Cillian Murphy remembers Helen McCrory as his ‘closest colleague’ on Peaky Blinders in touching tribute

‘She was just so fun and cool,’ said the actor

Cillian Murphy has paid a touching tribute to Helen McCrory, saying he was “in awe” of his late co-star.

McCrory died aged 52 in April. Her husband, Damian Lewis, shared a statement on Twitter that said she had died peacefully at home after “a heroic battle with cancer”.

Murphy starred opposite the actor in the hit BBC series Peaky Blinders, in which McCrory played his no-nonsense aunt Polly.

Speaking about the beloved actor, the 45-year-old told The Guardian: “Oh, man. She was my closest colleague on Peaky, and one of the finest actors I’ve ever worked with. Any material, any scenes… she made it special. She could do power and vulnerability, one after the other.”

Beyond her acting triumphs, Murphy described McCrory as “just so cool and fun”.

He added that she “had such compassion for everyone she met”.

“I was kind of in awe about how she lived her life – the way she balanced her work and her family so beautifully,” said Murphy.

The Irish actor is currently residing in Manchester, where he is shooting the sixth and final series of Peaky Blinders without McCrory.

Murphy also stars in Jim Krasinski’s newly released thriller A Quiet Place Part II, a follow-up to the hugely successful 2018 horror.