Netflix has announced new additions to the cast of the highly-anticipated upcoming Peaky Blinders movie.
Read More: Steven Knight on This Town and his big-budget Peaky Blinders movie
In a press statement issued today (October 11), Netflix reveals that actors from the series Stephen Graham, Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, Packy Lee, and Ian Peck are set to join the film, which is currently in production. Alongside them is Jay Lycurgo, an actor new to the Peaky Blinders world, who is also slated to star in Channel 4’s upcoming comedy-horror series Generation Z.
Yesterday, Graham confirmed his involvement in the film to Deadline at the London Film Festival red carpet, saying he is “looking forward to seeing the lads again”. The veteran actor played Hayden Stagg in the sixth and final season of the series.
The new slate of actors join Cillian Murphy, who returns as Tommy Shelby, alongside Rebecca Ferguson, Barry Keoghan, and Tim Roth.
The upcoming film has been described as an “epic continuation of the multi-award-winning gangster saga”. It will be helmed by Tom Harper, who directed several episodes of the TV show’s first season.
Production for the film commenced in recent weeks (September 30), and Netflix confirmed it by releasing a first look image of Murphy as Shelby. Steven Knight had also revealed to Deadline that the film is being set during World War II. Knight added about the film: “I’m genuinely thrilled that this movie is about to happen. It will be an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story. No holds barred. Full-on Peaky Blinders at war.”
“I’m thrilled to see the cameras rolling on this new chapter of the Peaky Blinders story, set during World War II. The country is at war, and so, of course, are our Peaky Blinders,” Knight said in a press release announcing the start of the film’s production.
Harper added: “There’s a great feeling of anticipation and excitement amongst our outstanding cast and crew. We’re grateful to the fans for getting us to this point and believe this next chapter is going to deliver something extraordinary.”
He told Entertainment Weekly: “Yes, yes, yes – I can’t wait for that. [I’m a] massive, massive fan of the show, and Cillian [Murphy]’s a good friend and I fucking admire him as an actor as well. So just looking to get into that and getting my process now – I have a process I do, and I’ve not done it for a long while, so I’m excited and nervous at the same time.”
By order of the Peaky Blinders… Tommy Shelby is back. Production officially starts on the upcoming Netflix film.
Keoghan continued: “Just being on set, that rusty feeling again. Just shaking off all the cobwebs. I’ve been doing a lot of promotion and I’ve been chilling, and I think people get scared when they find themselves having free time.
“I think sometimes it’s the best thing to grow as an actor and as a person, and so I’ve had that time and I’m looking forward now to getting in and doing the creative, method-y thing.”
He also acknowledged that going method for Peaky Blinders could be difficult in this day and age. “They had no phones back then, so I’m going to be off my phone,” he joked. “Going to have to write letters.”
The sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders aired on BBC One in 2022.
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