The One Peaky Blinders Line Cillian Murphy Can't Seem To Shake
Cillian Murphy might be enjoying his well-earned victory lap after putting in a genuinely award-worthy performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's latest effort, but some roles are difficult to let go of completely. The actor has built up a formidable career playing all sorts of oddball figures, from the villainous Jonathan "Scarecrow" Crane in Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy to an outright villain in director Wes Craven's sneakily good "Red Eye" to a pair of loners desperate to survive in both "Sunshine" and "28 Days Later" (the latter of which, of course, was recently confirmed for a long-awaited sequel). One character in particular, however, has proven his staying power with Murphy over the years: Tommy Shelby in the BBC/Netflix series "Peaky Blinders."
To nobody's surprise, the gun-slinging, cigarette-puffing gangster steadily became a fan-favorite (and dare I say a genuine pop culture icon) throughout the show's six total seasons, winning hearts and minds over to his cause despite our better judgment. One flawlessly implemented plan here, one ruthless kill there, and another well-timed quip aimed at the most fearsome opponents in all of Industrial Revolution-era Birmingham all combined to make the antihero someone we couldn't take our eyes off of ... and, even for Murphy himself, at least one unforgettable Tommy moment continues to follow him all these years later.
In a 2022 interview, the "Peaky Blinders" star was asked whether there's any one line of Tommy dialogue that he continues to think about. His deep-cut answer doesn't involve a burst of violence or some verbal spat with longtime frenemy Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy). It has to do, intriguingly enough, with the thorny topic of religion.
'A foolish answer to a foolish question'
Much like in real life, religion is a messy business in the world of "Peaky Blinders." Ostensibly a group of Catholics, the Shelby gang nevertheless traffics in murder, blackmail, and all kinds of other unsavory practices that would compel even the most corrupt priest to recite an extra Hail Mary or two. A naturally superstitious lot, Tommy constantly took great pains to respect the most bizarre "curses" while (arguably) hypocritically turning his nose up at the very idea of faith and belief in other contexts. Perhaps no other moment encapsulated that personality trait better than in an episode of season 3, which Cillian Murphy once name-dropped while talking to BBC Radio 1.
In episode 3, the untimely death of Tommy's love Grace (Annabelle Wallis) leads the guilt-ridden protagonist to Wales in search of, ironically, "absolution" for his past sins. His compatriot Johnny Dogs (Packy Lee) leads him to a mysterious woman claiming to be in touch with mystic abilities, who confirms that Grace's killing can be blamed on a "cursed" piece of jewelry he once gifted her. As he walks away, he enigmatically explains his actions to a befuddled Johnny by simply saying:
"All religion is a foolish answer to a foolish question."
Describing it with a chuckle as an "amazing piece of writing," Murphy clearly still relishes the chance to deliver such a poetic summation of Tommy's cynical worldview. It's little surprise that someone who narrowly survived the horrors of World War I would come out of such a damaging, traumatic experience with a healthy skepticism of religion, but sometimes even performers can't help but appreciate a succinct one-liner that turns subtext into text. While Murphy racks up wins for "Oppenheimer," don't sleep on his award-winning work in "Peaky Blinders."