Home --> Bio --> Narrative --> Here
Biography, Part 2:
From the Bar to the Boards (1976–1996)
by The CillianSite Collective
Onstage as Pig in Disco Pigs
Born in Ireland on 25 May 1976, Cillian comes from what he describes as "a long line of pedagogues," including his mother, a French teacher, and his father, a school inspector. The family was musically oriented and Cillian started playing music at a young age, dreaming of being a rock star.
It wasn't until 1992 that the acting bug bit. At 16, Cillian attended a drama module given at his secondary school by Pat Kiernan, artistic director of Cork's Corcadorca Theatre Company. Cillian was entranced. "I just got such a huge high. And, later, when I was playing music it was the same. You get this rush up your spine—like drugs or good sex. Something in you just goes 'yes!' and you are fully alive for that moment."
Still, it was music, not acting, that was the focus for Cillian during his "wild years" as a teen. He played in several bands, the most serious of which was The Sons of Mr. Green Genes. Cillian led the band with his younger brother Páidi, played guitar, sang, and wrote songs. Their name was "nicked from a Frank Zappa song" called "Son of Mr. Green Genes," a 1969 tune by the late prog rock composer. According to Cillian, the vibe of The Sons of Mr. Green Genes was "very much like 20-year-olds showing off how proficient they are with their instruments," complete with long guitar and drum solos.
In 1996, The Sons of Mr. Green Genes was offered a recording contract by the Acid Jazz label. Cillian's parents refused to let the boys sign as Páidi was still in secondary school and they were "horrified by the idea that they were going to lose both of their sons to the fucking jaws of the music industry." Cillian recognised that the deal offered was not good, as they would have lost the publishing rights to their songs, and in fact the record label went "belly up" a few years later.
That same year, Cillian enrolled at University College Cork for a law degree. He has frequently admitted that he had no ambition to be a lawyer or indeed any interest in legal studies. We'll never know if Cillian would have completed his degree, because after seeing a local performance of A Clockwork Orange, the acting bug bit. He first took to the stage in the UCC Drama Soc's production of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Frank McGuinness' tale of the ill-fated Ulster Division during the first World War. Cillian also began hanging around the Corcadorca Theatre Company, taking in shows and pestering director Pat Kiernan for an audition. Persistence paid off. After his first year at UCC, he was cast in Enda Walsh's new play Disco Pigs.
Cillian made his professional acting debut in September 1996, in the first-ever performance of Disco Pigs at Cork's Triskel Theatre. As Pig, the male lead in this disturbing story of two teens joined in a strange symbiotic relationship, Cillian painted a vivid picture of the lovelorn Pig and his increasingly violent and erratic behavior. Originally scheduled to run a few weeks, the play was a success and moved to the Dublin Fringe Festival, where the production won the Best Fringe Production Award and Cillian's performance garnered rave reviews.
The play's success in Ireland led to offers to bring the production overseas. Postponing his musical ambitions, the 20-year-old took a leap of faith and left university to join Corcadorca's touring production of Disco Pigs.
