Cillian Murphy thinks he is "an incredibly average person"

Cillian, 49, told The Times newspaper: "Being a personality is not what I am good at.

"But then existing in this world? Talking about yourself, going on f****** red carpets? It's not healthy if you start to believe this s***, and I'm really bad at it too.

"I'm an incredibly average person, really."

Cillian will celebrate his 50th birthday in May and admits that he has been contemplating a "really interesting" stage of his life.

The Oppenheimer actor - who has sons Malachi, 20, and Aran, 18, with his wife Yvonne McGuinness - said: "Middle age is really interesting. You've had children and been successful and then hit this certain age and think, all right, this is the first time I've got less time left than I've had so far on this planet.

"I'm turning 50 in a few months, so I do think, well, what do I do now? Hopefully I can just be a reasonable dad and husband, and then, when it comes, still take the work incredibly seriously."

Murphy will reprise his role as Tommy Shelby in the upcoming film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man and admits that it has been "incredibly rewarding" playing the character since the show started airing on TV back in 2013.

He said: "I was 35 when we started and 48 when we made the film.

"I've played Tommy for over a quarter of my life, moving from being a youngish man right into the teeth of middle age. It's incredibly rewarding seeing everybody around you get older."

Cillian admits that there is a sense of poignance about the enduring role, particularly following the death of his co-star Helen McCrory from cancer at the age of 52 in 2021.

The Oscar-winner said: "A dear friend.

"But that is one of the consequences of doing something for a long time. We lost Helen... people had babies, got married. People changed their lives."

Meanwhile, Murphy strenuously denied speculation that he could be playing Voldemort in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series.

He said: "I'm categorically not. Can you make that the headline?"