Terrible news for anyone hoping to see Academy Award-winning actor Cillian Murphy take a major pivot in his career. The gaunt and naked zombie in the 28 Years Later trailer was not Murphy, as multiple sources confirmed to The Guardian today.
One of those sources was model and old masters art dealer Angus Neill, who knows that Murphy wasn't playing the "Emaciated Infected" because he was playing the Emaciated Infected. Neill was apparently noticed by director Danny Boyle due to his "distinctive looks," meaning he, uh, kinda looks like an emaciated zombie. But any hit to his self-esteem that recognition may have caused was surely canceled out by the fact that seemingly the entire internet (including this writer) was fooled into believing that he possessed Murphy's distinctive cheekbones.
"Danny told me he’d always had me in mind for the role… So we met up, hit it off, and I agreed to take part," Neill told The Guardian of his foray into acting. "On set he has an extraordinary ability to hypnotise you," Boyle added of Neill. "Working with him on the film was a very, very intense experience."
This isn't to say that Murphy—the star of 2002's original 28 Days Later—isn't returning as one of the infected. He's just not the infected from the trailer. In May, a Sony exec confirmed that Murphy would indeed feature in the film "in a surprising way and in a way that grows." Even after all this hullabaloo, a naked Murphy zombie would still be pretty surprising!
28 Years Later also stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, and Jack O’Connell. It premieres June 20, 2025. You can watch the trailer—featuring Angus Neill—below:
