In Peaky Blinders, Tommy and Arthur Shelby are notorious crime lords who spread murder and mayhem across the city of Birmingham.
The BBC period drama became a worldwide hit, but the fate of the actors who played the two brothers could not have been different.
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Cillian Murphy should win an Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer. Credit: Getty
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In contrast to Cillian, troubling pictures emerged last week of Paul Anderson playing his older sibling Arthur Jr. Credit: Splash
In two weeks, the successful Cillian Murphy — who played Tommy — is expected to win the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of J Robert Oppenheimer in the biopic.
However, Paul Anderson — who appeared as older brother Arthur Jr. — was in court last month for possession of crack cocaine.
Leaving his home in north London on Wednesday, Paul looked nothing like the film and TV star.
Disheveled and emaciated, he appeared to have aged at least a decade in the past year.
There are suggestions that the 46-year-old actor may have delved too much into the role of the infernal Arthur, who took to Coke and drank heavily in the fictional TV show.
Paul — who also appeared in Guy Ritchie’s 2011 Sherlock Holmes film A Game of Shadows and 2015’s Golden Globe winner The Returner — was allegedly found with the Class A drug after leaving the disabled toilet at his local pub in Hampstead, North London , on Boxing Day.
His lawyer told the court: “He is often recognized and does his best to please fans of the show by getting into character.
“They recognized him that Boxing Day and he tried to play for those people.
“And because of the lifestyle he leads, people often encourage him.”
First look at new Channel 5 thriller Deadline with Peaky Blinders star Charlie Murphy
On the other hand, Cillian, 47, has done well to stay away from the harmful temptations of fame.
The bright lights of Hollywood, parties and fast life do not attract the Irish actor at all.
The married father of two — Malachy, 17, and Aran, 16 — said: “I haven’t caused any controversy, I don’t sleep around, I don’t go around drunk.”
It’s certainly not like his character Tommy Shelby, the opium-smoking gangster at the heart of Peaky Blinders, whose penchant for violence and desire to get rich means trouble is never far away.
But he mostly thinks for himself, while Arthur acts according to his rash temper.
Both Shelby brothers were forged in a harsh world, but in real life only Paul seems to have had a rough start.
Brought up on a council estate in south London, his father left home when Paul was just 11 years old.
He said: “Like Arthur, I was starved for love.
“All I wanted was his love, so even if I got negative attention from him, it was still attention.”
Like Arthur, I was hungry for love
Paul Anderson
Paul’s mom worked as a waitress and his path met with Shelby-type criminals.
The actor said: “Having grown up on a council estate myself, I’ve seen a lot of these characters.
“My mom worked in a pub, she was a waitress, so I knew a lot of these gangster characters.”
Paul, who left school at the age of 15, did not have many good career prospects, but wanted to avoid a criminal path.
Instead, he decided to be a ticket seller – buying and selling tickets to events to make money – like his older brother, which is not illegal.
Paul recalled: “I had a choice. I could do crime — sell drugs. Or I could sell tickets and become a tent.”
Cillian, on the other hand, enjoyed a far more comfortable middle-class upbringing in Cork, in the south of Ireland.
His father, Brendan, worked in the Department of Education and his mother, Jane, taught French.
He was sent to one of Ireland’s best private schools, the Catholic Presentation Brothers College in Cork.
Cillian, who has two sisters and a brother, went to study law at university but dropped out after his first year because he realized he wanted to be on stage.
And in his youth he wanted to be a musician as well as an actor.
That’s one thing that connects him with Paul, who once admitted, “I’ve always wanted to be the frontman in a band.”
Instead, Paul also decided to try his hand at acting, enrolling in the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts, and then went into the theater.
Occasional television and theater roles, however, were not enough to make ends meet, so Paul continued scalping.
His great success came by accident.
Paul was selling tickets for Chelsea’s Champions League game against Spanish giants Barcelona in May 2009 when director Nick Love bought them from him.
I always wanted to be the front man in a band
Paul Anderson
Nick thought this unknown would be perfect for the lead role of West Ham football hooligan Bex in his upcoming film The Firm.
From there Paul’s career really took off, starring in Love’s film version of The Sweeney, Brian De Palma’s The Passion and TV series such as Top Boy.
Cillian took a more conventional route to the top, pursuing his acting dream on stage and appearing in low-budget films.
It wasn’t until he moved to London in 2001 that the Irishman became a household name.
He won fans with captivating performances in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later in 2002, as the villain Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins in 2005, and as the lead in The Wind That Shakes the Barley, which won the 2006 Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Paul hoped to land the role of Tommy when they were cast in Peaky Blinders more than ten years ago.
But he was happy to be cast as Arthur when Cillian applied.
Fans of the surprise BBC hit, which featured gritty storylines and violence not normally associated with the public broadcaster, were just as fascinated by Arthur as Tommy.
The tension between the brother and sister, which causes the couple to fight over various dangerous schemes, is crucial to the success of the drama.
During its nine-year run, it moved from BBC Two to BBC One, with Tom Hardy and Anya Taylor-Joy joining the cast and attracting celebrity fans, including Hollywood icon Tom Cruise.
Suddenly, both Paul and Cillian became international names, but neither actor was comfortable with the attention.
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The actors played brothers Tommy and Arthur Shelby in the hit BBC show Credit: Supplied by LMKMEDIA
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Paul had hoped to get the part of Tommy when Peaky Blinders was cast but was happy to play Arthur Credit: Supplied by LMKMEDIA
Cillian found it “offensive” when fans take photos of him in public and chose not to post pictures on social media.
The private actor returned to Ireland in 2015 with his artist wife Yvonne McGuinness, to whom he has been married for some 20 years, and their children.
He chooses to work only six months a year to spend more time with his family.
Cillian, who met Yvonne in 1996, said: “I’m careful not to go from job to job to job because that means you live in a bubble of set, hotel, set, hotel, plane, film festivals, which, for me, is not reality
“So I sign out of it six months a year.”
Such an approach certainly did not harm Cillian’s career, as this year he already won a Bafta and a Golden Globe for his performance in Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a dramatization of the creation of the first nuclear weapon.
Paul hasn’t talked about his love affairs because he keeps it under wraps, although he was linked with jewelry designer Stephy Clark for a while.
He posts on Instagram and hangs out with fellow stars such as Tom Hardy and Guy Ritchie.
It is not clear at what point his social life took a dark turn.
It was certainly a shock when Paul appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court in north London at the end of January charged with possession of crack cocaine, amphetamines and two prescription drugs.
I feel like a fraud a lot of the time in my life
Paul Anderson
His lawyer denied smoking the highly addictive banned substance, but Paul pleaded guilty to possession and was fined £1,345.
The Sun also revealed last month that a Peaky Blinders co-star had complained about Paul’s behaviour, but he denied any wrongdoing.
There are concerns that if the actor is going through a personal crisis, it could derail plans for the upcoming film Peaky Blinders, which is in the works.
He has hinted in the past that his success has not been easy to deal with.
Five years ago, Paul said: “I feel like a fraud a lot of the time in my life.
“I still look at myself sometimes and think, ‘I can’t do that.’
“I have enormous confidence, ego and drive, but I also have low self-esteem and paralyzing self-doubt.”
Fans will hope that this great actor overcomes these fears.
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Cillian is a far cry from his character Tommy Shelby. Credit: BBC
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Cillian as J Robert Oppenheimer Credits: AP
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Source: HIS Education