Cillian Murphy for Esquire UK
On the eve of the final series of Peaky Blinders, Esquire's spring cover star Cillian Murphy reflects on his years as one of TV’s greatest-ever gangsters, the show's future, and the tragic loss of Helen McCrory https://t.co/4ZnYfIJbYb
- Esquire UK (@EsquireUK) February 2, 2022
As the final season of Peaky Blinders is set to premiere, Cillian Murphy does EsquireUK.
• After the pandemic shut down production, a year later they had to rewrite the scripts as Helen McCrory was ill with breast cancer. When it became clear McCrory wouldn't be able to participate, Polly was written out. McCrory's death was announced midway through filming, she was 52. Cillian still seems in shock of her passing.
"She was a dear, dear pal and she was the beating heart of that show, so it felt very strange being on set without her. The difficult thing to comprehend is that, if it wasn’t for Covid, there would be a whole other version of this show with Helen in it. But she was so private and so fucking brave and courageous.
"She was inspirational...she genuinely was. Her values, the way she dealt with her kids and Damian [Lewis, the actor, and McCrory’s husband of 14 years]..." He starts slipping in and out of the present tense. "She cares about everybody. She’s really funny and really cool, and she had this real warmth. She really cared. It’s just… I still can’t believe she’s not here. It doesn’t make sense. I’ve never lost anyone like that - who was young and a friend. It was very confusing. But she was magnificent. She was an absolutely magnificent person."
• In the depths of grief, the material of Peaky Blinders provided no solace. “Dark as fuck” is how he describes the upcoming season.
• There has been talk about how the show is supposed to be Tommy's redemption, but Cillian is unsure. "I’ll leave that to the court of public opinion. I don’t know if he’s been redeemed."
• Cillian is somewhat surprised people are rooting for Tommy. "Duality is what I’m interested in, that thing of: how the fuck can he be such a sensitive, good father but commit this heinous fucking act?"
• A Peaky Blinders film is up in the air but Cillian seems unwilling to commit until he sees a script. He loved his time on the show, though. But as far as his contractual obligations go, is this the end? He confirms, "I’m free! Haha!"
• He initially failed out of law school before becoming an actor.
• Cillian admits he isn't into Hollywood: "I don’t know, I’ve never been interested in that stuff. I’ve always been interested in just the work. I’m shit at being anything else other than an actor. I’m shit at being a personality. I’m shit at red carpets. I’m shit at being on talk shows. I’m shit at, like, all the other stuff that comes with it."
• Although he has a great and long working relationship with Christopher Nolan, he was still surprised to be cast as the lead for Oppenheimer, about the creator of the atomic bomb. He himself cannot reveal anything about the project except it's not told in a typical biopic way.
• Cillian's sons do not like his fame. Cillian prefers that people just ask him for a photo rather than take it secretly.
• After living in London for a decade, Cillian, his wife Yvonne and their two kids moved back to Ireland. They currently reside in a seaside suburb.
• Steve Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders, recalls a question from a woman during a Q&A: “A woman put up her hand and said, ‘You won’t hurt him, will you?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘You won’t hurt Tommy? You’re not going to kill him or anything?’ I said, ‘I don’t know.’ She was really upset. This makes it sound like this was a mad person, but she was self-evidently sane and normal; she was just so worried his fate was in my hands. In the end, I said, ‘I promise I won’t kill him.’”
The Peaky Blinder star fronts our Spring issue https://t.co/78G9jkWG30
- Esquire UK (@EsquireUK) February 2, 2022
cillian murphy taking a selfie and sharing it with the world wasn't on my 2022 bingo card pic.twitter.com/4mj1bejaUB
- octavia (peaky tyrant) (@peakybastard) February 1, 2022
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