Movies - TV
The Peaky Blinders Crew Put In A Lot Of Work To Keep Up With The Shelbys' Bad Habits
By SARAH MUSNICKY
“Peaky Blinders” showcases several of the popular bad habits from the Roaring ’20s, as the Shelby clan and others use items like drugs and alcohol to take the edge off of the demons that haunt them. The crew for the series has had to get creative to keep up with the Shelbys’ vices over the last six seasons and supply them with the paraphernalia required for their scenes.
It’s difficult to find scenes where Cillian Murphy’s character, Tommy Shelby, isn’t smoking, with Murphy even saying, “People did smoke all day [back then] and it just became a Tommy thing.” However, these onscreen cigarettes are herbal, made up entirely of roses, which have been a healthier workaround for the cast and have become a popular mainstay in TV and film.
Herbal cigarettes aren’t the only healthy substitute that can be found in “Peaky Blinders.” The crew swaps in tea for the alcohol consumed by the characters and employs vitamin-B powder as a healthy and legal alternative to cocaine, which was a drug commonly used during this period. (Ironically, vitamin B is generally used as a cutting agent for cocaine.)