Cillian Murphy does one thing more than anything else in Peaky Blinders: smoke. Across the series, he lights up more than 3,000 cigarettes.
Think about it — Tommy Shelby rarely appears on screen without one. It is absolutely one of the character’s defining traits.
He’s not alone. Arthur, Ada, and plenty of others smoke throughout the show — but Murphy’s tally dwarfs everyone else’s.
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With Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man arriving this week, there’s one obvious question: how did he actually manage it?
How Cillian Murphy smoked over 3,000 cigarettes in Peaky Blinders
Murphy didn’t smoke real cigarettes while filming Peaky Blinders or The Immortal Man. Instead, he used herbal cigarettes — containing no nicotine or tobacco.
Speaking to The Independent in 2019, “People did smoke all day [back then] and it just became a Tommy thing.
“People did smoke all day [back then] and it just became a Tommy thing.
“There were these rose cigarettes that are herbal – Steve [Knight, the creator] would joke they’re one of your five a day. I asked the prop guys to count how many I smoked just out of interest, and they think it’s something like 3,000.”
That’s not to say they’re healthy. For example, Honeyrose (a company that produces similar cigarettes) warns on its website that they still contain tar and carbon monoxide, and packs still come with health warnings.
In a 2023 interview with The Guardian, Murphy spoke about his experience with herbal cigarettes.
“I’ve smoked so many fake cigarettes for Peaky and [Oppenheimer]. My next character will not be a smoker. They can’t be good for you. Even herbal cigarettes have health warnings now,” he said.
Why Tommy Shelby rubs cigarettes across his lips
That signature move — rubbing the cigarette across his lips — wasn’t originally planned. It came from a practical issue on set.
Murphy explained that the cigarettes would stick to his lips if he didn’t prepare them first, so he started brushing them across his mouth before lighting up.
Over time, it became part of Tommy Shelby’s identity.
Murphy explained to BBC Radio 1: “That comes from the fact that the cigarettes, we cut the filter off or do we leave the filter on I cannot recall, but anyway if you don’t rub them across your lips initially, they will stick.
“That just became this sort of idiosyncrasy but it was out of necessity because otherwise the cigarettes would stick to my lip and I just kept doing it and it became a Tommy thing.
“These things develop over the course of the show.”
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man hits Netflix on March 20.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcvUGs3xaDM&t=2s
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