Barry Keoghan addresses divisive Peaky Blinders accent following movie release

Certain accents are notoriously hard to master, but being tasked with adopting a Birmingham twang is something which strikes the fear of God into a lot of actors.

That was the case for both Barry Keoghan and his co-star Rebecca Ferguson, who were thrown right in at the deep end after being cast in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.

Prior to the release of the feature film, the pair told LADbible about their struggles to master the tricky tone possessed by those who hail from the city in the West Midlands.

Given that Keoghan stars as Tommy Shelby's son Duke in the movie, having a decent grasp on the Brummie accent was a necessity for the Dublin-born dad.

Although the 33-year-old has received a ton of praise for his performance since the film made its Netflix debut on Friday (20 March), some fans have been less forgiving when discussing his dialect.

He's received a bit of flack from amateur film critics who have been sharing their opinions on social media, despite an expert in accents detailing just how hard it is to imitate a Birmingham native.

Actors Accent Coach Sarah Valentine previously explained why Peaky Blinders fans could still hear 'very slight Irish lilts or tonal patterns' when Keoghan was in character.

"The Birmingham accent is actually one of the trickier British accents for actors to learn, because it relies heavily on rhythm and tone rather than just obvious sound changes," she told LADbible.

"The vowel placement, the pacing of speech and the musicality all need to line up for the accent to feel authentic. If those elements shift slightly, the accent can start to drift into something else."

After portraying the beloved Peaky Blinders protagonist for more than a decade, Cillian Murphy can now do a Birmingham accent in his sleep - but it's hardly fair to hold newcomers to the same standards.

Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy, Rebecca Ferguson and Barry Keoghan seen at the New York premiere for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Given that he shares the same mother tongue as Murphy, Keoghan explained that he followed his on-screen dad's lead when working to fine-tune his Brummie accent.

Speaking to LADbible about preparing for his role in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, Keoghan told how 'watching and listening' to Murphy helped his enunciation.

"Any accents hard to get into, but stepping into the Peaky Blinders world is a lot," the Saltburn star said of the pressure that comes with joining such a well-established cast. "There’s a lot of eyes on you."

Explaining what helped him adapt to the Birmingham accent, he said: "Just watching [Murphy], listening to him, and filming up there as well…It’s sort of different though, the accent now. It was a challenge."

Keoghan confessed that although he did watch snippets of the series to help craft his character, he 'tried not to' become too wrapped up in it, as 'that puts a bit of pressure on as well'.

Keoghan, 33, explained why it a 'challenge' for him to adopt a Birmingham accent (Netflix)

"I sort of try stay away from that kind of thing and bring my own [twist] to it," he added.

Keoghan wasn't the only cast member who had difficulty in adopting the dialect, as Ferguson, who plays the mysterious Gypsy queen Kaulo Chiriklo in Steven Knight's new film, was also terrified of butchering the Birmingham accent.

As the 42-year-old simply could not get the hang of it, she instead came up with a 'creative answer' to get around this problem - which she hilariously told LADbible was 'all just a lie'.

"I absolutely did not do a Brummie accent, you must be f**king joking," the British-Swedish actress laughed, before explaining the technical struggles that she experienced due to her natural tone.

"I don’t know if it’s different coming from Sweden, we have a different clang and a different rhythm. We go up and down.

Ferguson, who plays the Irish star's aunt in the film, admitted she couldn't perfect the Brummie twang (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

"I pretended, and I said, 'You know what, I have a creative answer to this' - I don’t want to merge into the world of the Gypsies [in Birmingham].

"I wanted to come from the other worldliness and break into the frequency...to be honest, that was all just a lie. I just couldn’t do the accent."

Keoghan commented that this benefited him in scenes that he shared with his on-screen aunt in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, as he believed it help his attempt at a Birmingham accent blend in better when he 'slipped out of it'.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is now streaming on Netflix.