10 Amazing Interesting Facts about Peaky Blinders | Cillian Murphy Facts

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. I hope you all are doing good. In this blog I am gonna tell you the 10 most amazing interesting facts about the very popular British Television Series "Peaky Blinders". 

Spoilers Alert! In this blog there are going to be a hell lot of spoilers so if you have not watched the whole series yet then finish it first then come here.

CONTEXT

Today you will get to know about

• Real Peaky Blinders
• How many cigarettes did Cillian Murphy smoked for the series?
• Why Jason Statham couldn't do the role of Thomas Shelby?
• Which celebrities are fan of this series?
• Video Games related to this series.
• Difference between "Real Peaky Blinders" and the "Reel Peaky Blinders".

10 Amazing Interesting Facts about Peaky Blinders | Cillian Murphy Facts 

Fact #1 - Who created Peaky Blinders and where did the story came from?

Peaky Blinders series is created by the British Film Director and Screenwriter "Steven Knight". He is the one who created and wrote the story of Peaky Blinders. 

To write this story he was inspired by his elders. His grandparents and his father used to tell him the story of the late 90s criminal group in Birmingham "Peaky Blinders". 

And the Peaky Blinders series is a imaginative adaptation of this late 90s criminal group. That is why the Shelby family in this series to whom the whole story revolves around is fictional. 

Also the Shelby Family is modeled after the show's creator Steven Knight's Uncles The Sheldons.

Fact #2 - Who were the Real Peaky Blinders?

If story of the Peaky Blinders in the series is fictional then the question arises is "Who were the real Peaky Blinders?"

The story of the real Peaky Blinders started in Birmingham, England in the late 1920s. Most of the members of this group were used to be young of around 13-19 years. And they all used to belong to a lower middle class family.

Many of them were used to be the descendant of Irish travellers which were called "Pikey". And basically they used to do small robberies, theft and illegal gambling.

Peaky Blinders name came in to highlight when they defeated the Birmingham old gang members "The Sloggers". 

After defeating The Sloggers They became famous as "Peaky Blinders" where "Pikey" was their nickname and "Blinders" came from the lavish clothes they used to wear at that time. 

But the story of hiding razor-blade in their cap is not proved yet.

Fact #3 - Why Jason Statham couldn't be the part of "Peaky Blinders"?

If everything was gone according to the old plan of the creators then the badass character of "Thomas Shelby" would have played by "Jason Statham" not "Cillian Murphy". Because the creator of this series Steven Knight did a meeting with both.

And he was clear about giving the role of Thomas Shelby to Jason Statham but he completely changed his mind later when Cillian Murphy explained him that Jason is a movie star and he is a actor.

Fact #4 - How many cigarettes did Cillian Murphy smoked for the series?

For the badass performance of Thomas Shelby, Cillian Murphy smoked a hell lot of cigarettes.

According to some reports Cillian Murphy has smoked around 3,000 cigarettes till season 2 and this estimation goes around 6,000 till season 5. 

Well if you are also afraid of Cillian Murphy's health after hearing this then you don't need to worry. The cigarettes used in the series were herbal cigarettes, which had no tobacco or nicotene. Thus they were non-addictive.

 Always remember one thing smoking is injurious for your health. 

Fact #5 - Production

Production quality of this series is so outstanding that after seeing the set and location of the series we feel like that we are teleported into the starting of 1920s.

This was the most challenging part for the makers to make series look like vintage because the theme of the series was of 1920s. That is why this series was shot in the places where the buildings are exact the same like they were in 1920s. 

The show was mostly shot around Liverpool and Merseyside and in London wherever the buildings were exact same like they were in their 1920s.

Fact #6 - Accent of the Characters

Accent of the characters also played a major role in this series. It was very difficult for the cast to initially crack the accent. 

That is why it was very difficult for Sam Neill (who played the character of Major Chestor Campbell) to copy the irish accent. Even though he was born in Iran but his whole childhood was spent in New Zealand because of which he forgot irish accent.

His friend Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt helped him to learn irish accent.

At the same time Late Helen McCrory (who played the character of Aunt Polly) listened many interviews of Ozzy Osbourne to learn the Birmingham accent.

At the other side Cillian Murphy even visited the real Garrison Pub to learn the Birmingham accent.

Even the cast of this series did so much hardwork in learning the Birmingham accent still many people thinks that their accent was inaccurate in the series.

Fact #7 - Real Life Brothers

Finn Cole who played the character of Michael Gray and Joe Cole who played the character of John Shelby in the series are real life brothers.

Joe suggested the role of Michael Gray to his brother Finn. At first Finn didn't wanted to do that role because he was focusing on his studies at that time but later he read the script and asked more about the role to his brother. 

Then he got to know that the audition for the role of Michael Gray is in London but due to shortage of money to travel from train he made a audition tape and sent it to his brother Joe.

Joe sent his brother's audition tape to the casting directors of this series and after few meetings with Joe. Finn Cole was finalised for the role of Michael Gray.

Fact #8 - Shooting 

In case you don't know that the shooting of this series was not shot in chronological order.

At the time of shooting of season 3 they used to shot episode 4 in the morning and finale in the night which pissed Cillian Murphy and he asked the makers to create a map for his character.

Then he pasted that map in his vanity man and he got to know where the story of his character was going.

Fact #9 - Celebrity Fans

• Late singer David Bowie : He was such a big fan of this series that he even gave permission to use his unreleased album "Black Star" in the third season.
• Snoop Dogg : To gave proof of his fandom he even made a rap cover of the Peaky Blinder's official theme song.
• Samuel L Jackson
• Brad Pitt : Brad Pitt is such a big fan of this series that he even made many meetings with the makers to get a role in this series.

Fact #10 - Peaky Blinders Popularity

After this series became popular many parents named their children same as the characters of this series. 

According to England's Office of Statistics The cultural effect of Peaky Blinders in the UK is too big. The biggest proof of this is that "Arthur" became the famous baby boy name in 2018 in England.

After 1920s Arthur became the most named baby boy name in 2018 in England.

On the other side many parents named their daughters "Ada" and it got included in the top 100 baby girl names.

Fact #10 - Real Life Characters

As I told you earlier that "Peaky Blinders" in the series were fictional but the villians of this show "Billy Kimber" and "Darby Sabini" were the real gangsters in the past.

Billy Kimber was the actual bookie of a race course and was also the leader of the "Birmingham Boys", who destroyed the rule of Peaky Blinders and ruled on the Birmingham streets from 1910-1930. 

And in real life Billy Kimber died at the age of 63 in a nursing home in Torquay, England. He was not shot by any Peaky Blinder as shown in the series. 

On the other hand Charles "Darby" Sabini was also a bookie and was one of the biggest rivals of Billy Kimber. He also died in 1950.

And the OPM supplier of Peaky Blinders "Brilliant chang" was also a real person who came to UK in 1913 and he opened his restaurant in Birmingham.

Also the character of Tom Hardy (Alfie Solomons) was also partially based on a real person because there was not much information available about Alfie Solomons history.

Conclusion

I hope you guys find this blog interesting. In this blog I told you the 10 most amazing interesting facts about the very popular British Television Series "Peaky Blinders". Thank You!