Cillian Murphy Finds It 'F***ing Weird' When Fans Sneakily Photograph Him

The final series of Peaky Blinders is almost upon us, and no doubt Shelby fervour will sweep the nation.

The Birmingham-based crime drama has proven to be a bigger hit than anyone could have expected, resulting in the creation of a Peaky Blinders festival and Peaky Blinders bars.

But one man who will probably be keeping a low profile over the coming weeks is Cillian Murphy.

The actor plays main man Tommy Shelby, and he previously told LADbible the role has been an 'absolute gift'; however, he's not a big fan of having all eyes on him away from set.

The 45-year-old prefers to spend most of his free time at home, partially because he's tired of people sneakily taking pictures of him - which he finds 'so f***ing weird'.

Alamy

Speaking to The Observer, he said: "I really don’t go out much, and people are so underwhelmed when they encounter me, so I'm very happy with that. And I'm always happy to chat.

"What I don't like is people surreptitiously taking photographs, which someone said is like the amateur Stasi.

"It's so f***ing weird. I've been sat on the tube and people have started filming me.

"I don’t want to be like, 'poor f***ing celebrities', that is not what I'm trying to say. I'm very happy and privileged and all of that.

"But I think this thing of having cameras everywhere is something we need to sort out. Or maybe I'm just old."

Yeah, sorry Cillian, but I don't think they're going anywhere.

BBC

Indeed, he's not a big fan of speaking to press either, and by the sounds of it, if he had his way, he would shoot films but do zero promotion - while somehow not being famous either.

He explained: "I love getting up and being someone else. What I find hard is getting up and being hilarious or entertaining as myself.

"That was never in the job description and I'm not very good at it. But it's an unwritten part of the gig.

"You do the work and then you have to go out and perform as yourself. I find it terrifying, because I'm not a personality, you know?"

BBC

Undoubtedly, Murphy's portrayal of Shelby has been integral to the show's success, with creator Steven Knight telling LADbible in 2019 that 'you completely cannot conceive of anybody else playing Tommy Shelby'.

For Murphy, the role has been a dream - but an exhausting one.

He told LADbible: "It's an absolute gift, the character.

"I never anticipated having the opportunity to play the character for this length of time and to have the privilege of working on such great material, for people to have so much affection for the show, for it to have such reach, culturally and everything else.

"I love it. I mean, it's exhausting, but I would never moan about it because it's an actor's dream really."

The first episode of the final series airs at 9pm on Sunday (27 February).

Topics: TV and Film, Cillian Murphy, Celebrity

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey