Teachers have their work cut out at the best of times, but in new Netflix film Steve the grown-ups face an even tougher gig than usual. The titular headteacher, played by Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy, and his exhausted colleagues work long hours in a residential reform school called Stanton Wood – the last resort for a chaotic class of troubled lads with some serious behavioural problems.
Sworn at, heckled and in some cases physically abused by the kids who cannot help themselves, these heroic educators are their charges’ only hope for a future that doesn’t involve ‘juvie’ and then (probably) prison. Even sadder, when the film begins, we learn of Stanton’s imminent closure by the council.
It’s a heartbreaking situation, especially as many of the teenagers are clearly quite talented. There’s hyperactive Cal, a handful but wickedly funny, and Shy (Jay Lycurgo) who has plans to start a jungle record label with music-mad mate Nabeel. You’ll be moved watching these plans and the relationships that develop around them play out in one of the best Netflix movies of the year. Think Adolescence if directed by Shane Meadows.
To find out a bit more about the performances that bring these characters to life so vividly, we did some digging (and some interviewing). Here are the real-life people who inspired Murphy and his co-star Simbi Ajikawo (AKA the mighty Little Simz), who plays younger staffroom recruit Shola.
The Cork guitar teacher who guided a teenage Cillian Murphy
You probably know Cillian Murphy as an actor, but he’s an accomplished musician too. Before the Douglas native began making headway in Hollywood, he played in local bands such as acid-jazz rockers The Sons Of Mr Green Genes and Sarahdaze, who’ve been compared to Fontaines D.C. He was a whizz on guitar – and one man taught him everything he knew.
From 1991 to 1995, teenage Murphy attended Wright Music Centre in Cork city centre. There, he was coached through the essentials on a six-string by Mark O’Leary, who also instructed former members of Inspiral Carpets and Irish punks The Sultans Of Ping.
“One Saturday, in walks Cillian wearing a green parka jacket,” says O’Leary, a child prodigy who worked as a session guitarist from 16 and went to the esteemed Musicians Institute: College of Contemporary Music in Los Angeles (Chili Peppers axeman John Frusciante was a classmate). “I was the first guy to say this kid’s got talent… the way he held the guitar and his confidence – though not too confident. He’s a nice guy but very determined and intelligent.”
Murphy initially learned classic folky tunes by Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan (‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ was an early favourite) before O’Leary put him in touch with bass player John Powell (grand-nephew of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins) so he and his younger brother Páidi could form Sarahdaze. “They gelled very well, and I thought ‘this could be a two-guitar post-punk type of band’ – but then Cillian started singing and the guys were like: ‘He’s amazing.’”
After that, Murphy developed a taste for the “more funky stuff” and O’Leary introduced him to the sounds of Frank Zappa and San Francisco soul legends Tower Of Power. This led Murphy to play concerts in Cork’s many underground venues with The Sons Of Mr Green Genes, whose avant-garde approach very much pushed the boundaries of what was popular at the time.
“It all came to him quite naturally,” says O’Leary. “He would ask questions, ‘OK, what’s this about? What’s the essence of that?’ I tried to explain something and then he’d go off and work on it and get it together… Some guys you had to push to practice but there was absolutely no need with Cillian – he was really into it.”
O’Leary recently re-released his track ‘Laundromat’, an 11-minute experimental odyssey recorded in a laundrette. This is alongside more pop-infused albums ‘Medúlla Komið’, ‘Chartreuse’, ‘Poetic Eras’, ‘St Elmo By The Sea’ and ‘Dream Of The Blue Llama’ on the TIBProd Italy imprint. Well-known regionally for stints in Midway, acclaimed Irish live stalwarts Interference (who appear on the soundtrack to coming-of-age movie Sing Street) and Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley’s final band, he has been a fixture on the Cork music scene for 40 years.
O’Leary last saw Murphy by chance on a night out at Chambers, the historic gig spot on the town’s prime entertainment strip, sometime in the late ‘90s. “He might have had a few roles but it was before he started acting in films,” O’Leary remembers, he was really impressive as a frontman – his confidence and singing ability. The people there were knocked out by him. I was actually just walking past because it was on my way home and I just had a peek in. I was like: ‘That’s the good stuff.’”
The college tutor who gave Little Simz a chance
Every artist needs someone to believe in them before they hit the big time – and UK rap icon Little Simz is no different. After leaving school, the budding musician wanted to study Music Production at Westminster Kingsway College, but there was a snag: she didn’t have the right grades.
“There was one teacher, his name was Phil,” Simz explains, “and he allowed me to take on that course anyway and I’ll never forget that because he just saw something in me and was like: ‘On paper, you don’t actually qualify but I see something in you and I’m gonna give you a chance.’ I’ll always be very very grateful for that.”
The author who taught Cillian to love words
Knowing your way around the English language is pretty important for an actor, so it’s lucky the Oppenheimer star got expert guidance on the subject from an award-winning wordsmith. William Wall, or “Bill” as Murphy calls him, is a Booker Prize-longlisted author, poet and short story writer who worked as a teacher for 20 years, including a stretch at Presentation Brothers College during the 1990s. It was there that he encountered one of Ireland’s soon-to-be most famous sons, who says: “Bill unlocked literature, theatre and poetry for me and encouraged me to perform. He was a great novelist. Distance allows you that perspective and allows you to acknowledge the difference it made.”
Speaking on an episode of Newstalk podcast The Anton Savage Show, Wall said: “I remember him well in school and he was a great student. I certainly encouraged him into the arts, I thought it was just natural for him. I don’t think I can claim his Oscar though!
“Any teacher of literature would understand that, you know, you have young people at school who are really good at the subject who work very hard and do very well at it and who are rewarded in exams – and then you have people who get it. Sometimes they’re also hard workers and Cillian was not a hard worker, but he got it. When you talked about poetry with him, he understood what you were talking about. He understood the purpose of the whole thing. He had a natural affinity for cultural things.”
The head of year who saw something special in Simz
If you’re a struggling teacher’s assistant or tired trainee and you’re wondering if it’s all worth the late nights of never-ending marking, just remember that the kid’s essay you’re poring over could one day make it into a hit rap song. Something similar happened to Little Simz mentor Ms Rowson when, onstage with Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz and grime don Kano at the cartoon band’s Demon Dayz Festival in 2017, Simz launched into a celebratory verse about the people who put her on a path way back when.
“Teachers looked at me funny when I said I’d make it from rapping,” she spits in the clip, “Still got love for Ms Rowson, still got love for Ms Welton, I don’t fuck with Ms Chambers, she didn’t do me no favours.”
Simz has often spoken positively about her time at Highbury Fields School in north London, and has even been back to visit English tutor Ms Welton and then Head Of Year Ms Rowson. Asked if she was surprised by her former pupil’s success, Rowson told The Guardian: “Not exactly. We always knew that Simbi would do something… different.”
‘Steve’ is in select cinemas now and comes to Netflix on October 3