Cillian Murphy has said that winning an Oscar didn't change his acting experience, and that he had just wanted to get back to work.

The Cork actor's latest project following his recent Oscar win is a film adaptation of Small Things Like These, which he also served as a producer on.

In the film, Cillian plays a coal merchant from Wexford who suspects a local convent is an abusive Magdalene laundry.

On The Anton Savage Show, Murphy said that the biggest reward for him has been the power to tell the stories that he wants.

“If it helps get films over the line that I’d like to make, then that’s a really positive thing,” he said.

“There’s a certain type of storytelling that I’m interested in, and if [the award] helps get those films financed, then I’ll take it.”

Cillian Murphy in 'Small Things Like These'. Image: Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland

Murphy said that it was his wife who suggested adapting Claire Keegan’s work to him.

“I'm a great admirer of Claire Keegan as a writer, I think she's a tremendous, tremendous talent,” he said.

"I really wanted to work with Tim Mielants, our director again.

“We were like kind of looking around for material – and then in fact, it was my wife who suggested that we look at Claire Keegan's material and miraculously, the book was still available, the rights were still available.”

Murphy and Mielants previously worked together on the crime series Peaky Blinders.

Universal appeal

Murphy said while the film tells an Irish story, it still holds a universal appeal.

“Is it a peculiarly Irish story? I really don't think it is,” he said.

“We've tested the film in America and people really respond to it.

“If you look at what happened in Canada, for example, with the all those indigenous people, and there was all these unmarked graves – thousands and thousands of kids died in residential homes in Canada.

“This is happening all over the world – and it's not just about Catholic Church, it's about any form of oppression.

“So, it has connected with people in a really profound way, as I was hoping it might.”

Small Things Like These was adapted from the 2021 novel of the same name by Claire Keegan. The film is in cinemas now.

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