>> Stephen: WELCOME BACK,
EVERYBODY! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOU KNOW
MY NEXT GUEST TONIGHT FROM "THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY,"
"INCEPTION," AND "PEAKY BLINDERS." HE NOW STARS IN CHRISTOPHER
NOLAN'S "DUNKIRK." PLEASE WELCOME CILLIAN MURPHY. ( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
( BAND PLAYING ) >> Stephen: WELCOME TO "THE
LATE SHOW." >> THANK YOU. >> Stephen: MEE NICE TO MEET YOU
YOU, TOO. >> Stephen: I'M A FAN OF YOUR
WORK. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> Stephen: I DID NOT KNOW
YOU'RE IRISH. >> OH, REALLY? >> Stephen: YOUR AMERICAN
ACCENT WAS SO GOOD YOU FOOLED ME. >> THANK YOU INTO CAN YOU BE
FOOLED BY PEOPLE DOING AN IRISH ACCENT? >> OCCASIONALLY, YEAH. I GUESS, YEAH. >> Stephen: BUT MOST OF THE
TIME NOT? >> THERE HAVE BEEN SOME
SUCCESSFUL IRISH ACCENTS I GUESS IN THE COURSE OF CINEMA HISTORY. >> Stephen: LUCKY CHARMS GUY,
OBVIOUSLY. >> OBVIOUSLY IS THAT DO YOU GET
LUCKY CHARMS IN IRELAND? >> LUCKY CHARMS DON'T EXIST IN
IRELAND. >> Stephen: THE LEPRECHAUNS
HIDE THEM FROM YOU. >> YEAH. >> Stephen: THE TRIX RABBIT? I DON'T KNOW HIM. >> Stephen: WHO WOULD DO A
BETTER IRISH ACCENT. ARE YOU WILLING TO NAME NAMES. >> NO. >> Stephen: DO YOU STILL LIVE
IN IRELAND? >> I LOVED IN LONDON THE LAST
FOUR YEARS AND WE MOVED BACK TO DUBLIN. >> Stephen: NICE TOWN. WE JUST WENT THERE. >> ARE YOU IRISH? >> Stephen: ALL IRISH. COLBERT, I DON'T PRONOUNCE THE
"T" TO SOUND MORE PRETENTIOUS. ( LAUGHTER )
ACTUAL CATHOLIC EDUCATION? >> YEAH. >> Stephen: DID YOU HAVE TO
TAKE LATIN. >> DID THAT FOR ONE YEAR. >> Stephen: DIDN'T TAKE? NOT REALLY, NOPE. >> Stephen: DID YOU STUDY OVER
THERE? DID YOU STUDY AT THE GATE OR
ANYTHING LIKE THAT? >> NEVER STUDIED AS AN ACTOR. STARTED OFF DOING THEATER. >> Stephen: I THOUGHT YOU HAD
A BAND TO START OFF. >> YEAH, I HAVE A FAILED CAREER
AS A MUSICIAN. >> Stephen: OKAY. THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO DO. I REALLY WANTED TO BE A MUSICIAN
FOR YEARS AND YEARS, AND THEN THE THEATER JUST BECAME MORE, I
SUPPOSE, LIKE THAT WAS THE FORM OF EXPRESSION THAT BECAME MORE
RELEVANT OR WHATEVER. >> Stephen: WHEN SPHWROAG
GROWING UP, DID YOU SING TRADITIONAL IRISH TUNES, BALLADS
AND THINGS LIKE THAT? >> NOT REALLY. >> Stephen: THAT'S THE
STEREOTYPE. >> YEAH. >> Stephen: YOU'RE DOWN AT THE
PUB SINGING. >> YEAH, WE WERE DOWN TO THE
PUB, NOT NECESSARILY SINGING. JUST DRINKING. >> Stephen: WELL, THE NEW
MOVIE "DUNKIRK" IS AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY FOR THOSE
PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW IT. STRANGELY ENOUGH, NOT A LOT OF
PEOPLE KNOW THIS STORY. IF WE CAN PUT A MAP UP HERE,
JIM. CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO THE PEOPLE
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE BATTLE OF DUNKIRK? YOU CAN SEE IT BEHIND YOU. >> OH, BEHIND ME. YEAH WOW, YOU'RE PUT MEG ON THE
SPOT HERE. WELL, IT'S BEFORE AMERICA CAME
INTO THE WAR, IT'S 1940, AND IT'S BASICALLY A RETREAT, AN
EHAVING WEIGHS, AND THERE'S LIKE 400,000 MEN ON THE BEACH IN
DUNKIRK. >> Stephen: THE BRITISH FORCES
ARE TRAPPED. >> EXACTLY. THEY HAVE BEEN PICKED OFF FROM
THE SKY BY THE GERMAN AIR FORCE. >> Stephen: AND IF THIS FORCE
IS DEFEATED, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT FOR ENGLAND? >> IF IT HAD GONE THE OTHER WAY,
WE WOULD ALL LIVE IN A VERY DIFFERENT SOCIETY TODAY. THAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS
MOMENT IN HISTORY, AND IT HAD NEVER REALLY BEEN DEALT IN
MODERN CINEMA. THERE'S A FILM WITH JOHN MILLS
AND DICK ATENBERG BUT RECENTLY NOT BEEN DEALT WITH, YOU KNOW. >> Stephen: AND ONE OF THE
EXTRAORDINARY THINGS IS PEOPLE USE THEIR ORDINARY BOATS. >> YEAH. >> Stephen: NOT NAVAL VESSELS
BECAUSE IT WAS SHALLOW. >> YEAH. >> Stephen: SO THE NAVAL
VESSELS COULDN'T PICK PEOPLE UP SO ORDINARY PEOPLE WENT OUT IN
THEIR BOATS. >> THAT'S THE THING THAT MAKES
IT SO EXTRAORDINARY IN TERMS OF MILITARY HISTORY IS THAT THE
DESTROYERS COULDN'T GET IN BECAUSE THE WATER WAS SO
SHALLOW, SO ALL THESE, LIKE, NORMALCY VILIAN PEOPLE TOOK
THEIR HOLIDAY VESSELS AND WENT OVER AND PICKED THESE GUYS UP. THEY GOT 300-PLUS THOUSAND
SOLDIERS OFF THE BEACH. >> Stephen: AND ONLY 26 MILES
FROM DOVER TO DUNKIRK. >> THERE YOU GO. >> Stephen: AND THE PEOPLE ON
THE BEACH COULD SEE ENGLAND BUT COULDN'T GET TO IT. >> YEAH, IT WAS A CRAZY TIME. >> Stephen: NOW YOU PLAY A
BRITISH SERVICEMEMBER WHO IS FLOATING IN THE CHANNEL, RIGHT? >> YEAH. >> Stephen: GETS PICKED UP. WHAT'S THE CLIP WE'RE ABOUT TO
SEE? >> SO MY CHARACTER, WE SEE HIM
AFTER SOME SORT OF UNKNOWN CATASTROPHE AND HE'S SITTING
INSIDE THE HULL OF, LIKE, A BORDER SECURITY AND THEN HE'S
PICKED UP BY THIS VESSEL CALLED THE MOON STONER, AND MARK IS THE
CAPTAIN OF THE BOAT, AND HE'S PICKED UP AND REALIZES QUICKLY
THAT RATHER THAN GOING HOME HE'S GOING BACK INTO DUNKIRK AND HE'S
PRETTY MESSED UP. >> Stephen: JIM? WE HAVEN'T TURNED AROUND. A JOB TO DO. A JOB -- THIS IS A PLEASURE
YACHT. YOU'RE WEEKEND SAILORS, NOT THE
BLOODY NAVY, AND A MAN YOUR AGE. >> MEN MY AGE DICTATE THIS
WORLD, WHY SHOULD WE BE ALLOWED TO SEND OUR CHILDREN TO FIGHT
IT? >> YOU SHOULD BE AT HOME! THERE WON'T BE ANY HOME IF WE
ALLOW THEM TO CROSS THE CHANNEL. >> Stephen: A LOVELY MOVIE. ( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
>> THANK YOU. >> Stephen:
>> STEPHEN: "DUNKIRK" OPENS THIS FRIDAY, CILLIAN MURPHY,
EVERYBODY.
Gotta love that Peaky Blinders look