Inside Cillian Murphy's family life: Golden Globe winner credits wife of 20 years with his acting success and ditched London for Dublin with their children because they 'had very posh English accents'

Cillian Murphy was supported by his wife Yvonne McGuinness and their younger son Aran, 16, at Sunday’s Golden Globes, with the pair cheering him on as he scooped Best Actor.

The Irish star, 47, picked up Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his role in Oppenheimer and made his way to the stage with lipstick on his nose after Yvonne accidentally smeared it on his face.

Cillian – who also has son Malachy, 17, with Yvonne – went on to pay tribute to his family in his acceptance speech.

It was a rare public family outing for the actor who is keen on protecting the privacy of his loved ones.

Cillian married Irish artist Yvonne McGuinness in 2004, after the pair first met at one of his rock band’s shows in 1996. They went on to have two sons.

Cillian Murphy was supported by his wife Yvonne McGuinness and their younger son Aran, 16, at Sunday’s Golden Globes, with the pair cheering him on as he scooped Best Actor

The Irish star, 47, picked up Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his role in Oppenheimer and made his way to the stage with lipstick on his nose after Yvonne accidentally smeared it on

Their meeting coincided with Cillian touring his play Disco Pigs, with the actor previously telling The Guardian: ‘That time, making Disco Pigs, was kind of the most important period of my life.

‘The people I met there remain my closest friends… They shaped me in terms of my tastes, in terms of what I wanted to do with my life.

‘And it was around the same time I met my wife. She came on tour with us. It was so exciting, 20 years ago or whatever it was — we were all just kids, trying to find our way — but such a special, special time.’

Yvonne is the niece of politician, John McGuinness, and prefers to keep out of the spotlight, shunning red carpet appearances with her husband.

Yet Cillian revealed that she’s instrumental to his acting success, telling GQ of his work schedule: ‘I couldn’t do this without [my wife] and her understanding. But it is a struggle.

‘I think it is for any dad whose work takes him away, which it generally does, and which consumes him, which my work does.

‘I make sure that I try not to go from job to job to job, because that means you live in a bubble of set, hotel, set, hotel, plane, film festivals – which, to me, is not reality. So I just check out from that for six months a year.’

One of his major projects, Peaky Blinders, saw the pair forced to live apart while he filmed in Northern England. 

He explained to The Guardian, that there was ‘zero’ chance of maintaining his personal life during filming, saying: ‘You go home to your tiny apartment at the end of the day and you feed yourself for sustenance and you learn the lines for the next day and you try to get as much sleep as you possibly can. Which isn’t much.

‘And then you get up and do it again.’

Cillian married Irish artist Yvonne McGuinness in 2004, after the pair first met at one of his rock band’s shows in 1996. They went on to have two sons (pictured in 2016)

Cillian and his family now live in Dublin after he reportedly splashed out close to £1.7million on a Victorian townhouse.

The four-storey home, originally built in 1863, is located in Monkstown, south Co. Dublin, and has six double bedrooms as well as four receptions rooms.

While they are now based in Ireland, his sons were born in London and stayed there until 2015, with the actor joking they moved because his sons were developing ‘very posh English accents’.

‘We were in London for 14 years, both our kids were born there. We only came back to Dublin in 2015,’ he told the Armchair Expert podcast.

‘It’s kind of an Irish story, you know, to move away, do your thing and then come home. That seems to be a common narrative for Irish people. 

‘We wanted the kids to be Irish, and they were sort of at that age where they were preteens and they had very posh English accents and I wasn’t appreciating that too much. Our parents are a certain age and it was just a nice time to come home.’

The 5ft7 star also noted that his sons were almost taller than him. 

It also seems he won’t be following in the footsteps of the acting elite, claiming he ‘couldn’t envisage’ upping sticks to Los Angeles.

Cillian said: ‘I love visiting and I love the food and I do love the weather. I don’t know, I just feel European, I just feel Irish. I’d feel like a bit of an interloper if I lived in California, I couldn’t envisage living there permanently.’

Yvonne works as an artist, with her website describing her work as encompassing ‘film, performance, sculptural and textile elements, sound and writing.

‘She has an interest in embodied experience of place and belonging by staging live, public, interventions and performances which create surreal and dynamic moments of interaction and connection to place, time and communities.’

Cillian’s son Aran has followed his father’s footsteps by pursuing an acting career, with roles in the film LOLA and in a stage production of Hamnet.

While eldest son, Malachy, has shown an interest in music, a passion that Cillian has encouraged.

During his Best Actor acceptance speech at the Globes, Cillian dubbed himself ‘the luckiest man’ as he spoke directly to his wife and children.

‘To my family, I’m the luckiest man and I love you,’ he said.

Cillian and his family now live in Dublin after he reportedly splashed out close to £1.7million on a Victorian townhouse (pictured before its sale)

Cillian beat out a very impressive field to claim the award including: Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers, Barry Keoghan – Saltburn, Bradley Cooper – Maestro, Colman Domingo – Rustin and Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon.

Last week, the actor paid tribute to Yvonne and their sons while honored with the Desert Palm Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards.

He said: ‘Two-thirds of them are sitting down there. We had to leave one of them at home doing exams.

‘But just thanks for putting up with me — putting up with the half me and the shadow me and the absent me, the remains of me when I’m doing a film like this or work in general. You’re always there. I love it. So thanks, guys.’