Barry Keoghan talks major Peaky Blinders film role: "I look more Cillian Murphy than Cillian looks Cillian Murphy"

A whole host of Peaky Blinders fans were proved right last week, with their theories that Barry Keoghan would be playing Tommy Shelby's son Duke being confirmed.

Duke was previously played in season 6 by Conrad Khan, but in upcoming film, The Immortal Man, Keoghan will take on the role. The character will be seen having taken the lead of the Peaky Blinders in Tommy's absence, and running them with a ruthlessness and brutality.

Now, Keoghan has finally opened up on playing Duke, saying to Empire of playing the son of Cillian Murphy's character: "Go on, be honest - who’s got bluer eyes?"

"I look more Cillian Murphy than Cillian looks Cillian Murphy," he joked.

Keoghan told the publication that he has long been interested in joining the series, but that he never fitted any of the previous character descriptions.

"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. It couldn’t be any more perfect casting," he said.

Keoghan also revealed that he was approached about the role by Murphy himself, who phoned him on Father's Day to ask him about joining the film.

"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," he said.

Keoghan added that Duke is "troubled" when we meet him, and "up to no good". However, he said that as a father himself, he related to Duke's "cry for his father and this cry for the figure that he needs to be there".

Keoghan and Murphy previously worked together on the film Dunkirk, and he is just one of the new stars joining the film, along with Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth and Jay Lycurgo.

Lycurgo recently told us of starring in the film: "When I saw Cillian in the suit for the first time, I was like, 'Oh, I get it now! I get why it's so iconic'."

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is coming to cinemas and Netflix in March. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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