Warning: This articles accommodates spoilers for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Four years because the closing season got here to an finish and after lots of teasers, hype and rumours, the Peaky Blinders movie is lastly right here.
And with new forged members comparable to Barry Keoghan and Rebecca Ferguson becoming a member of Steven Knight’s iconic world, lots of the chat has been about one of the OGs particularly; Paul Anderson.
Having performed Tommy Shelby’s (Cillian Murphy) brother, Arthur, all through all six seasons of the present, followers have been holding onto the hope that he could be within the movie.
So, on the day all of them don their flat caps and to the cinema, LADbible spoke completely with Paul to listen to his tackle Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man and Arthur’s legacy.
But whereas he reckons the film is ‘amazing’, he admits he was ‘apprehensive’ on the thought of a movie.
Set in 1940, in Birmingham (of course), Tommy returns and ‘faces his most destructive reckoning yet’. The movie synopsis provides: “ With the future of the family and the country at stake, Tommy must face his own demons, and choose whether to confront his legacy, or burn it to the ground.”
And having seen Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man already, Paul thinks ‘it’s amazing’.
“I think so, I do,” he provides, nonetheless: “I was slightly apprehensive.
“We made a good show, we ain’t made enough seasons – I think we should’ve just done a couple more seasons. I don’t see a reason to do a film to be honest.”
With a show under their belt that has been hugely successful around the world, Paul is a ‘firm believer in leaving people wanting more’.
But he says: “The funny thing about acting, it doesn’t matter what we think of it, or what I think about it – or anyone for that matter.
“It’s about what the fans think and if they don’t like it, we’re at the mercy of them. It’s like the show itself, when we started shooting, we had no idea what it was gonna be like.”
(BBC)
As for those heading to see the film this weekend, Paul says you’re ‘in for a surprise’ and will see ‘Arthur in a very different light’.
However, without getting too spoiler-y, he isn’t exactly in it. Sorry to break it to you all but while his character is somewhat present in living on in Tommy’s guilty conscience, he’s not physically alive with Knight giving the actor the heads-up on this ‘sad’ outcome.
And Paul has no complaints about the direction the creator (who he ‘adores) took his character in, as he says: “Well, what can you do eh? It is how it is. I thought I’d just leave them to it.”
In fact, in a confession that might surprise those who have seen the film, he thinks the storyline for Arthur’s ‘end’ is ‘great’, even if it is ‘sad’.
“I think it’s great,” the actor explains. “I mean, it’s such a powerful thing to do. It’s something you don’t see on TV.
“Everyone thought, well, everyone knows Arthur’s gonna die.
“I was quite surprised, I [Arthur] was quite nasty sometimes, I weren’t very nice to people in it. But people loved me.”
It’s ‘the end’ of the road for Arthur. (BBC)
While some Arthur fans might hope it’s not true, we ask Paul if this really does mean it’s the end for the Shelby brother.
“I mean, yeah, I guess so…” he says. “It’s not as straightforward as you think. But we’ll see.”
As followers will know, whereas Knight has stated the movie marks the ‘end of the novel’ for Peaky Blinders, there’s a new series to come, transferring alongside a number of years from the place the movie ends.
“They plan to do another two seasons but I don’t know if he wants to do it with a younger generation or a new team of Peaky Blinders,” Paul explains. “What I mean by that is, Tommy will still be there and my memory – if I’m dead – will still be in it.”
As he wonders ‘how the fans will take’ what happens to Arthur, the actor (represented by Nav at Never-before talent) has played a number of other roles since.
With the new show The Gray House on Prime Video in the US and doing some work with Tyson Fury, Paul says the ‘best role he’s ever had’ is one of his most recent: being a dad to his little boy.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is now in cinemas and will likely be accessible to stream on Netflix from 20 March.
