We chatted to actor Paul Anderson about playing the violent, conflicted and vulnerable Arthur Shelby in Peaky Blinders…
Contains spoilers forPeaky Blindersseries three.
Paul Anderson is a revelation as Arthur, the eldest ofPeaky Blinders Shelby brothers.
Old Testament and made in fucking Birmingham, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Arthur Shelby.
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Arthur is a character capable of such brutal violence, yet hesbelovedby fans.
Why would you say his character inspires such devotion?
Theres a sort of vulnerability to him, I think.
I always thought that if Im going to play a violent man, its borne out of his upbringing.
If Im going to play that stuff, Im not going to do just out-and-out unforgiving brutality.
Im going to play it with a little bit of vulnerability, some emotional conscience.
Because its not interesting just to be violent or brutal for the sake of it with no moral compass.
I tried to give Arthur that sort of emotion and depth of feeling.
He does these things but there is some remorse.
Maybe people see that in him?
You mention the Shelby boys upbringing.
Arthurs going to become a father in series four.
Is he better than his own dad?
He wants to be.
It remains to be seen.
The times are slightly different.
The problem is that Arthurs been brought up a certain way so he sees parenting that way.
Although he has his own mind, he just parents the way that he was parented.
It remains to be seen whether Arthur will follow in his fathers footsteps.
The kid will certainly be raised as a Shelby.
Thats what I mean.
Arthur is a product of that.
When his father comes back, thats brings it all back for him.
Tommy Flanagan played my dad and it was funny really.
Arthur loves the attention, albeit the wrong kind of attention.
For him, its approval and acceptance.
For me, theyre products of their environment, of their upbringing and the way theyve been raised.
They consider it their honourable traits.
Arthur is the punch in of man who has a reputation.
Hes a feared man, he walks down the road and he gets respect.
Thats what I think Arthur was taught growing up.
They knew no different.
Because theres a line they dont cross?
Theres a line they dont cross.
We dont beat our women in it.
There arent scenes of domestic violence in that respect, we dont beat our women or kids.
Arthurs more vulnerable than Tommy in many ways, isnt he?
Theyre brothers but theyre very different emotionally.
That runs as a current through it.
Do you and Cillian [Murphy] always talk together about how youre going to approach scenes beforehand?
Is that all part of the process between you, or with the director?
In season four, which weve just finished, we do talk it out.
Cillian and I do, depending on what the scene is.
Also with Joe Cole as well, we love to sit there and discuss the scene.
Neither of us ever had this chance to spend so much time with a character, its a luxury.
On the subject of fun, can we talk about that Russian orgy in series three?
Tim [Mielants], the director just wasnt holding back that day.
I just remember sitting there watching all this thinking, sort of white-knuckling it really.
I dont know if Tim really caught that?
You see Arthur take off his wedding ring when he does give in.
After about half an hour in the room, he just couldnt hold out any longer.
I really love Stevens writing, how its not predictable.
Arthur married Linda and found religion between series, so we didnt see it happen.
I dont think it was a spiritual awakening.
I dont think he had an apparition or anything.
I think there was a turning point when that rope snapped.
Youve got to remember that its post-traumatic stress, hes got that.
Hed hold on to that, to that humanity.
Lindas voice quietens him, it comforts him.
Seeing Arthur struggle with all that has led to some of your best work on the show.
I thought itd be easy to do in front of a lot of people, but it wasnt.
So, I did it with memories of that.
I played it as if I just couldnt remember what I wanted to say.
I had the speech in my hand but it was almost like I just couldnt get to it.
It might have been a joke, but that seemed pretty telling.
The family are lost in that environment arent they?
We had this whole thing where I was walking around absolutely lost trying to find the room.
We played around with that a lot.
When he seems to utterly lose control, do you just let yourself go?
Or are you always in control, or relying on other people to pull you back?
Its a mix of the two really.
I find that when youre being spontaneous and not thinking too much, just more happens.
It clicks, it works, that energy just feels right.
Its normally just in the moment, its not premeditated.
Im certainly in control but theres an unpredictability to it.
Its great knowing where youre going to start a scene, but not knowing how its going to end.
That must rely on a lot of trust between you and the other actors.
You have that relationship with Cillian, Finn, how does it work with Tom Hardy?
Im thinking of the Shalom, Arthur!
With Tommy [Hardy], its exactly the same.
Hes exactly the same as that.
The first time Arthur and Alfie ever met was that scene with shalom.
That shalom was never scripted and Steven Knightweve spoken about ithe loved it.
So I did the Shalom thing and that was one of those moments where I didnt know the outcome.
And he just went with it!
We spoke afterwards and he loved it.
Thats how Tom kind of works, hes full of surprises.
The more surprises the better, when the other actors in the scene can work with it as well.
It inspires me because I love that kind of freedom.
Has anyone actually ever got hurt on those scenes?
Im thinking about the mass brawls at the Eden Club, for instance are there actual injuries?
Do you ever come away with bruises?
Youve got stunt coordinators and pads, if you want to wear them.
Youve got all that, but to make it realistic, I want to be hit!
How much of series four surprised you and how much do you know about whats coming afterwards?
Honestly, Im constantly surprised.
Season four, I think… Im in the show and I dont want to sound like…
I hate all that kind of thing, but I think its really some of thebestwriting theres been.
It was great doing it.
Maybe its because we all get on, but Ive never experienced anything like that.
Walking back on set, we realised wed been doing this for five years!
Thats quite a long time.
We started five years ago.
Theres that element of it, then also the stuff that Stephens written for season four is great.
It really threw me.
Steve Knight told me that, emotionally, the theme of series four is about family love.
Does that ring true for Arthur in series four?
In four, yeah.
Because were back together again as a family in season four.
Theres a certain event that takes place at the beginning that makes us come back together.
We come back together as a family with problems.
We already had problems, but we always had that solidarity, we had the business.
Now, its just Tommy with the business and were broken down.
Theres a lot of broken relationships and trust.
Season four is about building that trust back, those relationships back, some do and some dont.
How are any of them ever going to trust him again?
It all starts a good while after that.
Tommys trust me didnt exactly go to plan.
Were not exactly together.
How far would you like the show to continue, if it were up to you?
Personally, the shows that I love have finished at their peak.
Thats what he wanted to take it to.
Whether or not he does I dont know.
Finally then, do you remember your first audition forPeaky Blinders?
I do, because I met them for Tommy.
I met Otto [Bathurst, series one director] for Cillians role.
I got the first episode and all I remember thinking was Birmingham!
I just thought Brummie accent?
I cant do a Brummie accent, theres no way!
There are some accents that you attempt in your head and you just cant do it.
I cant even visualise myself doing it.
Id done a few days working on this rough kind of black country voice.
It was like [lower] yow [laughs].
It wasnt what they wanted.
I had a really good meeting and then they offered it to Cillian.
Then they said they want to offer you the part of Arthur, the brother.
I was so into the script and the whole thing that I wanted to be a part of it.
So I went up for Tommy but was offered Arthur.
Its funny how that worked out.
You cant imagine it being any other way now.
Paul Anderson, thank you very much!
Peaky Blinders series four starts tonight, Wednesday the 15thof November at 9pm on BBC Two.
