Cillian Murphy picked ‘Abbey Road’ by The Beatles as his favourite album during an exclusive interview with NME.
The Oscar winner is currently promoting his new drama Steve, co-starring Little Simz, and both sat down with NME’s Alex Flood to discuss the movie. You can watch the interview in full below.
The stars were asked about one album they go back to over and over. For Little Simz, it was Frank Ocean’s 2011 mixtape ‘Nostalgia Ultra’, but the Oppenheimer star went with The Fab Four’s penultimate 1969 release, which featured classics such as ‘Come Together’ and ‘Here Comes The Sun.’
“When I was very young… I we used to go to the city library and actually rent cassettes” Murphy recalled. “And I remember renting ‘Abbey Road’ by The Beatles because my dad had the greatest hits on cassette.
“I listen to that over and over and over and over and over and over and over, and you know the second half is that whole McCartney collage thing which is just this incredible virtuosity. Yeah. And it’s like it always felt kind of like you were traveling through something.”
He also revealed a personal connection to the eponymous studio. “Then I ended up living near Abbey Road. So bizarre” he said. “It just became like a road.”
Set in the ‘90s, Netflix drama Steve sees Murphy star as a headteacher in charge of a school for boys with societal and behavioural difficulties. His struggles with the school’s impending closure and his own mental health issues run parallel with the story of Shy (Jay Lycurgo), a troubled teen caught in a difficult situation.
Earlier this month, Cillian Murphy performed a surprise DJ set at Cork music festival Sounds From A Safe Harbour, which he also curates.
Steve is in select cinemas now and comes to Netflix on October 3.