Cillian Murphy ‘definitely’ returning for Peaky Blinders film
The Oppenheimer Oscar-winner will reprise his role as Tommy Shelby in the film spin-off of the hit BBC gangster series.
If Margot Robbie asks, we shall all receive. Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has confirmed that its Oscar-winning star Cillian Murphy will be returning for the upcoming film.
On the red carpet for the Birmingham premiere of his new BBC series, This Town, Knight told local press that the forthcoming film spin-off of the hit BBC franchise will begin filming in September, confirming that Murphy is “definitely returning for it.”
The Oppenheimer star, whose awards season hot streak culminated with him taking home the best actor trophy at this month’s Academy Awards, played the Birmingham crime boss Tommy Shelby for six seasons of the BAFTA-winning drama, which ran from 2013-2022.
In an interview with Birmingham World, Knight praised Murphy’s Oppenheimer performance and subsequent awards show honours. “It was so deserved. I mean he’s brilliant, and he’s such a great human being and he leads the line when we’re shooting and he’s so level-headed and straightforward,” Knight said. “He deserves everything he gets.”
Murphy, 47, recently revealed his interest in reprising his role as Tommy Shelby during his DJing guest spot on the BBC Radio show Desert Island Discs. “I have always said that if Knight delivers a script that I know he can deliver, because he is such a phenomenal writer, I’ll be there,” Murphy said. “If we want to watch 50-year-old Tommy Shelby, let’s do it.”
In December, he told Margot Robbie that he was “totally open to the idea,” of a Peaky Blinders film. The two stars, whose films Barbie and Oppenheimer were two of last year’s biggest box office successes, were linked up for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” session, in a conversation that saw Robbie divulge that she was “obsessed” with the show.
“In my opinion, there are two kinds of people in this world,” Robbie told Murphy, “There are the people who are obsessed with Peaky Blinders and the people who haven’t seen Peaky Blinders. I obviously sit in the first category. So, can we please talk about Tommy f — ing Shelby for just one minute?”
The gushing Australian starlet went on to beg Murphy to move ahead with the film adaptation. “Please do it. Please!,” she said.
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