Cillian Murphy responds sarcastically to people thinking he was ‘28 Years Later’ zombie: “It’s very flattering”

Cillian Murphy has looked back on the time when 28 Years Later fans thought he was the zombie who briefly appeared in the movie’s debut trailer in characteristically dry fashion.

• READ MORE: ‘28 Years Later’ review: brilliantly bizarre sequel turns the franchise on its (decapitated) head

An emaciated zombie features briefly in the promo, released last December, and with Murphy being listed as executive producer, fans speculated that it could be him.

A Sony executive teased his appearance “in a surprising way and in a way that grows,” while Murphy had previously lost weight for his Oscar-winning turn as the titular character in Oppenheimer.

It came out shortly after that the zombie, named Emaciated Infected, was played by Angus Neill, an art dealer and model spotted by director Danny Boyle.

I swear to god, this better not be Jim in #28YearsLater because if it is you ruined my excitement for Cillian’s return to the franchise by infecting him pic.twitter.com/GDdTRnpb00

— WanderDragon99 🇮🇪 (@WanderDragon99) December 10, 2024

And now, Murphy – who played main character Jim in the original 28 Days Later movie – has responded to the rumours. In an interview with The Observer, he said his son let him know about Emaciated Infected – and that people thought it was him.

He remarked: “That’s great people think I look like a zombie cadaver. It’s very flattering.”

While Murphy didn’t appear in 28 Years Later, either as the zombie or back as Jim, he will be returning for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, the second movie of a planned 28 Years Later trilogy and the fourth instalment in the series overall. He’s “only in it for a little bit,” but the appearance will set things up for him to have a main role in the trilogy’s final film.

The third movie is unconfirmed so far, however, with Murphy saying, “Everyone’s got to go and see the second one. I’m sure they will – it’s really, really good.”

The movie has already been filmed and is set to come out in January.

Meanwhile, his latest movie Steve had its world premiere in Toronto last week and will be released by Netflix on October 3. He stars as the titular character, a headteacher in a school for boys with social and behavioural difficulties, alongside Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo, Simbi Ajikawo (Little Simz) and Emily Watson.

He told The Observer that he’d like to see society treat young people like his character does in the film, explaining: “Those kids you see standing on corners with hoodies on, that we identify as ‘problems’ – they’re real, brilliant human beings. There has to be a different approach rather than just excluding them from school and shutting down youth clubs and libraries. If you are excluded or ignored, that shame is a very corrosive emotion.”