |last = DiOrio |first = Carl |url=https://variety.com/2003/film/news/summer-of-love-for-specialty-labels-1117890915/ |title = Summer of love for specialty labels |work = Variety |date = 18 August 2003 |access-date = 19 October 2007 |archive-date = 17 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017134909/https://variety.com/2003/film/news/summer-of-love-for-specialty-labels-1117890915/ |url-status = live }}</ref> His performance earned him a nomination for Best Newcomer at the [[8th Empire Awards]], and Breakthrough Male Performance at the [[2004 MTV Movie Awards]].<ref name="2004 MTV">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/archive/year.jhtml?year=2004|title= 2004 MTV Movie Awards|publisher= MTV|access-date= 21 October 2007|archive-date= 7 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607140956/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/archive/year.jhtml?year=2004|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name="2003 Empire">{{cite web |title=The Eighth Annual Empire Awards |url=https://www.empireonline.com/awards2003/report.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041704/http://www.empireonline.com/awards2003/report.asp |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=21 October 2007 |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]}}</ref> Murphy professed that he considered the film to be much deeper than a zombie or horror film, expressing surprise at the film's success, and that American audiences responded well to its content and violence.<ref name="IT803" /> Murphy said, "The film did so well. And you watch zombie stuff [now], we were the first people to make zombies run, and [that] changed everything. It has a very special place in my heart, that movie."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=Sam |date=25 June 2019 |title=The new '28 Days Later' film — everything we know so far about the third instalment |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/28-days-later-sequel-everything-we-know-so-far-title-release-date-trailer-director-danny-boyle-alex-garland-2514728 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410191203/https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/28-days-later-sequel-everything-we-know-so-far-title-release-date-trailer-director-danny-boyle-alex-garland-2514728 |archive-date=10 April 2020 |access-date=9 February 2020 |website=[[NME.com]]}}</ref>

In 2003, Murphy played the role of Konstantine in a stage production of [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]]'s ''[[The Seagull]]'' at the [[Edinburgh International Festival]]. He said that he wanted to play Konstantine because the character "goes on this amazing journey through the play [...] he comes to realise there's no point being an iconoclastic writer just for the sake of it, and that the search for new forms has to have something behind it".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hoggard |first=Liz |date=9 August 2003 |title='I was a Chekhov virgin' |language=en-GB |work=[[The Observer]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2003/aug/10/features.review37 |url-status=live |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911222943/http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2003/aug/10/features.review37 |archive-date=11 September 2014 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>

Murphy starred as a lovelorn, hapless supermarket stocker who plots a bank heist with [[Colin Farrell]] in ''[[Intermission (film)|Intermission]]'' (2003), which became the highest-grossing Irish independent film in Irish box office history (until ''[[The Wind That Shakes the Barley (film)|The Wind That Shakes the Barley]]'' broke the record in 2006).<ref name="RTE press watch">{{cite web |date=8 August 2006 |title=Loach Film Sets New Money Mark |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2006/0808/79103-presswatch/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019173806/http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2006/0808/79103-presswatch/ |archive-date=19 October 2013 |access-date=18 July 2007 |publisher=[[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]]}}</ref> Reflecting on his roles in ''28 Days Later'' and the "sad-sack Dublin shelf-stacker" in ''Intermission'', Sarah Lyall of the ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'' stated that Murphy brought "fluent ease to the roles he takes on, a graceful and wholly believable intensity. His delicate good looks have, as much as his acting prowess, caused people to mark him as Ireland's next [[Colin Farrell]], albeit one who seems less likely to be caught tomcatting around or brawling drunkenly at premieres."<ref name="IHT03">{{cite news |last=Lyall |first=Sarah |date=10 December 2014 |title=Cillian Murphy vies to remain unspoiled |newspaper=[[International Herald Tribune]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-88356853.html |url-status=dead |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611073341/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-88356853.html |archive-date=11 June 2014}}{{subscription required}}</ref> He had a minor supporting role in the successful Hollywood period drama ''[[Cold Mountain (film)|Cold Mountain]]'' (2003). He portrayed a deserting soldier who shares a grim scene with [[Jude Law]]'s character, and was on location in Romania for only a week. Murphy stated that it was a "massive production", remarking that director [[Anthony Minghella]] was the calmest director he'd ever met.<ref name="IT803">{{cite news |date=9 August 2003 |title=Just trying to mix it up; With 'The Seagull' in Edinburgh, 'Intermission' set to open and '28 Days Later' a US hit, Cillian Murphy is on a roll, writes Michael Dwyer |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24687909.html |url-status=dead |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611073357/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24687909.html |archive-date=11 June 2014}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Murphy also had a role as a butcher in ''[[Girl with a Pearl Earring (film)|Girl with a Pearl Earring]]'' (2003) with [[Scarlett Johansson]] and [[Colin Firth]].<ref>{{cite news |date=21 February 2009 |title=SPOTLIGHT ON |newspaper=[[Western Mail (Wales)|The Western Mail]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-194199818.html |url-status=dead |access-date=4 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611074931/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-194199818.html |archive-date=11 June 2014}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

In 2004, Murphy toured Ireland with the [[Druid Theatre Company]], in ''[[The Playboy of the Western World]]'' (playing the character of Christy Mahon) under the direction of [[Garry Hynes]]—who had previously directed Murphy back in 1999 in the theatre productions of ''Juno and the Paycock''—and also in ''The Country Boy''.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 February 2004 |title=The Playboy of the Western World; Town Hall Theatre, Galway |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24726352.html |url-status=dead |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611073350/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24726352.html |archive-date=11 June 2014}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=31 March 2008 |title=Juno |newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-178119682.html |url-status=dead |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611073352/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-178119682.html |archive-date=11 June 2014}}{{subscription required}}</ref>