Teen Actor Aran Murphy Stars in Two HBO Series and a Taika Waititi Film

Teen actor Aran Murphy, 19, is starring in two new HBO series—‘Youth’ and ‘War’—while also playing a lead in Taika Waititi’s dystopian film ‘Klara and the Sun’, set to hit cinemas on Oct 23. ‘Youth’ follows Sharon Horgan’s 50‑year‑old divorcée as she re‑enters dating; Murphy portrays her son Rauri, a brooding university dropout accused of a drunken hookup rumor that some viewers may see as predatory. He says the audience decides Rauri’s innocence and he backs the character without dictating the outcome. Both Murphy and his on‑screen brother left school at 18, a shared experience that helped him relate to Rauri’s choices about college and adulthood. Horgan’s strong scripts and charisma, Murphy adds, made it easy to build chemistry on set. In ‘War’, which debuted on Oct 15, Murphy appears as Gabriel, caught between his mother Carla (Sienna Miller) and stepfather Morgan (Dominic West) in a high‑profile divorce. Creator George Kay wrote Gabriel’s frustration, and Murphy had to throw a physical punch while his character is drunk at a party, a nerve‑racking first for the young actor. Acting is new for Murphy despite growing up with artistic parents—his mother Yvonne McGuinness is an Irish visual artist and his father Cillian Murphy, an Oscar‑winning actor whose film ‘The Wind That Shakes the Barley’ left a lasting impression. He first tried performance at age 11 after a brief football stint, and later shot ‘Klara and the Sun’ in early 2024 at 16, working alongside Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams in New Zealand. Murphy says he is skeptical of AI in cinema, calling it not a net positive and hoping the film sparks discussion about human connection. ## Context The dual HBO roles showcase Murphy’s range as he moves between teenage angst and family drama, while ‘Klara and the Sun’ marks his first major feature film collaboration with an internationally known director. His comments on AI reflect a broader industry debate about technology versus human artistry.