Murphy, 48, plays father Bill Furlong in the film, which is based on Claire Keegan’s best-selling novel of the same name about Ireland’s infamous Magdalene Laundress.
Speaking to the PA news agency on the red carpet at the film’s UK premiere, Murphy said: “We tried to stay true to the script itself, or should I say sorry for the book itself.”
“Because it’s such a beautiful, beautiful, perfect novella.
“And I think our biggest challenge was staying true to the book.
“And we just wanted to tell the story in a gentle, sensitive way and leave enough space for the audience to really get into the story and find their own path.”
The film follows Bill as he works as a coal trader to support his family and discovers how mothers and children are treated in a convent in New Ross, County Wexford.
Drew Vinton, Enda Walsh, Eileen Walsh, Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson and Alan Moloney attend the Small Things Like These UK premiere at Curzon Mayfair (Ian West/PA)
From the 18th century, nuns operated laundries across Ireland until the last facility in Sean McDermott Street, Dublin, closed in 1996.
Originally intended for “degenerate women,” the use of laundries expanded during the 20th century to include non-pregnant women and women coming from orphanages.
The Irish facility was notorious for the abuse many women suffered there in the 1990s, when unmarked graves were discovered at one site. The issue prompted a formal national apology in 2013.
The Cork-born actor supported repealing the Eighth Amendment to Ireland’s constitution ahead of the 2018 referendum in which people voted in favor of an amendment to make abortion legal.
He also narrated a podcast series about survivors of single-parent families in Tuam in 2020.
Murphy wore a mustard-colored jacket to the event at Curzon Mayfair, teaming it with a khaki shirt and light hair color that included flecks of blonde, gray and dark brown.
“A Royal Night Out” actress Emily Watson and “The Magdalene Sisters” star Eileen Walsh also graced the carpet Thursday night.
Eileen Walsh, Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson (Ian West/Pennsylvania)
Watson wore a long black ensemble, and Walsh joined her in a black velvet dress with cut-out details.
Anne-Marie Duff of The Virgin Queen and The Devil Wears Prada actor Stanley Tucci and his wife Felicity Blunt were also in attendance at the event.
Murphy will reprise his role as mobster Tommy Shelby in the new Peaky Blinders, directed by creator Steven Knight, and is reportedly currently filming in Birmingham, where the TV show is set. .
This year, the Irish actor won Best Actor at both the BAFTA and Oscar Awards for his role in Christopher Nolan’s historical drama Oppenheimer.
Murphy has also appeared in films such as Danny Boyle’s 2002 film 28 Days Later and Nolan’s 2010 film Inception.
