Barry Keoghan Breaks Silence On “Peaky Blinders” Recasting His Character In New Series
by Daniel Welsh · BuzzFeedBarry Keoghan as Duke Shelby in the Peaky Blinders film The Immortal Man
Barry Keoghan has opened up about why we won’t be seeing him in the new season of Peaky Blinders.
Earlier this year, the Oscar nominee played Tommy Shelby’s grown-up son Duke in the stand-alone Peaky Blinders movie The Immortal Man.
However, in the upcoming reboot of Peaky Blinders, set around a decade after the events of the Immortal Man, the character of Duke has been recast for a second time, with Jamie Bell taking over the role in the upcoming episodes.
During a new interview with Variety, Barry explained that he “loved making the movie”, describing the process as an “incredible” one, he confirmed it was his decision not to carry on in the role of Duke, but would not share any more about his reasoning.
“I pick projects quite specifically,” he said. “I carefully, cautiously pick because I just want to enjoy, and I want to heal, I want to tell, I want to find, I want to explore. I want to discover all of those things while I’m making a movie with people who are like-minded.”
Barry on the set of The Immortal Man with Peaky Blinders OG Cillian Murphy
Joining Jamie in the new episodes will be Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton will also be joining the line-up in a lead role, along with James Bond star Lashana Lynch and Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay.
He is the third actor to play Duke Shelby after Barry, who took it over from Bafta rising star winner Conrad Khan during the show’s original run.
Jamie Bell at the "Rosebush Pruning" photocall during the 76th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin.
An official synopsis for the new season of Peaky Blinders previously teased: “Britain, 1953. After being heavily bombed in WWII, Birmingham is building a better future out of concrete and steel.
“In a new era of Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders, the race to own Birmingham’s massive reconstruction project becomes a brutal contest of mythical dimensions.
“This is a city of unprecedented opportunity and danger: with the Shelby family right at its blood-soaked heart.”
Creator Steven Knight also enthused: “I’m thrilled to be announcing this new chapter in the Peaky Blinders story.
“Once again it will be rooted in Birmingham and will tell the story of a city rising from the ashes of the Birmingham blitz. The new generation of Shelbys have taken the wheel and it will be a hell of a ride.”