The final adventures of Peaky Blinders is coming to Netflix this week. The show has left an undeniable mark on fans and critics over the past decade. Created by Steven Knight, the series follows a WWI veteran Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy), and his street gang as they take on numerous criminal organizations, business adversaries, foreign insurgents, and the British Establishment itself.
As the series comes to an end there have been conversations about a possible movie, and Cillian Murphy recently told Deadline, “I’d be as excited as anybody to read a script. But I think it’s good for everyone to have a little break. That’s always a healthy thing and then we can regroup. Steve is an insanely busy and in-demand writer, but I know that he loves writing Peaky above all. He adores it. So I think when the time comes, if there’s more story to be told, I’ll be there.”
Murphy has spent about a decade in the tortured character’s skin while sharing the screen with many amazing characters and actors. He sums up his experience, “I think I encountered some of the greatest writing I’ve ever encountered on that show for sure; some of the greatest actors I’ve ever encountered. I never thought I’d get to play a character that would last a decade and be able to go so deep and have such rich material.”
Over the course of six seasons, the show gripped the audience and kept them wanting more. The show has had an amazing set of directors and musicians narrating the story in the best way possible. “When you look back on it, it is quite humbling. It doesn’t feel like I’ve had enough perspective on it, but I do feel just really, really grateful to play that character and to bring Steve’s writing to life,” Murphy explained.
Nonetheless, along with working on Peaky Blinders, the actor has also made at least three feature films every year. Murphy who recently finished shooting Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer finds it fortunate to be able to do both. “The good thing about it was, [unlike] the American shows where they just own you, all of us actors got to go and do other interesting work in between which I think was essential. I got to go off and do crazy plays and other films. I think if it had taken away that ability to go and do other work I might not feel so grateful, but I feel tremendously grateful,” he added.
Murphy will be next seen in Oppenheimer as the titular character however, for now, he’s enjoying his break, he jokes, “at the moment I am 100% unemployed and happy with that.”
Peaky Blinders Season 6 is streaming now on Netflix.