Cillian Murphy says he disappoints Peaky Blinders fans as he’s nothing like Tommy Shelby

Although he has starred in several Christopher Nolan films, including The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Dunkirk, and his forthcoming drama Oppenheimer, it is his lead role in the BBC drama that he is best known for.

But the 46-year-old Cork man admits that he finds it “a little sad that I can’t provide the charisma and swagger” of the mob boss he plays.

“I do feel people are a little bit underwhelmed. That’s fine, it means I’m doing my job,” he admitted. “But sometimes I feel a little sad that I can’t provide, like, that charisma and swagger. He couldn’t be further from me.”

Murphy who was speaking about working with Nolan again, also opened up about his complicated relationship with fame, saying that it can “ruin experiences”.

He says that he finds being photographed “offensive” and that it “fetishises everything’

‘You can be walking down the street and someone takes a picture like this is a f***ing event,” Murphy explained in a new interview with Rolling Stone UK.

“I don’t like being photographed by people. I find that offensive. If I was a woman, and it was a man photographing me...,” he added.

Comparing fame to commuting, he said: “You have to commute to get to your destination.

“I think that’s the way the best people are, they’re not doing it for any other reason but love of the craft. They have a compulsion to make work, not to be famous or get attention.”

He argued that “fame evaporates with regularity”.

“I’m around here all the time and no one gives a f***ing s***. Nobody cares. I go to the shop. It dissipates. But if… one of the guys from Succession walked in here, I’d be all intimidated and shaky. When you’re confronted with someone you’ve invested a lot in, or you think is amazing, the encounter is strange.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Murphy discussed his views on religion, saying he has “no problem” with people having faith.

"But I don’t like it being imposed. When it’s imposed, it causes harm. That’s where I have an issue.

“So, I don’t want to go around bashing the good things about institutionalised religion, because there are some. But when it gets twisted and fu**ed-up, like it did in our country, and imposed on a nation, that’s an issue.”