Cillian Murphy says making 'Anthropoid' 'Dunkirk' have not made him "understand" the "horror" of war.

Cillian Murphy

Cillian Murphy

The 40-year-old actor has shot the two World War II dramas - directed by Sean Ellis and Christopher Nolan respectively - back-to-back, however, although he may play a soldier in each movie he accepts he can never truly comprehend what men who fight in conflicts go through.

He said: "Do you get to understand it more? The answer is no. We are students the four weeks before the film and the six or eight weeks or 10 weeks during it and you absorb and absorb it as much as you can, but on a very superficial level. I think it would be indulgent for us as actors to say, 'I understand it', no, these were real people who lived and died and we cannot even begin to imagine the horrors of it. We're just trying to portray it as honestly as possible."

The Irish actor - who is famous for his role TV crime thriller 'Peaky Blinders' - admits he is slightly worried about being stereotyped by his roles in the two movies.

He added to website HeyUGuys.com: "Well first of all I made a couple of science fiction films a couple of years ago and people, went, 'Oh science fiction, now that's your thing,' and it's not, it's totally random. I had no idea Christopher Nolan would be making 'Dunkirk' after I made this film."

Cillian will appear alongside One Direction singer Harry Styles in 'Dunkirk' and revealed the singer has been "really funny" and enjoys a laugh and a joke on set.

He previously said: "Harry Styles is great. I had very few scenes with Harry but we got to hang out and I've got to say he's a great, great kid, and really, really funny. Above all, Chris Nolan knows talent and would have cast Harry for a reason."