PEAKY Blinders’ Arthur Shelby actor Paul Anderson is a far cry from his moustache-clad hardman role in real life.
Tommy Shelby’s (Cillian Murphy) older brother Arthur has been a mainstay in the gritty BBC series and has again returned for the final instalment.
In the 2017 Peaky Blinders series finale, Arthur was garroted by one of the mobster’s henchmen at a boxing fight.
Yet he swiftly returned from the dead to kill Luca Chengretta.
Meanwhile, a “really nasty” fight scene with Arthur at its centre was forced to be deleted from season five.
The most violent of the Shelby clan, Arthur is famed for his formidable fighting skills and willingness to play “bad cop” when diplomacy fails.
The show’s stunt co-ordinator Dean Forster said of Paul, 43, to Metro.co.uk: “He’s quite a method actor, so he wants to get involved,
“We actually… put together a fight that was really nasty, it was really, really violent,” he went on.
“We filmed it on our iPhones, sent it to the director, and the director went: ‘Nope, don’t like it, it’s not scripted like that,’ so we had to change this really violent, violent fight, where he basically breaks my neck, into what was scripted.”
Yet in real life, Paul couldn’t be any different.
He still has a moustache, but swaps out his flat cap in favour of a volume packed haircut.
His deep Brummie accent, although sounding genuine, isn’t as the star originally hails from London.
Paul’s Instagram page shows him switching up his waistcoat and bow tie attire from Arthur’s wardrobe in favour of smart jumpers and blazer jackets.
Another image sees him posing in ripped jeans and a white top as he sits on a bench alongside his dog.
Meanwhile, he is a fan of a selfie, often staring into his camera phone from behind a pair of black sunglasses.
FAN FAVOURITE
Paul told the Mirror in 2017 how he was “surprised” his character had become a fan favourite.
He said: “Lots of people like the show, and I get that, but lots of people say, ‘We love Arthur’ and I don’t know why.
“That surprises me.
“The thing I love about him and why I like playing him is he’s not just one-dimensional – he’s tough and he can be violent and brutal, but he’s not just that. He’s got this inner turmoil.”
Talking about his character before the final season six, he added: “I was actually convinced that Arthur was going to get killed in season two because he’d left such a trail of destruction behind him.”
