16-year-old son of Cillian Murphy, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor, signs with Will Smith’s team to begin his career in Hollywood | Films

When it comes to the business world, the Murphy family seems to be in a great place. Shortly after the worldwide success of the family patriarch, in winning the Oscar for Best Actor for Cillian, the star’s youngest son with artist Yvonne McGuinness, Aran (16 years old), has just signed a contract with Will Smith’s firm, which manages the careers of several Hollywood stars such as Angelina Jolie and Ryan Gosling. It seems that the young man will follow the same successful path as his father.

Not only represented by ‘Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern’, Smith’s agency, but also by ‘Lisa Richards’, who takes care of the careers of a few other stars, Aran is already tipped to act alongside another new generation superstar , Jenna Ortega (‘X — The Mark of Death’ and ‘Scream’), as well as the award-winning Amy Adams (‘Sharp Objects’ and ‘Arrival’), in the film adaptation of the book ‘Klara and the Sun’, which will be directed by star Taika Waititi (‘Jojo Rabbit’).

Aran’s career, however, is not exactly new: the boy enjoyed his time in front of the camera some time ago, in a small role in the indie science fiction ‘LOLA’, released in 2021. It was not just in the cinema that the firstborn The Irish star made a name for himself: in the theater, he shone as the protagonist of the play ‘Hamnet’, an adaptation of the book that suggests that a dead son of Shakespeare would have inspired him to write his classic ‘Hamlet’.

Aran and his older brother, Malachy (17), are increasingly in the Hollywood spotlight with the consequent ‘boom’ in their father’s career. Even though Cillian was already a well-known actor in the industry even before his role in ‘Oppenheimer’ (winner of the Oscar for Best Film and six other statuettes in 2024), mainly for his starring role in the brilliant ‘Peaky Blinders’ and other roles around Alongside Christopher Nolan, it was only in the biopic about the inventor of the atomic bomb that attention completely turned to the 47-year-old Irishman.

During the recent awards season, the star’s two children and wife were present at some of the ceremonies. Among them, the Golden Globe. Yvonne, in turn, also accompanied Cillian to the Oscars, when for the first time he won the much-deserved award.

Aran’s contract with Will Smith’s agency, therefore, comes at a funny, even ironic, moment: while his father is at the height of his success, achieving the greatest global prestige, Will is in a completely opposite situation — after the event at the ceremony 2022 Oscars, when Will got up from his seat and slapped presenter Chris Rock, in an iconic moment in modern pop culture. The consequences were not good for the 55-year-old actor, who was banned from the awards show for the next ten years.

The closest Will will be able to get to the statuette at the moment is, therefore, through his company’s contract with Aran, son of the last winner of the ‘golden man’.

The youngest and oldest brother are the result of Cillian’s long-term relationship with artist Yvonne McGuinness. The two met in the late 90s, during a concert by Murphy’s rock band — which didn’t end up going very well. In 2004, they got married and lived a completely private life in London until 2015.

It was when Cillian, a proud Irishman, realized that his children were developing a strange British accent: a reason for panic for the decolonial icon, who decided together with his wife that he would pack his bags and return to Ireland, preventing the ‘evil’ , that is, the British identity gained more strength in the boys’ lives.

In one of several interviews Murphy gave, he explained: “It’s kind of an Irish story, you know? Moving [para fora do país], do your things and then return home. It’s a common narrative among the Irish.” Cillian and his wife would never want to see their roots lost with their children: since then, they have lived in Dublin in a secluded mansion, where no one (so far) has social media or really likes appearing around all the time; a characteristic closely linked to the actor, who became famous on the internet for his various memes criticizing people’s noise on cell phone keyboards and questioning (non-ironically) what a ‘meme’ was.

For fans, when Cillian appeared in a TV interview or simply in a photo on the street, it was a cause for celebration. The timing of the post-‘Oppenheimer’ awards season was a real treat for everyone who has followed the star in recent years.

Now, with Aran on his way to the spotlight, it’s only fair to start guessing about the next steps for Murphy’s family. It’s difficult for the rest of the family to want to start showing up more after the moment of success: stillness and calm are two of the ‘Watching the Detectives’ actor’s favorite things — it’s no wonder he is one of the voices on the ‘Calm’ app , focused on meditation and relaxation. There, Cillian tells stories about his homeland in a low, calm tone.

Still, Aran can take different directions and pursue his career as an on-screen heartthrob in a more ‘extroverted’ way. Could it happen?

Remember the iconic moment when Cillian Murphy receives the Oscar for Best Actor for ‘Oppenheimer’ in 2024: