When the “28 Years Later” trailer raced online earlier this week, viewers were eager to see how all of the film’s stars figured into Danny Boyle’s first full-on horror film since the original “28 Days Later.” While they got a pretty good look at Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes, there was one notable omission. Where the heck was 2024 Best Actor Oscar-winner and returning “28 Days Later” star Cillian Murphy?
It didn’t take long for people to begin theorizing that he was, indeed, in the trailer, just not in a role that was at all expected.
As /Film reported on Tuesday, a number of hard-core fans believed Murphy briefly appeared at the one minute, 48 second mark of the trailer as a desiccated zombie. In their defense, this might explain why Murphy’s name is nowhere to be seen on the film’s official poster. But there were also numerous arguments to the contrary, among them being that Murphy had been snapped in leaked set photographs looking very much like himself, and that the zombie was so remarkably gaunt that there was no way Murphy could pull off that appearance short of doing what Christian Bale rather riskily did prior to shooting Brad Anderson’s “The Machinist.” Indeed, I took one look at the zombie and figured that it had to be an animatronic.
It wasn’t an animatronic. But it wasn’t Murphy either. So, who’s playing that tall, thin drink of Rage-virus-infected water?
Angus Neill plays the Emaciated Zombie in 28 Years Later
According to The Guardian, the man playing the character known as “Emaciated Zombie” is none other than art dealer Angus Neill. If you’ve never heard of Neill, that’s probably because his only credit prior to appearing in “28 Years Later” came 21 years ago when he played Tim in the New Zealand action-adventure anthology “Freaky.”
When reached for comment, Neill revealed that Boyle was struck by his singular looks. Per the actor, “Danny told me he’d always had me in mind for the role. So we met up, hit it off, and I agreed to take part.” If you’re wondering what Neill looks like out of makeup, you can check out his page at the Ugly Models Agency website. To give you a sense of just how thin Neill is, he’s 6’2″ with a 28″ waist and a 13/33 collar. Take one look at his striking visage, and it’s easy to understand why Boyle thought he’d make for a fascinating zombie canvas.
Neill categorized the shoot as “a very, very intense experience,” which is precisely what we’re expecting to get from Boyle’s long-awaited reunion with screenwriter Alex Garland. As for what’s become of Murphy’s Jim since “28 Days Later,” we might have to wait until the film’s release date, June 20, 2025, to find out!
