Cillian Murphy is the kind of actor who can play a stylish and stoic British gangster in Peaky Blinders as convincingly as a smart and intense American physicist in Oppenheimer. Seeing him in a movie or series never feels like watching an actor; rather, a master at work who disappears into the role effortlessly. He and acting are a match made in heaven, and one cannot imagine him doing anything else ever. But once, he had a different dream for himself.   

It is not a secret that Cillian Murphy once aspired to be a musician and even had a band in his teenage years. Recently, he shared something about his band, reminiscing about those days.

Cillian Murphy has, every once in a while, spoken about his early years as a musician, specifically a guitarist and a lead singer in The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, his teenage acid jazz band. However, the group soon disbanded when a record deal fell through. In a fun chat with Track Star, Murphy gave an update about his acid-jazz/experimental rock band. 

When asked if he still plays guitar, he replied, “I mess around, yeah."

The host also asked whether there is a chance that the band might come back. Murphy just said that they play together sometimes, and that is it. 

Murphy added, "We play together, you know? That’s fun.” 

Murphy was a rhythm guitarist who was influenced by Frank Zappa, funk, and soul. After his band disbanded, the Oscar-winning actor was thankful that he was able to keep his friendships with his bandmates. The band prioritized long guitar solos and instrumental music over appealing songs.

The disbanding of The Sons of Mr. Green Genes might lead some to believe that he did not have a talent for it. But it was quite the opposite.

 That is right, Cillian Murphy was a gifted musician, and it is not an assumption but the words of his former teacher, who taught him to play. Mark O'Leary, a Cork-based Irish jazz musician who taught him guitar in the 1990s, had said that he was very talented at playing guitar.

“He had a presence about him straight away. Even in a noisy class, people noticed he was gifted,” O’Leary said in an interview with Echo Live. The actor's first band played a few local performances but was never really successful. Murphy then started The Sons of Mr. Green Genes band with his friends, but ended up walking away from a five-album deal with Acid Jazz Records.

Murphy chose to pursue acting instead of continuing the musical path, and according to O’Leary, the timing could not have been better. He knew what he wanted from life and where he was going.  His recent venture, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, has topped the Netflix US charts, and his every other release becomes critically acclaimed. Murphy’s decision to pivot from music to acting did prove to be life-altering, as the success he has experienced is unparalleled.

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