Cillian Murphy Stayed "At Home, Eating Cheese" During SAG Strike

Cillian Murphy attends the "Oppenheimer" UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 13, 2023 in London, England. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Cillian Murphy is opening up about how he spent his time during the SAG-AFTRA strike, and it's a little... cheesy.

The actor and costars Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr. recently gave a Q&A about Oppenheimer—which came out during the summer but which they had to stop promoting due to the strike.

On this occasion, Murphy was asked what it meant to him to be on the promo trail once more, after the cast members were basically "removed from the building" as they were promoting the movie in July.

"It means everything, really. I mean, because it was made for theaters, this is how it was designed to be seen, so it's great to be here with an audience watching it," the Peaky Blinders star said.

"It was very odd. It was actually London. We got to Paris then it was London, and then it all just stopped. So I've just been at home. Eating cheese."

This drew many laughs, and the actor added, "I recommend it."

Emily Blunt then asked him, "When did you stop eating cheese?" and he answered, "Yesterday" to more peels of laughter.

(This, I will add, stands in stark contrast to Kim Kardashian's recent admission that she doesn't like the cheese on pizza.)

The SAG strike ended on Nov. 9, marking a great win for the rights of people involved in making movies and TV shows. During the four months it lasted, actors were not allowed to work or participate in any events related to their work.

This meant they couldn't film, but also that they couldn't carry out the regular promotion interviews they would usually do, including posting about their projects on social media, per TODAY. Now that the strike has ended, actors are once again permitted to resume business as usual.

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.