Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Episode: Cillian Murphy on ‘Steve,’ Life After ‘Oppenheimer,’ and the ‘Peaky Blinders’ Movie

Release Date: October 5, 2025
Guest: Cillian Murphy
Host: Willie Geist

Overview

In this engaging episode, Willie Geist sits down with Cillian Murphy—Academy Award-winning star of Oppenheimer, long-time Christopher Nolan collaborator, and beloved lead of Peaky Blinders—to discuss Murphy’s career post-Oscar win, his new Netflix film Steve, and what fans can expect from the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie. The conversation delves into Murphy's approach to acting, his deep admiration for educators (from whom he draws inspiration for Steve), his accidental path into acting, reflections on Hollywood vs. privacy, and the mystery of global, grassroots phenomena like Oppenheimer and Peaky Blinders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Genesis and Themes of Steve

[03:41 – 12:44]

• Steve originated from Murphy’s friendship with author Max Porter, with whom he had previously collaborated. The film adapts Porter's novella Shy, shifting perspective from the child protagonist to the headmaster, Steve.
• Murphy describes the story as an intense, single-day drama set in a 1990s UK reform school, focusing on a teacher in crisis and his efforts to help troubled boys:
  Murphy: “It’s the worst day you could possibly imagine for him, where everything seems to just be collapsing around him, and then it precipitates this kind of... breakdown for him, while... this kid he’s trying to reach is also really, really struggling. But, like, hopefully, it’s very funny and engaging and not, you know, all doom and gloom...” [04:05]
• The script is a tribute to teachers, reflecting Murphy’s deep family connection to education:
  Murphy: “Both my [parents] are retired teachers... you know, my grandfather was a headmaster... I had just through my formative years, kind of experienced every angle of it, really. This is a more extreme version because these kids are all struggling... But I did feel like there wasn’t a huge amount of research I needed to do.” [07:19]
• The film stresses non-judgment, compassion, and the vocational calling of teachers.
  Murphy: “I think it’s vocational. I think it’s like a calling, you know?” [10:01]

Celebrating the Power & Challenge of Teaching

[06:55 – 12:44]

• Murphy and Geist discuss the emotional toll and rewards of teaching:
  Murphy: “I think that’s the big question as to why teachers keep doing what they do... there are times when you really, really connect with a kid and you can really, really help a kid, and you can see over time the improvement that happens...” [10:01]
• The film’s heart is evident in a final, unseen monologue in which Steve describes each boy:
  Geist: “You can hear in his voice a smile. And a love. And he’s describing each boy, what makes him great and trying to teach them that there’s something else out there... He loves all these boys.” [11:55]
  Murphy: “He really does... very non-judgmental. Very compassionate approach to, to kind of education.” [12:07]

Filming Steve: Method and Young Talent

[15:03 – 20:42]

• The film was shot in chronological order, a rarity, with the entire cast (including many young, inexperienced actors) moving through the story as it unfolds:
  Murphy: “Shooting in sequence, chronologic—chronologically—was massive... you’re accumulating the emotional information experience as you go. Yeah, it was... exhausting...” [15:22]
• Murphy praises the young cast's raw talent and energy, crediting director Tim Mielants’s methods:
  Murphy: “You start to go, oh, these guys are just gonna blow me off the screen. I’m gonna have to step up here. Because all of that energy and, like, hunger and dedication to it, you know, that you have to try and sustain over a career, which is... hardest part in some ways...” [18:56]

Transitioning from Oppenheimer to Steve

[20:42 – 21:57]

• Murphy discusses moving directly from the Oppenheimer publicity whirlwind to the intimate set of Steve:
  Murphy: “These things are really never planned... I think that was my kind of coping mechanism to go straight back to work, which is probably not the most healthy.” [21:04]

The Impact of Educators & Early Artistic Influences

[22:20 – 27:38]

• Murphy credits his parents and English teacher, Bill Wall, for nurturing his love of literature and performance.
• He traces his switch from aspiring musician to actor to a failed record deal and a revelatory theater production:
  Murphy: “It sounds cliche... I felt very safe and comfortable on a stage from a very young age... For me, it was always music... and then there was a point actually, in 1996 where that kind of dream died… It made me have to pivot to theater because I needed to be performing.” [23:01]

Gradual Climb from Stage to Screen

[27:38 – 30:40]

• Murphy describes a slow, natural evolution from theater and short films to lead roles in internationally-renowned movies like 28 Days Later and, eventually, Nolan’s Batman Begins:
  Murphy: “It was very gradual really... it was very like the graph was quite even and I think it would have been terrifying if I was ricocheted into like a big huge movie.” [28:05]

Christopher Nolan Collaborative Process

[29:01 – 32:19]

• Murphy reflects on Nolan’s unique directing philosophy:
  Murphy: “When we got down to the work, it was just me and the other actor and one camera and Chris right by the camera and no video village, no monitors. And so it felt like independent filmmaking... his focus is completely on the performance...” [29:24]
• Murphy says he would always accept a Nolan invite:
  Murphy: “Who wouldn’t say yes? To work with... Chris... He’s a generational talent. I mean he’s one of the greats that we’ll speak of for generations, I think, to come.” [31:11]

Oppenheimer: The Unexpected Phenomenon

[34:26 – 37:37]

• Murphy reveals he had no sense while filming of the cultural impact Oppenheimer would have:
  Murphy: “...when I read the script... it was one of the greatest things I had ever read... but [after filming] it just turned into this absolute phenomenon and none of us anticipated that.” [34:48]
• On the film’s complexity and audience intelligence:
  Murphy: “They never, ever patronize or talk down to their audience with their films... and I think... it just Proves time and time again with their films that audiences are up for that. They’re really up for the challenge...” [35:59]

Winning the Academy Award & Staying Grounded

[37:37 – 39:08]

• Murphy admits he’s unsure if winning has yet changed his professional approach but hopes it helps him get projects financed:
  Murphy: “If it helps get these sorts of stories over the line or helps get them financed, then I’m definitely going to take full advantage of that...” [37:52]
• He expresses loyalty to the kind of storytelling he’s always loved:
  Murphy: “Next year I’ve been acting for 30 years ... you’re just going to continue doing... what you’ve always been attracted to. It’s not going to... take a massive swerve.” [38:23]

On Avoiding Celebrity and Staying Private

[39:08 – 41:08]

• Murphy prioritizes privacy to preserve the authenticity and transformative possibilities of acting:
  Murphy: “I’ve always felt that if you want to try and inhabit somebody convincingly, that it seems sensible that there wouldn’t be too much that people wouldn’t have an impression of you as an individual that would... inhibit your ability to do that.” [39:36]
• He prefers to "retreat" after work, living a full life outside of the industry:
  Murphy: “The best research you can do as an actor is to just like, live. Live your life rather than [celebrity stuff], which isn’t real life, you know?” [40:30]

The Peaky Blinders Movie

[41:08 – 43:15]

• Murphy confirms the much-anticipated movie is complete. He felt deep responsibility to “get it right” for fans:
  Murphy: “I wanted to get it right… We made six series... that’s 36 hours of TV all written by Steven Knight. And I feel like we did the thing of... each series... becoming... richer and deeper as it progressed...” [41:22]
• The series’ success, he says, was always a word-of-mouth, fan-driven phenomenon:
  Murphy: “People go, why? What was it about it? ...Again, you just don’t know. It’s some weird alchemy...” [42:55]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On teachers’ calling:
  “I think it’s vocational. I think it’s like a calling, you know?” —Cillian Murphy [10:01]

• On non-judgment in education:
  “It’s a very, very non-judgmental. Very compassionate approach to, to kind of education. And that’s, I think, certainly what... Max believes in.” —Cillian Murphy [12:08]

• On shooting Steve chronologically:
  “Shooting in sequence... was massive... it was exhausting... experiencing it as the character would experience.” —Cillian Murphy [15:22]

• On acting as identity:
  “For me, it was always music... and then that dream died... It made me have to pivot to theater because I needed... to be performing.” —Cillian Murphy [23:01]

• On Nolan’s process:
  “When we got down to the work, it was just me and the other actor and one camera and Chris right by the camera and no video village, no monitors. And so it felt like independent filmmaking.” —Cillian Murphy [29:24]

• On audiences rising to the challenge:
  “They never, ever patronize or talk down to their audience with their films… it just proves time and time again... audiences are up for the challenge...” —Cillian Murphy [35:59]

• On the meaning of privacy:
  “The best research you can do as an actor is to just like, live. Live your life rather than this stuff, which isn’t real life, you know?” —Cillian Murphy [40:30]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Setting the Scene: Steve’s Background — [03:41 – 06:10]
• Celebrating Teachers & Family Inspiration — [06:55 – 09:35]
• The Nature of Teaching: Compassion & Connection — [10:01 – 12:44]
• Filming Steve: Unique Methods & Young Cast — [15:03 – 20:42]
• Transition After Oppenheimer — [20:42 – 21:57]
• Discovering Acting, Influences, and Early Performances — [22:20 – 27:38]
• Stage to Screen: Growth and Luck — [27:38 – 30:40]
• Working With Christopher Nolan — [29:01 – 32:19]
• Making & Understanding Oppenheimer — [34:26 – 37:37]
• Navigating Fame & Privacy — [39:08 – 41:08]
• The Peaky Blinders Movie: Approach & Fanbase — [41:08 – 43:15]

Tone & Style

Murphy is thoughtful, self-effacing, and often wry—respectful both of his collaborators and his own roots. His reverence for teachers, both familial and fictional, pervades the discussion of Steve. Geist’s tone is conversational but insightful, drawing candid recollections and philosophy from Murphy, and never straying far from warmth, admiration, and humor.

This summary provides a comprehensive and vivid sense of the episode, capturing not just the facts, but the spirit and humanity of Murphy’s conversation with Geist.