Peaky Blinders’ star Cillian Murphy met his wife of 18 years before he was famous: what keeps them together

Peaky Blinders star Cillian met Yvonne in 1996 at one of his rock band’s shows and the couple have been together since - here’s a look at their relathiship ahead of hte release of the actor’s latest film Oppenheimer
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For Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy fame was never the goal. He always wanted to be a better actor and staying grounded helps him. And, the person behind the scenes who keeps him rooted is his wife - Yvonne McGuinness.

Cillian, who plays the role of a hardened Brummie gangster in Peaky Blinders, met Yvonne in 1996 at one of his jazz funk band shows when he played guitar and sang for The Sons of Mr Green Genes.

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She decided to travel with him as he was touring for the play Disco Pigs, a dark Irish comedy around the same time.

"That time, making Disco Pigs, was kind of the most important period of my life," he told The Guardian in 2016. 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."

The couple lead a quiet life now but have also lived it up in London in their 20s and 30s. Now, as parents, they wanted to raise their two sons close to their Irish roots.

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“I loved living in London in my 20s and 30s, but after a while you kind of go, ‘Right, is this it? Is this it for the rest of my days? Or is there some other possibility?’” Murphy said. He and Yvonne got married in 2004 and welcomed two sons together - who are 15 and 17 now.

Cillian Murphy checks out of his actor life for 6 months in a year  (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)Cillian Murphy checks out of his actor life for 6 months in a year  (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
Cillian Murphy checks out of his actor life for 6 months in a year (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

Who is Yvonne McGuinness?

She holds a master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in London. Her work encompasses film, performance, sculptural and textile elements, sound and writing, according to her website.

Other than that, she is also a protective mother. While Cillian was in Liverpool shooting for Peaky Blinders for six seasons, she stayed home with the children.

They moved from London to Dublin in because they wanted to raise their children near their grandparents. Cillian said: “We wanted them to be Irish, I suppose. It’s amazing how quickly their accents have adapted.”

Cillian chooses family over fame

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He prefers the low-key life instead of living in Los Angeles despite being part of mega movies like Inception, Batman and more.

"I don’t need to live in Los Angeles," Murphy told PEOPLE in 2005. "I’d be tremendously far away from my family — I’d never see them."

And, it’s his wife who keeps the fame from getting to his head. "It’s very important to have somebody like that," he said. "My life hasn’t changed in any way, really. I still have the same friends and we go to the same places."

Djimon Hounsou, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski  (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)Djimon Hounsou, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski  (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Djimon Hounsou, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

For him, his work is more important. "The fame thing was never a goal. I just want to improve," Murphy previously told PEOPLE. "If I can leave one film behind that’s something that affects somebody, that’s absolutely fine."

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He still goes away for work but he returns, he spends his time doing normal things like cooking with his wife, watching moveis, listening to music, and most importantly, being a dad.

"That work-life balance thing is hard. I have an amazing wife and I couldn’t do this without her and her understanding. But it is a struggle,” he told GQ.

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

His way of coping with his fame is ensuring he doesn’t 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.” He stays away from that cycle for at least six months a year.

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His latest feature film, Oppenheimer - directed by Christopher Nolan - is about physicist J Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian). The film is about Oppenheimer and a team of scientists on the Manhattan Project, which lead to the development of the atomic bomb. It is due to be released on 21 July 2023.

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