Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy talks casting his “acting hero” in the film – as writer reveals how this impacted villainous role

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Tommy Shelby has battled many enemies throughout Peaky Blinders, including figures like Major Campbell and Luca Changretta. But the new film, The Immortal Man, presents what might be his most challenging opponent yet.

The danger appears in the form of Tim Roth’s character, Beckett, who attempts to involve Tommy’s son, Duke, in a plot to help Nazi Germany win the war. The plan involved distributing fake money throughout the UK.

In an exclusive interview with TopMob at the Birmingham premiere of the film last night (Monday, March 2nd), Cillian Murphy discussed what made his new opponent, Beckett, different from villains he’d faced before.

He appears harmless, but he’s actually very dangerous,” he said. “I’m a big fan of Tim Roth, and we’d collaborated previously, so I asked him to be in this movie. He gives a fantastic performance!

At a Q&A at the BFI last Friday, February 27th, Murphy shared his deep respect for actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, whom he described as “an acting hero” during his youth.

I’ve admired his work since long before I became an actor. I once presented him with an award in Dublin and completely overwhelmed him by talking about all of his movies. Then, about ten years ago, I had the chance to act in one of his smaller films, called Broken.

They had often discussed collaborating on future projects, so when Steven Knight created the character of Beckett, he immediately thought of Roth and suggested him for the part.

He remembered saying, “Yes!” Great writing just draws actors in, and that’s what happened here. He agreed immediately and then offered a really interesting new perspective on the role.

Roth convinced Knight to revise the character’s background. Originally envisioned as upper-class and aristocratic, the character was rewritten to share a similar upbringing with Tommy.

Knight told TopMob that during a Zoom call, the person they spoke with seemed to be downplaying their rank or social status, possibly identifying as an infantryman or someone from a working-class background. Knight found this honesty really refreshing and positive.

Honestly, I totally agree with Murphy – this reading of the film really unlocks something special, especially how the two characters interact. It just works.

“It made them kind of the opposite sides of the one coin,” he said. “Which is brilliant.”

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The new Peaky Blinders movie, “The Immortal Man,” hits theaters on March 6th. You can then watch it on Netflix starting March 20th, with subscriptions available from £5.99 per month. Netflix is also accessible through Sky Glass and Virgin Media. All episodes of the Peaky Blinders series are currently available on BBC iPlayer.

Authors

Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

I’m a big fan of Patrick Cremona, the Senior Film Writer at TopMob! He’s the person I go to for all the latest movie news, whether it’s hitting theaters or streaming online. He’s been part of the TopMob team since October 2019, and during that time, he’s spoken with so many famous actors and given his take on all kinds of films – it’s really impressive!

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2026-03-03 17:34