Peaky Blinders actor Cillian Murphy has divulged his perspective on one of the pivotal elements of his renowned role as Tommy Shelby in the popular BBC crime drama.

The Irish actor has embodied the traumatised Birmingham gangster since the series, created by Steven Knight, debuted in 2013, and has recently returned to screens in the follow-up film The Immortal Man.

Set nearly a decade after the season six finale, the film tracks an older Tommy returning from self-imposed exile to face his son Erasmus, aka ‘Duke’ (portrayed by Barry Keoghan), who has assumed control of the Shelby family’s criminal business.

After premiering in cinemas on Friday, 6th March, the eagerly awaited film will be accessible for streaming on Netflix in just five days time on Friday, 20th March.

Prior to the film being available globally, Murphy took to Reddit to respond to fans’ most urgent queries about Tommy’s journey, reports Birmingham Live.

One dedicated fan asked if the Small Heath crime boss “secretly wanted to lose everything” in an attempt to atone for his past errors.

Murphy responded: “I don’t think he’s ever had a specific death wish.

“I think that his experiences in the First World War were so profoundly altering to him, to his psyche and to his belief system, that he never ever recovered and became completely unafraid of the concept of death.

“That is an unbelievable engine for a character, and an unbelievable engine for a writer.”

Tommy’s suicidal tendencies reach a climax in an attempt to end his own life at the conclusion of season five, following the unsuccessful assassination attempt on fascist leader Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin).

His wife Lizzie (Natasha O’Keeffe) and brother Arthur (Paul Anderson) manage to save him, although viewers will need to watch the film to find out if Tommy has regained his will to live amidst the turmoil of the Second World War.

In the Reddit AMA, Murphy also revealed how music assists him in getting into character.

“I’ve had an ever-rolling increasing playlist for Peaky since the beginning, really. It must be thousands of hours long.

“Some of that has found itself into the score and the needle drops over the years. Some of it doesn’t. Tom [Harper, director] will know this well, until you put a piece of music to picture you don’t know if it’s going to work.

“Some have auditioned and failed and some have auditioned and made it, and then of course there’s tons and tons of original music. Music is completely and utterly entangled and you can’t separate the two from Peaky.”

There’s not much longer to wait before the final chapter of Tommy Shelby’s journey is revealed, so ensure your calendars are clearly marked for The Immortal Man’s Netflix release.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man releases Friday, 20th March on Netflix and is currently in UK cinemas.

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