28 Years Later's Emaciated Zombie Isn't Cillian Murphy After All

This is an emaciated zombie from the new 28 Years Later trailer. It looks sort of, kinda, maybe like an emaciated Cillian Murphy, the star of the first movie. It turns out that is not an emaciated Cillian Murphy, however. Instead, it’s an art dealer who sometimes models and happens to be very, very thin.

The Guardian reported this corrective earlier today, dashing a frenzy of excited fan speculation after the 28 Years Later trailer dropped earlier this week. The “Emaciated Infected” is actually played by Angus Neill, who director Danny Boyle had previously met and remembered for his extremely gaunt physique, rather than the star of last year’s summer blockbuster Oppenheimer.

“Danny told me he’d always had me in mind for the role,” Neill, who specializes in Old Masters paintings, told The Guardian. “So we met up, hit it off, and I agreed to take part. He continued, “On set he has an extraordinary ability to hypnotize you, and working with him on the film was a very, very intense experience.”

Murphy’s character, meanwhile, survived the original 28 Days Later but was completely MIA from the sequel 28 Weeks Later, which was made by a different director and writing team entirely. With Boyle and script writer Alex Garland teaming back up for the third movie, Murphy is believed to be involved in the project but hasn’t yet been confirmed in the current cast, which includes Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes.

It’s possible Murphy’s role in the film is a secret to be revealed later, or maybe his character, a random bystander in the first movie, just wouldn’t make any sense showing up in the latest rage virus-fueled apocalypse. For now, fans will have to find something else in the movie’s unsettling trailer to debate. 28 Years Later releases on June 20, 2025.

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