Barry Keoghan Finally Reveals What Role He’s Playing In The Peaky Blinders Movie
Ever since news of a Peaky Blinders film dropped back in the summer of 2024, fans have been speculating about how the cast of old faces and new names would weave together.
One of the most intriguing additions to the line-up was Barry Keoghan, and with the trailer for the movie debuting on Thursday, he’s also shared some key details about what role his character will play.
It’s been confirmed that Barry will play Duke, the estranged son of Cillian Murphy’s character, Tommy Shelby – and in his dad’s absence, Duke has become the new leader of the Peaky Blinders gang.
Meanwhile, if the new trailer is anything to go by – with Duke going as far as considering committing treason to help the Germans win the war – his presence is going to cause something of a ruckus.
In a new interview, Barry told Empire that his character is “troubled” and “up to no good” when we meet him in the movie.
“That’s a boy, just looking for his father,” the Oscar nominee claimed. “Being a father myself, I really did relate to Duke, because there’s this cry for his father and this cry for the figure that he needs to be there.”
Barry also explained that he’s been waiting to join the Peaky Blinders line-up, but there hadn’t been a right role for him before this point.
“I always wanted to be part of it, and I feel like this was the perfect moment, in the sense of who I play and the story that unfolds,” the Saltburn actor said. “It couldn’t be any more perfect casting.”
To get into character, Empire has claimed that Barry closely studied Cillian on set to get a hold on his mannerisms, drawing inspiration from The Lion King.
“In the way that Simba follows his dad [...] It’s as simple as that,” Barry said. “Honestly! The Lion King was one of the ones that, for me, had that animalistic, father and son approach to it.”
He also shared how his role as Duke came about, with a fortuitous Father’s Day message to his close pal Cillian – who he first worked with in Christopher Nolan’s 2017 film Dunkirk – turning into a job offer.
“He goes, by the way, would you want to play my son in Peaky Blinders?” Barry explained. “At the drop of a hat, I was like, feckin’ yeah, anything to work with yourself again, and to become part of that universe and that world.”
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is set in 1940, amidst the chaos of the Second World War, with Tommy returning from his “self-imposed exile” to decide whether to return to the life he left behind, or make sure there’s no way back once and for all.
Cillian will be joined by former Peaky Blinders co-stars Stephen Graham and Sophie Rundle, who are also reprising their roles in the new film, along with new additions like Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Roth.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man will premiere in select cinemas from 6 March, before arriving on Netflix on Friday 20 March.