In a recet Entertainment Weekly cover story, "The Must List: 122 People and Things We Love This Summer," the most highly placed Irish person was not Bono or Colin Farrell but Cillian Murphy, who ranked 45th and was imaginatively described as "King of the Brogue".

With awards buzz building for Neil Jordan's Breakfast On Pluto, in which Murphy plays a transvestite, its release has moved from early autumn to January, just weeks before the Oscar nominations are announced. "I gave it my heart and soul," Murphy told Reel News.

Having just finished Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley (left), Murphy will join Michelle Yeoh and Chris Evans in Danny Boyle's futuristic thriller, Halo. "It's a great script," says Murphy, adding that he knows nothing about 28 Weeks Later, the rumoured sequel to Boyle's 28 Days Later. "People keep asking me about that, but I'm certainly not going to be in it. To me, 28 Days Later was a full stop. I'd never do a sequel."

So does that rule out playing the dual role of Dr Jonathan Crane and The Scarecrow in a sequel to Batman Begins? "I would give that consideration, but that's different. If they wanted me to do it again, I'd love to be involved. The main attraction was working with Chris Nolan, so if he's doing it again, so would I."