Cillian Murphy shares drastic new look as production wraps on emotional new Netflix movie

Cillian Murphy has just wrapped up production on a new Netflix film that promises to be an emotional rollercoaster; and it seems he embraced a new look for the role .

The Oscar-winner is both producing and starring in Steve, which follows a headmaster and his students at a last-chance reform college facing closure. The film, which was adapted from Max Porter's best-selling novel Shy, is one of the first productions from Murphy's new company Big Things Films .

Netflix green lit Steve back in February and filming took place over the past few months in the UK under the direction of Tim Mielants. A release date hasn't yet been shared, but Big Things Films did post the first picture from the set this week.

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"Written by Max Porter. Starring Cillian Murphy and Jay Lycurgo. Coming soon to Netflix," the company wrote alongside a polaroid shot of the three of them.

Murphy and Lycurgo can be seen sitting in chairs outside and smiling in the photo, while Porter stands behind them. Lycurgo, a young up-and-coming English actor who plays a struggling teenager in the movie, is also holding up a copy of Shy.

Fans would be forgiven for doing a double-take when they first see the snap, given Murphy's new look.

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The Co Cork native is sporting a grey beard and seems to have grown out his hair for the role - a much different aesthetic from his roles in Peaky Blinders or Oppenheimer, to say the least.

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Production for Steve began on May 25 and finished up on Friday, July 5. Big Things Films was founded by Murphy and his longtime collaborator Alan Maloney this year to support independent filmmakers, writers, actors and directors.

The duo worked together on the upcoming movie Small Things Like These, which was also directed by Mielants and stars Murphy in the lead role. That film is set to be released in the autumn, after Lionsgate acquired it last month for the US, UK and Ireland.

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