Cillian Murphy’s son Aran taking it in his stride as he steps into acting

Nineteen-year-old Aran Murphy, the son of a celebrated Irish actor who grew up in an artistic household, has landed three screen roles that will appear within weeks of each other. His first outing is Sharon Horgan’s new series Youth, which is due on September 20, and two more projects follow in October.

A fast start after the Leaving Cert

Murphy took a year out after the Leaving Cert to pursue acting and quickly found himself cast in major productions. He describes the pace of his entry into the industry as unexpected.

‘I’m going to roll with the punches, see how it goes,’ he told the Irish Times. ‘I’m very new to this whole thing. I thought it would be nice and staggered, but it’s very much ripping the Band‑Aid off.’

Originally from London, Murphy moved to Ireland with his family at seven. In Youth he plays Ruairí, a teenager on the cusp of leaving school — a role the actor says felt familiar.

What the shows are and when they arrive

Youth centres on Alex, played by Sharon Horgan, a woman in her 50s navigating dating and family life. The series blends humour with reflective moments about mid‑life change and family dynamics.

Murphy says Ruairí’s anxieties mirror his own at this stage: ‘He’s at the same stage in his life that I’m at, where you’re on the cusp of graduating into the real world… All the anxiety and uncertainty is familiar in a lot of ways. It doesn’t seem too far from what I’ve heard or experienced in my life. There’s a lot of dread,’ he told the Irish Times.

After Youth arrives on September 20, Murphy appears in the TV drama War, which stars Dominic West and Sienna Miller, and in Taika Waititi’s film Klara and the Sun. Both projects are scheduled for release in October.

For a performer just starting out, the coming weeks will mark a steep learning curve — and a rare concentration of high‑profile screen work so early in a career. Murphy’s approach, for now, is simply to take it as it comes.