We've been on quite the journey with the Shelbys over the years, and we've loved every minute of it. Well, now that Peaky Blinders is coming to an end with its sixth and final season we're just looking to soak up as much of the show as we can before we wave goodbye to it forever (the film notwithstanding). So, if you too are in full Shelby-obsession-mode you might be interested in knowing what the real life accents of the cast actually are.
Tommy Shelby, Cillian Murphy
Everyone's favourite Brummie gangster, Tommy Shelby is played by Cillian Murphy who's actually not from anywhere near Birmingham originally. The actor, famous for his roles in Inception and 28 Days Later was born in Douglas, an Irish suburb in Cork, but he masterfully manages to switch his Irish accent into Tommy Shelby's Birmingham lilt.
Arthur Shelby, Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson's CV is pretty full. Aside from his role as troubled but much-loved Arthur in Peaky Blinders, he's been in The Revenant, Legend and the hit 2022 film Nightmare Alley.
His real-life accent is pretty different to Arthurs. You can hear it in the trailer below, for which Anderson filmed the voiceover.
Ada Shelby, Sophie Rundle
As you'll know if you watched Sophie Rundle in BBC drama The Nest Sophie's natural accent is very different to Ada's. But then, Ada spends so much of series 6 being a huge legend so it's hard to imagine her voice sounding any different. So, the video below might surprise you...
Michael Gray, Finn Cole
Finn Cole is no stranger to putting on an accent for a role. From his classic Peaky accent to the Southern American drawl he adopted to start alongside Margot Robbie in Dreamland, he's a bit of an accent chameleon. But, in reality Finn hails from Kingston, London. You can hear bits of his real voice below in this clip from his 2018 film Slaughterhouse Rulez.
Gina Gray, Anya Taylor-Joy
We watched Anya in The Queen's Gambit and got obsessed, then her character became a bigger part of Peaky Blinders and we couldn't have been happier. Crucially, though her American accent was pretty similar each time, so you'd be forgiven if you thought that was her genuine voice. But, oh my goodness, it is so far from that.
Plus, in case you didn't know, while Anya was born in the USA her family didn't live there at the time. She lived in Buenos Aires until she was six, at which point she moved to London, meaning she can speak both English and Spanish.
Lizzie Shelby, Natasha O'Keeffe
Another Londoner, Natasha O'Keeffe was born in Brighton before moving to London when she was one. Not only does her accent sound pretty different to Lizzie's but her whole voice seems to be at a totally different pitch. Please see below to conduct your own analysis...
Alfie Solomons, Tom Hardy
We've seen Tom Hardy do a lot of accents over the years, from Bane in The Dark Knight to Al Capone in the 2020 eponymous film. His Peaky accent is probably one of the most similar to real life.
And, in case you didn't know it, he's married to Charlotte Riley who played wealthy widow and horse trainer May in series two, four and five of Peaky Blinders.
