He’s got a red right hand.
“Peaky Blinders” star Paul Anderson, who played the volatile, hot-tempered Shelby brother Arthur on the hit gangster show, looks unrecognizable in new photos, out and about in London.
The troubled British actor was recently accused of possessing class A crack cocaine, as well as class B amphetamines and two class C prescription substances, after allegedly getting caught with the substances on Boxing Day in London on Dec. 26.
He pleaded guilty to all four charges and was fined £1,345. Following that, he was spotted looking disheveled as he wandered around London.
“Peaky Blinders” ran for six seasons from 2013-2022. Set in Birmingham, England, post World War I, it followed the Shelby crime family: Tommy (Cillian Murphy), his brothers Arthur (Anderson) and John (Joe Cole), their sister Ada (Sophie Rundle), their aunt Polly (the late Helen McCrory), and Polly’s estranged son, Michael (Finn Cole).
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In a BBC interview during the show’s run, Anderson said, “They’re the most interesting roles to play: violent, brutal, dark characters. There’s so much scope because you can do the obvious brutish kind of stuff, but then you can play the sort of different layers with a violent man. There’s a reason for that sort of behaviour and mentality. Men were hard men and if they weren’t then they were left behind. It was a pleasure to play Arthur Shelby. Much better than playing the nice guy.”
A slew of stars have appeared in various seasons as antagonists and fellow criminals, including Tom Hardy, Sam Neill, “House of the Dragon” star Paddy Considine, Adrien Brody, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Sam Claflin.
Creator Steven Knight even decided to bring Tom Hardy back after killing off his character, Alfie, telling The Post in 2019, “I began to think, ‘What a shame we don’t have Alfie.’ Tom [Hardy] was of a similar mind. Tom loves the character. I try to avoid social media where possible, it’s more … you meet people who say, ‘I love Peaky Blinders’ and they’d say, ‘Is Alfie coming back?’ So I could tell there was a groundswell of concern. So lots of things came together to make me think, ‘Let’s bring Alfie back. I can, so I will.”
The chaotic Arthur frequently had plot lines involving drugs, and Tommy often had to get his brother out of scrapes.
Talking to The Post in 2018, when the show was snaring a record 4 million viewers on BB Two and was also gaiting a footing in America, thanks to streaming on Netflix, Murphy said, “It’s nuts, I’m just constantly surprised how [‘Peaky Blinders’] continues to grow. Sometimes with these longform shows they tend to plateau, or dip, for a season, but ‘Peaky’ seems to have incrementally gotten stronger and I’m really proud of that.”
He told The Post that the show seemed to catch on, “Like some sort of osmosis. When the second [season] came along it got into that zeitgeist-y kind of thing and by the third [season] people were walking around dressing as Peaky Blinders and getting the haircuts and listening to the [soundtrack] music.”
The show also enjoyed a slew of celeb fans, including Brad Pitt, David Bowie, Snoop Dogg and Tom Cruise.
Since Arthur used drugs on the show, according to The Guardian, Anderson’s lawyer reportedly told the court, “You will recognise the defendant from a very intense part that he has played in a recent television programme. He is often recognised and does his best to please fans of the show by slipping into character. He was recognised that Boxing Day and tried to play up for these people. And because of the lifestyle he leads people often give him inducements.”
This could put his role in the rumored “Peaky Blinders” movie in jeopardy, sources told The Daily Mail.
“[Creator] Steven Knight is still writing the script,” the source said. “But this conviction will create huge problems as it will be so hard to have a Peaky Blinders film without such a pivotal character, while it will be tough having him reprise the role as if nothing has happened.”
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However, it’s unknown if or when the movie will come out.
In a GQ interview published on Feb. 13, Murphy said regarding the status of the film, “There is no status, as of now. So I have no update. But I’ve always said I’m open to it if there’s more story. I do love how the show ended. And I love the ambiguity of it. And I’m really proud of what we did. But I’m always open to a good script.”
The Post reached out to Anderson for comment.
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