Cillian Murphy's son Aran has landed a role in the new HBO drama Youth, following his father into the acting world with a part in one of the network's most anticipated upcoming shows.
Aran, 19, plays Ruairi, a troubled and emotionally unravelling teenage son who gets easily drawn into dodgy social media trends. He stars alongside fellow Irish actress Sharon Horgan, Rupert Friend and Robbie Gee.
On Friday, Aran joined his co-stars on the red carpet in London for a screening of the new show.
Photos from the event quickly went viral on social media, with users amazed by how closely Aran resembles his Hollywood star father.
Fans react to the resemblance
Commenters flocked to the pictures to point out the likeness. "It's too similar! My gosh!" one wrote, while another said, "Literally copy and paste Cillian to a T!!!"
Other comments included "He is more Cillian than Cillian himself," "Just copy of Cillian Murphy; they're so similar," "Copy n paste version of his dad," "I thought that was young him," "Oh my God, they cloned him!" and "No DNA test needed with this one."
Aran was also pictured on the carpet with Sharon Horgan and Sharlene Whyte.
Building a career on screen
Although still young, Aran has already built a strong portfolio in film and television. Earlier this year he featured in director Taika Waititi's sci-fi literary adaptation Klara and the Sun alongside Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams.
Last year he joined the cast of WAR, an HBO and Sky co-production that also features Dominic West and Sienna Miller. Aran made his formal feature film debut in Andrew Legge's indie sci-fi mystery Lola in 2022.
A run-in with Taylor Swift
Aran also has friends in high places. Cillian and his family met Taylor Swift at an Oscars party, and on an episode of The Graham Norton Show last year, the singer sought out Cillian's son in the studio audience.
Recalling the encounter, Cillian said: "We were at a party and I had the whole gang and my family, and my kids. I don't think my kids were legally allowed to be there."
Taylor replied: "I don't know but they were delightful. Your sons are the future of our world. They were such great conversationalists they were interesting and interested, that's a real accomplishment."
Actress Greta Lee, also on the show, asked: "They're here aren't they?" to which Cillian responded: "One of them is here yeah, Aran. Wait where is he? Maybe he's not here."
Aran was in fact in the audience, and Taylor, recognising him in part due to his resemblance to his father, pointed him out to the crowd, saying: "Oh he's right there, you can tell!"
Host Graham Norton laughed and added: "Oh my god he is so Cillian Murphy style. If this was a game show we've all just won a prize."
Life in Dublin
Cillian and his family now live in Dublin after he reportedly spent close to £1.7 million on a Victorian townhouse. The four-storey home, originally built in 1863, is located in south County Dublin and has six double bedrooms and four reception rooms.
Although the family is now based in Ireland, Cillian's sons were born in London and lived there until 2015. Cillian has joked that the move was partly prompted by his sons developing "very posh English accents."
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast, he said: "We were in London for 14 years, both our kids were born there. We only came back to Dublin in 2015. It's kind of an Irish story, you know, to move away, do your thing and then come home. That seems to be a common narrative for Irish people. We wanted the kids to be Irish, and they were sort of at that age where they were preteens and they had very posh English accents and I wasn't appreciating that too much. Our parents are a certain age and it was just a nice time to come home."
While Aran pursues acting, his older brother Malachy, 20, has shown an interest in music, a passion their father has encouraged.
