Cillian Murphy and Tommy Shelby are two names that will always be remembered synonymously, no matter how much time passes by. A reason behind this can be the Oppenheimer star’s extraordinarily perfect portrayal of the dark, brooding, yet boyish character in the fan-favorite masterpiece, Peaky Blinders. But another major reason is that most of Shelby’s characteristics have actually been handed down by none other than the Irish star himself.
And maybe that is the reason why Murphy claims that his Peaky Blinders character is Brad Pitt’s anti-thesis that became a running gag in the series because of one of the latter’s major traits.
Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby Is Brad Pitt’s Anti-Thesis Because Of This Reason
Cillian Murphy and his epic portrayal of his Peaky Blinders character Tommy Shelby is one of the biggest reasons why he is pretty much inseparable from his character. But there’s a different reason as well, and this one might be a bit shocking to fans.
A lot of Shelby’s characteristics have been acquired from Murphy and the latter claims the reason behind this is because it was something that gradually developed over the course of the show by itself. Sharing how his character doesn’t eat even a single morsel throughout the entire series because of the same, the Oppenheimer star said,
“These things develop over the course of the show. For example, I remember we’d gotten through the first two series and then we realized Tommy has never eaten. We’ve never seen Tommy eat — like he’s sat down at tables but has never consumed a morsel. So then we kind of made it a running gag. So throughout the thirty-six hours of television, Tommy Shelby never consumes anything. Except I think once he consumes a sprig of mint when he’s with his son.”
For the same reason, Murphy even called his character Brad Pitt‘s anti-thesis because of the prolific on-screen muncher’s constant munching in every single one of his big-screen portrayals.
“So these things develop when you have the luxury of being with a character for so long, these little things arise. I will say to Steve, or Steve will pick up on it, and we’ll just sort of run with it, you know?”
But ‘not eating anything’ isn’t the only trait of Cillian Murphy that his character, Tommy Shelby, acquired from him.
Another Cillian Murphy Trait That Ended Up As Tommy Shelby’s Idiosyncrasy In Peaky Blinders
Besides his lack of eating and drinking numerous times throughout the superhit series, Cillian Murphy’s habit of smoking is another one of his ticks that ended up as Tommy Shelby’s traits. Revealing the reason behind the character’s prepping his cigar in a very particular way right before smoking, he said,
“If you don’t rub them across your lips initially, they’ll stick, you see. So that just became this sort of idiosyncrasy but it was out of necessity because otherwise the cigarettes would stick to my lip. And then I just kept doing it and it became a Tommy thing. These things develop over the course of the show.”
While these habits of Cillian Murphy were insignificant to him in his daily life, they unintentionally ended up becoming one of the most recognizable traits of his Peaky Blinders character. If anything, this just shows how comfortable he got playing Shelby on the big screen, all the more reason behind him being rather inseparable from his on-screen character.
You can stream Peaky Blinders on Netflix.
Source: YouTube
