Peaky Blinders creator reveals original plans for Jason Statham to play Tommy Shelby – and why he lost role
PEAKY Blinders' creator has revealed the original plans for Jason Statham to play Tommy Shelby – and why he lost role.
The BBC drama sees Cillian Murphy play the head of the Shelby family, but show boss Steven Knight has now revealed Hollywood hardman Jason, 52, was his original choice for the role.
Speaking to Esquire, Steven recalled: "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."
However a text from Cillian, 44, soon changed Steven's mind.
He recalled: "Afterwards, 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."
Steven also explained how the betrayal of Tommy in season six will play out.
Tommy had his plans completely unraveled by the betrayer after his ploy to assissinate fascist MP Oswald Mosley went awry at the end of season five.
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During 's live watchalong, Steven said: “So now we’re into the part where people still ask and are asking me still, who intervened and what happened. I can’t tell you and you’ll have to find out.
"It’s all part of the trajectory of Tommy Shelby. Where his plans work, until they don’t and then he’s pulled back, always pulled back to where he’s from.
"The original question I asked before I started writing Peaky, can someone with Tommy Shelby’s background in Britain, his upbringing, in Britain, in particular, can they ever escape who they were? Can they ever become accepted or respectable? Or is it a hopeless task?"
Steven added: "I’ve wanted to explore that for the whole series and hopefully answer that question at the very end. When we get to the very end. If we get to the very end."
Peaky Blinders is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and Netflix.