Peaky Blinders is, without a doubt, one of the best crime series ever made.
It has it all: a talented cast, addicting storylines, incredible visuals, superb acting, and pitch-perfect music scores.
It also has some pretty wild behind-the-scenes secrets that will get you even more pumped for the show’s upcoming final season ! Read on for more.
1. Jason Statham was almost on the show.
The show’s creator, Steven Knight, wanted the action star after directing him in the movie, Redemption . He even approached Jason, but he was busy.
“He’s such a great, great guy,” he told Den of Geek .
2. The series is based on a story told to the creator by his father.
“He said that when he was eight or nine his dad gave him a message on a piece of paper and said ‘go and deliver this to your uncles,” show creator Steven Knight explained . His uncles are based off the Shelbys.
3. The name “Peaky Blinders” may have a dark origin.
There are theories that the gang’s name came from them sewing razor blades into the peaks of their caps. This would make their victims temporarily and permanently blind when they headbutted them.
Another theory debunks this.
Some historians believe that “Peaky Blinders” was inspired by the gang’s hats, which are flat with stiff peaks. Instead of razor blades, they believe that the gang used traditional violent methods.
4. The actors behind Michael Gray and John Shelby are brothers in real life.
Joe Cole, who plays John Shelby, was the one to land the gig first. In an interview, Finn, who plays Michael Gray, said that he had no intention of auditioning until he read the script.
Since he couldn’t afford a train ticket to the auditions in Birmingham, Joe suggested that he tape an audition.
“We sent it to his agent and he sent it on to the casting director and it went from there,” Finn added.
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5. Liam Neeson helped Sam Neill with his accent.
The actor, who was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in New Zealand, was asked by producers to not have strong accent.
“They (the producers) said not to have too strong an accent because we need to be understood,” Neill told the BBC .
“But the Northern Ireland accent is very challenging,” he added.
“I probably had one, but it was well beaten out of me in the playground in New Zealand, there’s not a trace of it now. But I enlisted the help of my friends James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson.”
6. Helen McCrory nailed her accent thanks to Ozzy Osbourne.
Since the singer is from Birmingham and one of the most famous former residents, the actress worked with him indirectly by watching clips of him talking.
7. Snoop Dogg is a big fan of the show.
He once set up a three-hour meeting with Knight when he was in London. “We spent like three hours in St Martin’s Lane Hotel just building joints and he’s talking about how the show reminds him of how he got into gang culture,” Knight told the Independent .
8. Knight purposefully avoids watching other popular TV shows.
He does this out of fear that they might influence his work. “I’ve never seen The Wire, I’ve never seen Boardwalk Empire,” he told Den of Geek .
“I don’t really want to be looking at other people’s work because it does affect what you do inevitably …”
9. The Weinstein Company’s logo was cut from the credits.
Weinstein Company had previously handled the American distribution of the show. But when Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault during the #MeToo movement, the show pledged to remove any traces of him.
10. Cillian Murphy had to smoke many cigarettes while playing Tommy Shelby.
“I don’t smoke but people did smoke all day and night then,” Murphy said .
“I use herbal rose things, they’re like my five a day! I asked the prop guys to count how many we use during a series and it’s 3000.”
11. David Bowie was a huge fan of the show.
Snoop Dogg isn’t the only fan! Before the iconic singer died, he once sent Cillian Murphy a picture of himself wearing a cap with razor blades sewn into it.
12. Since the scenes aren’t filmed in chronological order, the actors sometimes get confused.
“We could be doing episode four in the morning and the finale in the afternoon,” Murphy said in an interview . He called this extremely confusing.
In order to get a better sense of where his character was, he enlisted help from director, Tim Mielants.
He got Tim “to draw up four A4 sheets which I put up in my trailer about where Tommy was going, where he was at with the Russians at any point. I needed it to figure out what the hell was going on.”
13. The goal of the show is to be anti-‘Downton Abbey.’
Both shows became popular around the same time, but they are nothing alike. Producer Laurie Borg said that he thinks Downton Abbey is “probably the dullest television” so he wants it to be as far away from that as possible.
14. The visual references to hell were on purpose.
“Absolutely, there’s definitely a sense of hell. That’s very deliberate,” explained Colm McCarthy, who directed the second season, to Den of Geek .
He pointed out a few examples, like the huge fireball during the first time viewers see The Garrison.
15. Cillian Murphy hates the Tommy Shelby haircut.
Thanks to its popularity, it’s basically the male version of the Rachel Green haircut! But Murphy is horrified by it. He finds it uncomfortable that so many fans want to emulate it!
