* Collider's Steve Weintraub talks with Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan for Netflix's Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
* Murphy and Keoghan discuss how their father-son roles came to be, the significance of Tommy Shelby's book, and their fight in the mud.
* Murphy also confirms his next film, and Keoghan shares his experience on the set of Sam Mendes' Beatles movies.
Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy returns to the world of Netflix's massive hit series, Peaky Blinders, in The Immortal Man, a feature-length addition to Tommy Shelby's journey. In the film, penned by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things) and directed by Tom Harper (Peaky Blinders), in-universe, it's seven years since the Season 6 finale, and Collider's Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to speak with Murphy and Academy Award nominee Barry Keoghan (Banshees of Inisherin) about this exciting new expansion to the universe.
It's 1940, and the world is changing in the upheaval of World War II. The legendary Tommy Shelby is trapped in a self-imposed exile, tormented by his past, when the present comes knocking at his door. His son, Duke Shelby (Keoghan), is determined to prove himself by continuing a legacy, but he's tangled himself and the Peaky Blinders up with a sinister party, and it's time for Tommy to step up again. The Immortal Man cast also includes Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), Academy Award nominee Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs), Sophie Rundle (Gentleman Jack), and Emmy Award winner Stephen Graham (Adolescence).
In this interview, Murphy and Keoghan share the Father's Day text that led to Keoghan's role in the film after their first collaboration in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, as well as Murphy's thoughts on the significance of Tommy's book for the future of Peaky Blinders. Murphy also confirms his next film with Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle, and Keoghan discusses what it's like working alongside Greig Fraser and Sam Mendes as Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles biopics. Check out the full conversation in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.
'The Immortal Man' Marks a First for Tommy Shelby
"All the noise, all the trauma, all the pain, all that guilt comes rushing back in."
COLLIDER: I definitely want to start with congratulations on the movie. I also appreciate the hair. I think you could be filming something else right now.
CILLIAN MURPHY: You think? [Laughs]
Maybe. It's possible. So, Barry, they're making a new Peaky Blinders TV show, and I'm just curious, are you in it?
BARRY KEOGHAN: I cannot say anything, as you know. You know this. I cannot say anything. Steven [Knight] would absolutely tell me off. But as you know, they are, which is very, very exciting.
MURPHY: Nicely handled.
I'll leave it there. I gotta dig. So, Tommy in the film is writing a book. What do you think it is that makes him want to tell his story, and how much does that book play into possibly the future of Peaky Blinders?
MURPHY: Well, I think it's a natural reaction to reaching a certain stage in your life to reflect on it and try to make sense of it all, you know? For the first time in his life, he's actually stopped, and he's no longer moving forward, and that's very unusual for somebody like Tommy. That means that all the noise, all the trauma, all the pain, all that guilt comes rushing back in. It's like a form of self-therapy, really, writing the book. Do you know what I mean? Perhaps somebody, maybe his sons, maybe somebody can find some sense in there or some meaning in it. I think that's kind of where it's coming from.
You've played this character for so many years. What was it actually like for you on the last day of filming the movie, knowing that this could be the last time you're playing the character?
MURPHY: I was just trying to get the train in time. [Laughs] You don't think about the momentousness of it or not. You're just like, "I gotta get out of the costume and get into the car." Film sets are so pressurized and sort of stressful in terms of you've got to make the day, and it was raining on the side of a mountain, and I think for me, I won't begin to dwell on this really until the film is in the world. A film isn't finished until the audience responds to it, and they send that response back to the filmmakers.
Cillian Murphy Cast Barry Keoghan Via Father's Day Text
"Barry was the first choice."
I'm curious, and I could be wrong about this, but you texted and said, "Happy Father's Day," and you texted back and said, "How would you like to be Duke in the movie?" Am I wrong about this?
MURPHY: I think that's how it went. [Laughs]
KEOGHAN: Literally, yeah. Well, he said, "Who's this?" before that. [Laughs] But no, that's how it went, on Father's Day. I always keep in touch with Cillian, and vice versa, and literally, I was over the moon to get that message.
I'm assuming you knew about the movie but hadn't been told you got the part, or did you not even know about the movie, and you're like, "Who's Duke?"
KEOGHAN: I did know about the movie. I knew about his son Duke in the TV series, and I did know about the movie, but I didn't know where it was. I knew they were making a movie on it. So, when Cillian sat down with my agent, as every actor does, it was like, "Well, Cillian said I could be in it, so there we go."
MURPHY: It was as straightforward as that. Everyone had agreed, obviously, that Barry was the first choice, and that we all wanted to go to Barry, and we needed a special actor. So it was just lucky that me and Barry had worked together and remained in touch since Dunkirk all those years ago. But we need an actor who could do it.
Also needed someone who had similar cheekbones. You could see that there could be a relation.
MURPHY: You need to look good in a three-piece suit. [Laughs]
You guys have a big fight scene in the mud with pigs, and I'm just curious, at what point did you know about the scene? Was it in the script, and what was your reaction?
KEOGHAN: That was your first day, Cillian, filming the movie, and that was my second day. I remember punching the ground and going through the mud because I was trying to get myself amped up to go for my dad, and trying to just rise to it. I remember punching the ground and literally doing all my hands in. I've got little scars there. So we had a problem then, where, "Is the pig shit in his open wound? Is the pig shit in his eyes?" It was a whole thing which was added to it. I remember you going, "Ah, man, you don't have to punch the ground."
MURPHY: [Laughs] I was concerned.
KEOGHAN: I was trying to impress him!
Well, also if it's your second day and the first day working together, you want to show the F up.
MURPHY: Well, it was a great introduction to each other's characters and very, very Peaky. They haven't seen each other in 10 years or whatever, and then they come back, and there's this explosive fight, and that's the only way they can communicate, really. They can't speak to each other properly. They can't actually say what they're feeling. And even in that scene in the pub, I can't just say it. He can't express how he feels about his dad, and Tommy can't express what he feels. Even in the very last scene, there's this impediment to communication which is really moving, I think.
'Dunkirk' Shows This Is Key to Christopher Nolan's Storytelling
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Barry Keoghan Calls the Beatles Biopic a "Spiritual" Experience
"You get to know the lads very much through all the research."
I definitely want to ask individual questions for both of you. I'm a fan of your work, and I'm just curious, what are you actually filming this year? For you, I'm very curious, what was your reaction reading The Batman 2 script, and part two is, you have to tell people what it's been like filming the Beatles movies and working with Greig Fraser.
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KEOGHAN: Gosh, you're good. So, part one of those two questions: I can't chat about Batman. It's sort of like I can't chat about anything. And Greig, it's been great working with Greig. I've learned so much from watching him and Sam [Mendes] work together and just being a part of that, and how they work together and seeing the stuff he's doing. I've also really upped my game on my photography, and Greig has been showing me a lot of film and photography. I'm addicted now, basically.
MURPHY: I'm doing a film with Damien Chazelle next.
Oh, is that definitely happening?
MURPHY: Yes.
I can't wait. I have another thing since you can't talk too much. I know you're filming in Liverpool, and I'm sure you're filming at the real places. What is it like being in these real places and playing a Beatle?
KEOGHAN: You know what? It's emotional. It is. Because the Beatles, for me, I've met Ringo [Starr] and Paul [McCartney], but you get to know the lads very much through all the research. It's not pressure. It's sort of like you just want to do them good. And filming up in Liverpool, they're such lovely people and very welcoming to it. There's just a nice energy around it, and a spiritual kind of circle as well with it.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is now streaming on Netflix.
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Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
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Release Date March 6, 2026
Runtime 112 Minutes
Director Tom Harper
Writers Steven Knight
Producers Caryn Mandabach, Cillian Murphy, Guy Heeley, Steven Knight
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