Before he shed a lot of weight for his role in Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy went to extreme lengths and bulked up for BBC’s Peaky Blinders. The Irish actor revealed he was far from the intimidating Thomas Shelby fans knew from the famed television series, much less a physically imposing person.
As an actor, Murphy had to give up his lifestyle of only eating greens to load up on proteins. It is extremely as demanding as losing weight because not only he had to eat meat but he also had to hit the gym on a regular basis.
Cillian Murphy Transformed Himself To Become Thomas Shelby
In his interview with Mr. Porter, actor Cillian Murphy admitted he was a full-fledged vegetarian before he took on the role of Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders, meaning he had a leaner frame, an issue that concerned the team behind the series.
“I was vegetarian for about 15 years. But it was never a moral decision. It was more that I was worried about getting mad cow disease. For the first series of Peaky Blinders, they were anxious that I shouldn’t look like a skinny Irish fella, and my trainer recommended meat.”
Speaking with Radio Times via Daily Mail, Murphy shared that he did not like the process of gaining weight. The improvement took a while to effect, especially since he was originally not a physically massive guy.
“I’m not a very physically imposing person. So, I have to eat a lot of protein and lift a lot of weights, and do all that stuff. So that takes a while, which I hate.”
The actor also confessed to Entertainment Weekly that he had doubts about playing the role because he did not feel like his frame would perfectly encapsulate the physicality of Thomas Shelby on screen.
“There was slight hesitation because I’d never really played that physically imposing sort of hyper-masculine-type character. In fact, I’d probably played the opposite up to that point. But I knew that it was such amazing material, and I knew that it was a gift of a role, and I just needed to convince them that I could do it and I could work to become that physically imposing character.”
In the end, Murphy conquered his reservations and believed that the role was definitely tailored for him.
Peaky Blinders Creator Wanted Jason Statham For The Lead Role
Did you know that the role of Thomas Shelby was initially offered to Jason Statham? Yes, the Fast X star was the top choice of Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight to lead the series. He revealed via Esquire that he pictured Statham as Shelby because he already looked the part.
“I met them both in LA to talk about the role and opted for Jason. One of the reasons was because physically, in the room, Jason is Jason. Cillian, when you meet him, isn’t Tommy, obviously, but I was stupid enough not to understand that.”
It was a text message from Cillian Murphy that convinced Knight to hire him instead of Statham.
“He sent me a text saying, ‘Remember, I’m an actor,’ which is absolutely the thing because he can transform himself. If you meet him in the street, he is a totally different human being.”
Murphy’s efforts to give up veganism and train at the gym absolutely paid off after Peaky Blinders became a worldwide phenomenon.
