{"id":533567,"date":"2026-03-13T11:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T11:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533567\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T11:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T11:16:08","slug":"snoop-dogg-pigsty-fights-and-the-wrong-kind-of-snow-cillian-murphy-and-barry-keoghan-on-making-the-peaky-blinders-movie-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533567\/","title":{"rendered":"Snoop Dogg, pigsty fights and the wrong kind of snow: Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan on making the Peaky Blinders movie | Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

In June 2023, Barry Keoghan texted Cillian Murphy<\/a> to wish him a happy Father\u2019s Day. The pair had shared the screen six years before, in the film Dunkirk. \u201cCillian and Colin [Farrell] are people I admire greatly, and always keep in touch with,\u201d says Keoghan. A reply from Murphy pinged back soon after: \u201cThank you. Would you like to play my son in Peaky Blinders the movie?\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy remembers it a bit differently: that he was the one initiating contact (which is how Tim Roth and Rebecca Ferguson<\/a> came on board). But he\u2019s happy to let Keoghan\u2019s version be recorded as fact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a better story!\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I\u2019d definitely forgotten it was Father\u2019s Day. Maybe no one was paying attention to me at home?\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyway, Murphy continues, Keoghan was always his first choice to play Duke, errant idiot son of Tommy Shelby (Murphy) in the BBC and Netflix<\/a> drama\u2019s big-screen swan song. (The character was first introduced in season six, then played by Conrad Khan.) \u201cBarry\u2019s a firecracker \u2013 put a camera on him and all of a sudden he\u2019s riveting,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a danger to him \u2026 an unpredictability, which I think you need for that character. But also this vulnerability. And vulnerability on screen is a superpower as an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markBarry\u2019s a firecracker \u2013 there\u2019s a danger to him, an unpredictability. But also this vulnerability<\/p>\n

Peaky Blinders\u2019 sixth season \u2013 in which Tommy battled Oswald Mosley, navigated the end of prohibition, avenged the murder of his aunt Polly and grieved his daughter Ruby, all while being fooled into believing he was terminally ill \u2013 wrapped up in 2022. The final scene saw Murphy\u2019s brooding antihero riding off into the mist on the back of a white horse to do who knows what.<\/p>\n

The film picks up six years later, in 1940, with Nazi bombs falling on Birmingham. Tommy is holed up in his draughty country mansion, having cut himself off from his family. He tries to write his memoirs, but is regularly distracted by the lure of his opium pipe and harrowing visions of his many dead relatives.<\/p>\n

\u2018Unscrupulous\u2019 \u2026 Keoghan as Duke in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. Photograph: Robert Viglasky\/Netflix<\/p>\n

His gang is now run by Duke, unscrupulous even by criminal standards, who\u2019s running contraband and has done a deal with John Beckett, a British Nazi agent played by Tim Roth, to flood the country with millions in counterfeit money and swing the war in Germany\u2019s favour. We first see Keoghan\u2019s character administering a beating to a police officer with chilling efficiency. Today, in a London hotel, the actor is all smiles and eye contact beneath the mop top \u2013 he is playing Ringo Starr in Sam Mendes\u2019s upcoming quartet of Beatles movies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keoghan is a big Peaky fan \u2013 his decision to name his own dog Duke predates being cast as the character \u2013 so he understood the pressure. \u201cI know there\u2019s a wild fanbase and they will have expectations of this film,\u201d he says. \u201cSo it\u2019s impossible not to feel that. But I was made to feel very welcome. And getting to work with Cillian \u2013 what a joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joy is not the word that comes to mind during the first scene the characters share: a fight in a pigsty. Presumably whatever the pair end up caked in was not the real thing?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it was shit,\u201d says Murphy. \u201cPigs shit a lot.\u201d He shudders, lost in memories. \u201cThey really do shit. And we were in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markCillian had become Tommy Shelby. I was like, \u2018Wow. I\u2019m in trouble now\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my first day of filming,\u201d says Keoghan. \u201cI cracked all my knuckles open, too. I remember punching the ground and Cillian saying, \u2018Oh man, you don\u2019t have to do that.\u2019 But I wanted to, I needed to rev myself up to go for him. It was a great day!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Getting to work with Cillian \u2013 what a joy,\u2019 \u2026 Barry Keoghan as Duke and Cillian Murphy as Tommy. Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n

Watching Murphy march angrily towards him was the highlight, he says. \u201cHe had become Tommy Shelby. I was like, \u2018Wow. I\u2019m in trouble now. Where\u2019s Cillian gone?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Peaky Blinders\u2019 six-series run on the small screen was one of increasing returns and outlandish impact \u2013 and not just in terms of millinery. It started as a cult favourite drawing just over 2 million viewers, but at its peak was pulling in nearly triple that. Three key factors appear to have steered the success of the show created by Steven Knight, whose credits include the films Dirty Pretty Things and Locke, as well as the Disney+ series A Thousand Blows<\/a> and the BBC\u2019s SAS: Rogue Heroes<\/a>. (He also co-created Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.) First, word of mouth, second, a move from BBC Two to One, and third, the show\u2019s acquisition by Netflix in 2014 for a global audience \u2013 it\u2019s available in 190 countries.<\/p>\n

Murphy thinks it\u2019s mostly down to word of mouth. Pre-Peaky fever, he says, the BBC<\/a> didn\u2019t really promote it. \u201cThe success is entirely fan-generated. It didn\u2019t get any internal advertising on the BBC. I remember sitting down to watch the first episode and the announcer said \u2018Coming up next, Peaky Blinders starring Sillian Murphy \u2026 and I thought, \u2018Oh fuck this\u2019, turned off the telly and went to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to pinpoint exactly what fans love so much about the show. It is at its core a gangster saga with some moments of outrageous violence, but it\u2019s also a period family drama. When Knight met the boxer Oleksandr Usyk, he told him that Peaky Blinders is his favourite show because he sees it as an accurate depiction of family life. The draw of Murphy cannot be understated, nor of the ensemble cast, which has at times included Tom Hardy, Stephen Graham, Paul Anderson, the late Helen McCrory, Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, Aidan Gillen and Charlotte Riley. There are also the hats.<\/p>\n

(From left) Rebecca Ferguson (Kaulo\/Zelda), director Tom Harper and Cillian Murphy (Tommy) on set. Photograph: Robert Viglasky\/Netflix<\/p>\n

In 2019, the inaugural (and, to this date, only) Legitimate Peaky Blinders festival<\/a> delivered \u201can immersive recreation\u201d of the show to 15,000 punters, including live music, fashion shows, free haircuts, a Gypsy camp and (staged) bare-knuckle fights. Cosplay was much in evidence. But I also had the suspicion that those clothes may have become many people\u2019s everyday outfits.<\/p>\n

While much of the series was filmed in Liverpool, Manchester and parts of Yorkshire, tourism in the West Midlands has blossomed since the first episode aired in 2013. Notable pilgrimage sites include the Black Country Living Museum (filming location of Charlie\u2019s yard) and Digbeth Loc in Birmingham, the studio complex founded by Knight where much of the new film was shot.<\/p>\n

In the UK, the series is credited for helping Arthur, the name of Tommy\u2019s elder brother, become one of the most popular boys\u2019 names \u2013 it was fourth on the list in 2024<\/a> \u2013 while Ada, the name of their sister, entered the top 100 for girls in 2018 for the first time since the 1920s, and has now reached the dizzy heights of 56<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Afghanistan last year<\/a>, four men were ordered to report to the Taliban\u2019s department of vice and virtue for dressing as characters from the show. They have since been released, with Saiful Islam Khyber, a spokesperson for the Taliban government, telling the BBC: \u201cEven jeans would have been acceptable, but the values in the Peaky Blinders series are against Afghan culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

A division of the Ukrainian national guard is called the Peaky Blinders on account of the Peaky-esque baker boy hats they\u2019ve adopted. To show their support upon hearing about them, Knight sent over 30 new hats and signed one<\/a>. Cillian Murphy signed another.<\/p>\n

double quotation markSnoop Dogg\u2019s agent said: \u2018Snoop is in London. He wants to meet two people and you\u2019re one of them\u2019<\/p>\n

For Knight, the moment he realised there had been a significant shift in the show\u2019s reach was when he got a call from Snoop Dogg\u2019s agent. \u201cHe said: \u2018Snoop is in London. He wants to meet two people and you\u2019re one of them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For three hours in a hotel bar the pair swapped similarities between the Peaky Blinders and Snoop\u2019s time with the street gang the Crips in Long Beach, California. Brad Pitt also rang Knight wanting a role in the series, but sadly it never came to be.<\/p>\n

Once the show wrapped, Knight and his cast were not short of work. Murphy won the leading actor Oscar for Oppenheimer<\/a>. Knight has just completed the script for the new James Bond <\/a>movie. (When I ask him about this, it\u2019s the only time he clams up. \u201cI honestly can\u2019t say anything about it,\u201d he says. \u201cNot what stage it\u2019s at, whether I\u2019ve finished it, nothing. Let\u2019s just say I\u2019m in the process. I\u2019m loving it, and don\u2019t feel any pressure. How could I? If I worry about it I\u2019m stuffed.\u201d)<\/p>\n

So why revisit Shelby and co? Unfinished business, it seems. The impulse for one last job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of the TV series,\u201d says Murphy, \u201cand if you\u2019re going to make a film, the story needs to have a reason for existing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knight agrees, but adds that he\u2019d always imagined Peaky \u2013 as the show is referred to by all involved \u2013 ending on the big screen. (Although, in fact, the franchise will continue on the telly; a new 1950s-set spin-off is now filming.)<\/p>\n

The star and writer, along with director Tom Harper, then whittled down the plot, while Murphy texted actors to bring them onboard. After Keoghan came Ferguson, with whom he shares an agent, who Ferguson says she\u2019d instructed: \u201c\u2018Just give me a shooting schedule \u2013 I\u2019ll turn up, I\u2019ll wing it, see what I can do. I\u2019ll do anything!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Roth, who\u2019d contacted Murphy in the wake of his Oscar win to say congratulations \u201cand all that bollocks\u201d. Roth\u2019s character, he says proudly, is \u2013 contrary to expectations \u2013 \u201cvery reasonable, just trying to end a war by whatever means. The term \u2018geography teacher\u2019 came to mind quite often,\u201d he says. \u201cI hated geography but I liked my teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Roth as British Nazi agent John Beckett. Photograph: Robert Viglasky\/Netflix<\/p>\n

In November 2024, I went on set at Calke Abbey, a National Trust property on the outskirts of Derby, which was doubling as Tommy\u2019s house. It had snowed in the days just before. A dream for Knight, you\u2019d think, who had long wished to shoot Tommy outside in the snow. In each of Peaky\u2019s six seasons, he says, he\u2019d written just such a scene, only for them all to be downgraded from snow to rain by producers keen to insulate their budget.<\/p>\n

But the real stuff was, sadly, the wrong kind of snow, meaning it had to be cleared by production staff, before being added back in during post-production.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just the weather that brought headaches. Calke Abbey\u2019s Grade-1 listed status meant there were strict restrictions on what could go on during filming. Producer Guy Heeley told me navigating these rules was all part of the fun, while looking very much like a man who had had enough of that kind of fun.<\/p>\n

The abbey was mid-renovation during filming, which also didn\u2019t add to its comfort levels. \u201cThat place was fucking freezing,\u201d is Murphy\u2019s main recollection of Derbyshire.<\/p>\n

Watching him film a scene at Tommy\u2019s writing desk was extraordinary. During the reset, Murphy stayed in character for what seemed like an age: brooding, repeatedly removing and replacing his glasses and aggressively smoking for maybe 15 minutes as cameras were moved around him. It was mesmerising.<\/p>\n

Returning to the role was \u201ca bit like putting on an old pair of shoes,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just putting on the cap, I have to always spend a few months getting into that mindset, getting the physical shape and all of that. And there\u2019s always a fuckload of words \u2026<\/p>\n

double quotation markPlaying Tommy Shelby is a like putting on an old pair of shoes. I have to spend a month getting into that mindset<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a quarter of my life, Peaky Blinders, so I\u2019m OK with this being it. As for the haircut: I hated it for so long, but then everyone in the world started getting it, so I thought maybe it\u2019s not so bad after all?\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point, I potter into the costume trailer stationed in the abbey\u2019s car park. Among the rails and rails of suits and frock coats and an elaborate leather jacket, I spot a key-coded safe. This, it turns out, is where Tommy\u2019s cap is kept when Murphy isn\u2019t wearing it. Now he won\u2019t be needing it any more, I wonder where it is?<\/p>\n

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is in cinemas now. It premieres on Netflix on 20 March<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In June 2023, Barry Keoghan texted Cillian Murphy to wish him a happy Father\u2019s Day. The pair had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75],"class_list":["post-533567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}