Cillian Murphy says he’s ‘not all there’ when filming Peaky Blinders

"I'm not walking around talking like Tommy all the time, but you have to be there or thereabouts."

Cillian Murphy has said that filming Peaky Blinders affects his social life because he's "not all there" when preparing for the role. The Co Cork actor has played gang leader Thomas Selby since 2013, and although his performance almost seems effortless at times, Murphy has said that the roles takes a lot out of him. "You have to cancel reality for a little while," he told Radio Times.  "Part of acting in film and television is that you have to go from sitting around in a trailer twiddling your thumbs, doing the crossword or whatever, to bang! Being in it. "So if you're coming from a standstill, it doesn't work." Murphy's wife, Yvonne McGuinness, has even said that she notices a change in the actor's behaviour whenever he's working on the show. "I'm not walking around talking like Tommy all the time, but you have to be there or thereabouts," he said. "So she's right, I'm not all there when I'm filming. And in terms of life when we're filming: I don't socialise, I just go home, learn the lines, go to bed." The season five premiere of Peaky Blinders airs at 9pm on BBC1 on 25 August, and the second episode starts at 9.30pm on 26 August on the same channel. The first episode's plot is as follows: "The Shelby family have dispersed: Michael is living at Shelby Company headquarters in Detroit, while Aunt Polly is holed up with a pilot in Monte Carlo. "But the family are quickly brought back together when news of the Wall Street Crash hits and its implications for the family business become clear." And here's what will happen in episode two: "Tommy is at Arrow House when he receives a call from a mysterious new ally with potentially devastating information. "At Westminster, in a dimly lit bar, he, Ada and Mosley meet to discuss business."