Murphy starred in '' The Wind That Shakes the Barley '' ( 2006 ) , a film about the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War , which won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and became the most successful Irish independent film at the Irish box office . Murphy was especially keen on appearing in the film due to his intimate connections to Cork , Ireland , where the film was shot . Murphy had to audition six times for the role of Damien O'Donovan , a young doctor turned revolutionary , before winning the part . Murphy considered it a very special privilege to have been given the role and stated that he was " tremendously proud " of the film , remarking that the " memories run very , very deep – the politics , the divisions and everybody has stories of family members who were caught up in the struggle . " Critic Denby noted Murphy 's moments of deep stillness and idiosyncrasies in portraying the character . Kenneth Turan of the '' Los Angeles Times '' wrote that " Murphy is especially good at playing the zealotry as well as the soul-searching and the regret , at showing us a man who is eaten up alive because he 's forced to act in ways that are contrary to his background and his training . " '' GQ UK '' presented Murphy with its 2006 Actor of the Year award for his work in '' The Wind That Shakes the Barley ''
2006 Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
Cillian Murphy