The Actor Who Played Thomas Shelby On Peaky Blinders Has A Real-Life Lookalike Son
Cillian Murphy, best known as Thomas Shelby to fans of the hit Netflix crime series "Peaky Blinders," is one of those people you can place in an instant. His piercing ice-blue eyes and perfectly shaped lips, paired with the model-like cheekbones and jawline, make for a rather unique face. That's why social media users were so taken aback when they caught sight of one of Cillian's two sons, Aran Murphy, during a red carpet appearance in September 2026. For many, it was like they were seeing double.
Cillian and his wife, Yvonne McGuinness, attended the "Youth" premiere to support their youngest, who stars in the HBO Max series. As the picture below shows, Aran shares a striking resemblance to his famous dad. His eyes and eyebrows, in particular, make it impossible to deny they are father and son the moment you see them together. Their physical similarities aside, social media users were also astonished by Aran and Cillian's shared idiosyncrasies. "Same expressions, same mannerisms, same energy," an X user noted.
And many think Aran struck gold when he inherited not only Cillian's physical attributes but some of his personality traits as well. "Aran has a lovely manner just like Our Cillian Murphy, down to his very shyness," an X user highlighted. However, others saw the downside to their resemblance as well. "Poor aran murphy. he's gonna have to spend the first few years of his acting career doing mainstream interviews addressing how similar he is to his father, cillian," another user argued on X. Regardless of whether it's good or bad, the resemblance is undeniable. But Aran is like his father beyond their physical likeness.
Cillian Murphy didn't push Aran toward acting
Aran Murphy may be following in his father's footsteps, but Cillian Murphy didn't particularly want his son to get into acting. You may not know this about Cillian, but the Irish actor is critical of Hollywood and the celebrity lifestyle. In October 2017, when Aran and Malachy Murphy were 10 and 12, respectively, Cillian revealed that his children were utterly unimpressed by his work — and that he was more than okay with it. "I'm trying to keep them in that state because it's such a silly industry," he told The Standard.
His efforts were obviously unsuccessful, as Aran is now a blooming actor. Cillian's hesitancy didn't mean he failed to see his son's draw to it — or his talent. "He's really good at it," he told The Telegraph in 2024, shortly before Aran snagged a role in the 2026 film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, "Klara and the Sun." Yet, Cillian still held on to hope that his son might end up doing something else later on. "We're not putting him under any pressure. If he decides to become a musician or a poet or a farmer or a chef, that's up to him," he continued.
It's not looking like Aran is interested in pursuing anything other than acting at the moment, but anything is possible, we guess. Whether his acting chops are on par with his Oscar-winning dad is still to be seen. What is clear is that Aran takes after his famous father in many different ways, whether Cillian likes it or not.