Cillian Murphy has once again become an internet meme, this time for his “resting bored face” while Taylor Swift chatted about her engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce on The Graham Norton Show.
The Oscar winning Oppenheimer actor, 47, joined the pop superstar, 35, on the BBC sofa on Friday night alongside a line up of other celebrity guests.
But while Swift excitedly showed off her dazzling diamond ring, reportedly worth between $700,000 and $1 million, viewers couldn’t help but focus on Murphy’s expression, which appeared to suggest he’d rather be anywhere else.
“Resting bored face. I get it, Cillian,” one fan joked on X (formerly Twitter), while another wrote: “Cillian’s social battery is always at 10 per cent.” Others quipped: “He’s one of us,” “Someone get poor Cillian off that couch,” and “This is peak Cillian Murphy behaviour.”
It’s not the first time the Irish star’s unamused expressions have gone viral. At the 2024 Golden Globes, where he scooped Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for Oppenheimer, fans joked that he “looked like he was hating every single second” of the event. Memes flooded social media, dubbing him “winner of the IDGAF war.”
On Norton’s show, Murphy was there to promote his new film Steve, about a head teacher at a reform school grappling with his own mental health struggles, while Swift was discussing her latest album The Life of a Showgirl.
Asked by Norton when the wedding will take place, Swift replied: “You’ll know. I want to do the album stuff first, and the wedding happens after in terms of planning. I think it will be fun to plan.”
Fans joked that Murphy was “performing mental gymnastics” to stay focused through the conversation, though many were quick to defend him, saying his subdued reactions are just part of his charm.
The pair actually share a friendly history. Swift recalled meeting Murphy and his family at an Oscars party, even spotting his 17 year old son Aran in The Graham Norton Show audience. “Your sons are the future of our world,” she told him.
When Murphy admitted he wasn’t sure if Aran was there, Swift pointed him out in the crowd, prompting laughter from the audience and host Graham Norton, who declared: “Oh my God, he is so Cillian Murphy style. If this was a game show, we’ve all just won a prize.”
Days after the episode aired, the BBC has now confirmed a new three year deal with Graham Norton and So Television to produce three more series of The Graham Norton Show for BBC One and iPlayer.
The multi award winning chat show will continue through to at least 2028, beginning with series 34 which will air in 2026. The most recent run averaged 2.9 million viewers per episode, maintaining its status as the UK’s biggest chat show and generating millions of views globally across YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
First launched on BBC Two in 2007 before moving to BBC One, the show has become a cornerstone of Friday night entertainment and has collected a raft of honours including BAFTAs, National Television Awards and RTS Television Awards.
