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Biography, Part 6:
Mixing It Up (2006 to the Present)
by The CillianSite Collective
With his name firmly established in Hollywood, Cillian probably could have laid claim to any variety of blockbuster roles. Instead, by choosing to go back a hundred years in history and fifty years into the future, returning to the stage, and challenging himself with his first true comedic role, his recent choices continue to reflect his commitment to diversity.
As Damien O'Donovan in
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Working with legendary director Ken Loach, Cillian led the mostly Irish cast of The Wind That Shakes the Barley. The film, about the origins of the Irish Civil War, was shot on location in County Cork in the summer of 2005. Cillian enjoyed the opportunity to make a film on his home turf, sleeping in his old bedroom at his parents' home and visiting his childhood haunts. But the location shoot held an even more poignant meaning: Cork was a stronghold of resistance to the British occupation, and Cillian repeatedly emphasised the integrity necessary to present this story to life.
To this end, he praised Loach's method of shooting in chronological order without making the actors privy to the entire script beforehand. Cillian said this approach allowed him "to strip away all the analysing and all the intellectualising and just serve the script and serve the story." The film also gave Cillian the opportunity to explore his own family's history at the hands of the Black and Tans, which included a distant cousin who was killed and a grandfather who was shot at while playing the fiddle.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival despite having been denounced by detractors (many of whom had not even seen the film) as anti-British and pro-IRA. "I fucking loved the controversy," Cillian admitted, adding that it gave Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty a forum. "I've never met people more eloquent than those two guys. So it was brilliant to see them take [the critics] on and win so convincingly." The film was a critical and financial success in Ireland and the U.K., toppling Intermission from its top spot as highest grossing independent Irish film at the Irish box office; in 2007, it enjoyed a successful limited release in North America and won glowing reviews from critics.
In rehearsal for Love Song
Cillian has often spoke of the education gained on stage. "You leave a production a better actor, because you're practicing and constantly evolving a character ... It challenges you tremendously. Not that film doesn't, but it's a more direct and immediate thing on stage." During press junkets for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Cillian repeatedly stated that "the stage is calling me." He answered that call for the London premiere of John Kolvenbach's play Love Song, which reunited him with director John Crowley from Intermission. Like the cheesiest love song that can lift your spirits, Cillian said the play was about "how, when you fall madly in love, everything becomes so wonderful." His Beane was a misunderstood loner whose life is changed with the appearance of a young woman played by Neve Campbell. Michael McKean and Kristen Johnston rounded out the cast (Cillian gushed, "It's pretty cool jamming guitar backstage with David St. Hubbins.") The production enjoyed an eleven-week run at the New Ambassadors Theatre.
Just a few months after Love Song closed, Cillian was back on the press junket tour, this time promoting Sunshine. Playing Capa, a physicist sent with a scientific mission to re-ignite the dying sun, Cillian joined the 28 Days Later... writer/director team of Alex Garland and Danny Boyle for this existential sci-fi adventure in the tradition of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the original Solaris.
As Robert Capa in Sunshine
Sunshine presented some new challenges for Cillian, such as a CGI-heavy production. "This was the first time I made a film where there was that much of a green screen element to it." Boyle also put his cast through rigorous training for their roles, from screenings of the science fiction classics to flights in zero-G to housing them together in East End dormitories to give them a better feel for communal living during their 18-month journey to the sun. To authenticate the story's science, Boyle called on University of Manchester physicist Brian Cox. Although science wasn't his forte in school, Cillian studied extensively with Dr. Cox and even traveled to Geneva to meet scientists at CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory. He admitted he couldn't quite grasp the advanced physics that they deal with every day, but said that talking with them helped him get into the right mindset for the role—and portray a convincing scientist, despite some reviewers' skepticism that geeks could ever be so attractive.
As Neil in
Watching the Detectives
Eager to tackle a new genre, Cillian starred in Paul Soter's romantic comedy Watching the Detectives, filmed in just under a month in New York and New Jersey in July 2006. Cillian played an independent video store owner with a penchant for film noir whose life is rocked by femme fatale Lucy Liu. Coming into this project after Sunshine was a relief for Cillian: "I'd done a lot of exhausting, intense films. They're the kind of films I do love to watch, but it was nice to just go and have a bit of fun." Soter said that the character of Neil is very much a "regular guy" that will give Cillian a chance to show mainstream audiences that his range extends far beyond "strange, creepy guy." Sadly, this somewhat lightweight flick will not achieve this goal, as it failed to find a distributor and will go straight to DVD.
As Captain William Killick in
The Edge of Love
In May and June 2007, Cillian shot The Edge of Love, Sharman Macdonald's story based on the true story of the intense relationships between poet Dylan Thomas, his wife Caitlin MacNamara, and their neighbours, the Killicks. Cillian plays William Killick, the World War II captain whose jealousy flares over his wife's close friendship to the poet (her former beau). While shooting on location in Wales, Cillian got his first taste of the tabloid side of celebrity when paparazzi swarmed the set to photograph Cillian's co-stars, the gossip page regulars Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley. The Edge of Love will be released in late 2008.
Immediately following The Edge of Love, in late June 2007, Cillian snuck into Chicago to film scenes for reprise his role as the Scarecrow in the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight. The filmmakers and Cillian himself denied for months that he'd appear in the sequel, but fans spotted him on set and he was also seen visiting Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. Finally, in December 2007, Cillian's role was officially confirmed, when a sneak peak showing of the first six minutes of the film in Los Angeles revealed his name in the credits. Nolan confirmed this, though he did specify that Cillian is only in the movie briefly. The Dark Knight will be out in July 2008.
As Richard Neville in Hippie Hippie Shake
In September 2007, Cillian tackled another biopic role: writer Richard Neville, in Hippie Hippie Shake, Beeban Kidron's screen adaptation of Neville's memoirs. Neville and his counterculture magazine Oz were charged with obscenity, resulting in Britain's longest (at that time) trial on public morality. Cillian plays Neville in this "bed-hopping, drug-addled" journey through the '60s. Again he stars alongside Sienna Miller, who plays his girlfriend, Louise Ferrier, and again the shoot was dogged by paparazzi. This film is slated for a 2009 release.
In May 2008, Cillian shot Peacock alongside Oscar nominee Ellen Page and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon. In this psychological thriller set in the mid-60s, Cillian stars as John Skillpa, a humble Nebraskan bank teller suffering from multiple personality disorder, whose secret alter ego, Emma, is revealed when a train derails in his backyard. Page's character, Maggie, has a link to his past and sets his two personalities against each other. Cillian has also been slated to star in a film opposite one of his long-time idols: Al Pacino. Another biopic, Dalí and I: the Surreal Story will star Pacino as famed artist Salvador Dalí and Cillian as the writer Stan Lauryssens, who became Dalí's protégé near the end of the eccentric painter's life. The film, which seems to have been delayed, was adapted for the screen and will be directed by Andrew Niccol. Most recently, Cillian signed on for a role in White Male Heart as a rural Scotsman stuck in a symbiotic relationship with his best friend that's threatened when a beautiful Londoner arrives on holiday. White Male Heart is stated to begin filming in spring 2009.
Cillian has a long wish list of directors and roles he'd like to take on in the future. Although he no longer offers names, in the past he's mentioned projects ranging from a Coen Brothers film to a Chet Baker biopic to an honest-to-God Western ("I'd love to learn how to reload on a saddle"). Despite a C.V. that boasts projects with some of the finest directors and actors in the industry today, Cillian is level-headed and humble about his prospects: "I've been very lucky to be able to create some great characters and work with the superb directors attached to them. If you have patience and accept that you are in this business for the long run and not take anything that comes along, you'll be okay."
