Aran Murphy Lands Two HBO Roles and a Taika Waititi Film at 19

Nineteen-year-old Aran Murphy is co-starring in two HBO shows at once — "Youth" and "War" — and appears in Taika Waititi's dystopian film "Klara and the Sun," which opens Oct. 23. He also happens to be the son of Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, a resemblance strangers point out constantly. "I don't even think we look that much alike, but people seem to think otherwise," Murphy tells Variety.

Both TV roles put him in the same emotional territory: a troubled teenager caught in his parents' divorce. The mechanics differ, and that's where the story gets interesting.

Who is he playing in 'Youth'?

In "Youth," Sharon Horgan plays a rambunctious 50-year-old divorcée re-entering the dating pool. Murphy plays her son Rauri, a brooding university dropout who leaves school days after arriving, because a rumor about a drunken hookup suggests he may be a predator. Audiences can't quite stop sympathizing with him anyway.

Did Murphy decide for himself whether Rauri is innocent? "Yeah!" he says. "I mean, I'd like to think so. It's up to the audience; I don't decide that. But I want to back my character."

He found the role close to home in one specific way: timing. "Contextually, we both just left school and were 18 — it was really about making decisions and whether college is the right thing, that kind of entrance into adult life, so that was a nice thing to draw on to relate to him," he says.

He credits Horgan's scripts for doing the heavy lifting. "She was so awesome and charismatic and open to ideas that it was easy to just work and create that bond over shooting," Murphy says. "The words were already so good, we were able to springboard off that and find the chemistry on the day."

What happens in 'War'?

Murphy debuts in the Oct. 15 episode of "War" as Gabriel, torn between his mother Carla (Sienna Miller), a past-her-prime actress, and his stepfather Morgan (Dominic West), a billionaire social media entrepreneur. Their ugly, high-profile divorce turns Gabriel into a negotiating asset, caught in the crossfire.

Again, Murphy points to the script — this time from creator George Kay. "It was all in the script — his frustration with what's going on and nowhere to put it," he says. "I'm sure it's a pretty universal kind of thing: People just want to take their anger out in some way."

Gabriel's anger turns physical: drunk at a party, he throws a punch after a friend makes a rude remark about the divorce. The stunt was a first. "I'd never had to do something like that — that was new," Murphy says. "That was a bit nerve-racking, because you don't want to accidentally punch someone in the face."

What does this change for a newcomer with a famous father?

Professionally, everything is new to Murphy. Despite artistic parents — his mother, Yvonne McGuinness, is an Irish visual artist — he first imagined a football career. "That faded pretty quickly," he says. A play at age 11 changed his mind: "That was kind of the thing that showed me I wanted to [perform] for real when I became of age."

Growing up with Cillian Murphy meant an early, sometimes intense film education. "Seeing my dad onscreen in dramatic situations as an 8-year-old was pretty full-on," he says, citing Ken Loach's "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," which won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. "I think I need to revisit it as a 19-year-old."

He has seen most, but "definitely not all," of his father's filmography and is "forever grateful" for the conversations about acting. Still, he treats his father as a parent first, not a public figure. "I think living with someone who's in the public eye, the novelty of that wears off pretty quick," Murphy says.

What about 'Klara and the Sun'?

The Waititi film, based on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, stars Jenna Ortega as a robot girl experiencing human life for the first time, alongside Amy Adams. It was shot in early 2024, when Murphy was 16.

"It was incredibly surreal. One minute I was in school, and then the next I was flying out to New Zealand and shooting a Taika Waititi film at 16, so it was just absolutely nuts," he says. "[Ortega and Adams] are so great, just being in their presence and being able to learn so much. They're also so kind and accommodating."

Murphy calls himself "not a fan" of AI and adds, "I don't think it's a net positive for the industry." For him, the film matters for "opening those discussions" and "talking about the importance of human life and especially friendship and love and human qualities."

With three major credits landing within weeks, Murphy says he's simply staying open: "I'm just auditioning and crossing my fingers. Basically, I'm just open to anything."