- 2 days ago
Tim Roth takes us inside the making of Netflix's 'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,' along with a roundtable of hosts from Audacy.
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00:02I'm Megan Holliday from the world-famous K-Rock, and Tim, you are an absolute legend.
00:08We all got to watch the movie at the screening last night.
00:12Well, yeah, then we're done.
00:13We're done.
00:13You're a legend.
00:14That's a wrap.
00:15And your character is such an angel in this movie.
00:20Beautiful angel.
00:21Yeah, he's a good guy.
00:22Yeah, he's a good guy.
00:22And we have to start with this because in the Q&A last night, you talked about, because
00:28the very first line in the movie, which is a very bold line, it's you.
00:34And you said last night in the Q&A that it was ad-libbed.
00:37Yeah, I don't think it's, it wasn't scripted.
00:40And we were doing, it's a sequence at the front end, which, you know, without spoilers, but
00:46there's a lot of steam trains.
00:47And for me, and also I think for Tom and everyone, we were like children.
00:54It was just like, you're kidding me.
00:56I get to do this.
00:57And so there were moments when I got to actually ride out of the station thing in the, in the
01:02trains.
01:02I don't think it was ever on camera.
01:03I don't know.
01:04You just did it for fun.
01:05Yeah.
01:06Yeah.
01:06I had to get off.
01:07So it was such, oh, it was absolutely amazing.
01:11But there is a moment when I turned back towards the camera and say a certain thing, which I,
01:17Yeah.
01:18But yeah, it wasn't, I don't think it was in the script as that, in that way.
01:22And so I just threw one out there to, and Tom was off camera and I, and he would just
01:28started laughing his ass off and saying, do it again, do it, do that again, got to do
01:32that.
01:33And then when we were doing sort of, you know, over, over the months doing a revoicing, doing
01:38ADR and stuff, um, he, I remember he said to me, you never, you never believe what the
01:45first line of the movie is.
01:46And he told me, I was, what?
01:49And then I thought it, the powers would be, it would make him cut that out.
01:55And so every time I saw him over the sort of, you know, zoom machines and stuff, I'd
02:00say, did it survive?
02:01He went, oh yeah.
02:03Oh yeah.
02:03And sure enough, it is.
02:04So I didn't, but I, so when they bullied me into watching the film, uh, the other night,
02:10it was killing it, killing it.
02:11And Tom and, and Steve bullied me.
02:13Cause you don't like to watch your own work.
02:15No, no, I never, I never do.
02:16So, um, I sat through it, but I was very, it's almost feels Peaky Blinders.
02:23Me and Steve Knight, the writer had gone for a piss.
02:27Um, and so we missed the whole opening.
02:31So you missed it.
02:33I haven't seen it.
02:33So you didn't even see your, your big line.
02:36I've got to go in and slide, I've got to slide in the back and, um, I'm going to watch
02:40your work twice now.
02:41I'm going to watch it tonight.
02:42Just, just that bit.
02:43Just that bit.
02:44Cause I, I also, I wanted to see, um, the opening sequence for the bombing, uh, in Birmingham,
02:52which he, his mother almost didn't survive and purely by chance and all that.
02:57So I want to see what they've done with that.
02:59Cause it's a proper old second world war movie, you know, to that point, your dad was in world
03:03war two, right?
03:04So you, so you also have a personal reference point to the movie like Steven.
03:07Yeah.
03:08Yeah.
03:08He was, um, so he started off in the slums in New York, uh, in Sheepshead Bay.
03:16Um, very, like very poverty stricken.
03:19Then they did, um, that thing where they would ship, cause I think his mom was Irish.
03:24So he, they, they all got on the ship and they went to Liverpool, which is again, peaky
03:30blind, they're close.
03:31Um, and he was as, as an 11 year old, he was put in the factories and the brick factories
03:37in Liverpool to work.
03:39And they had a horrible father and they went to him, the kids all went to him and they threatened
03:44him and stuff if they didn't, you know, get us out of that place.
03:48So then they took him down to Kent in England to the, um, the hop fields and they put them
03:54in the hop fields, picking hops.
03:56Um, so when the war, now he was 11 when he was in the factories and fields.
04:01And then, so when the war came along, he was 17 and he joined the, he ran to it.
04:07It was, it was like, it was saving him basically.
04:11And he, um, he went to the air force and he was put in the back of bombers.
04:19He was the tail gunner in the back of the bombers, which was the first one gets knocked off.
04:23It's the one they will go for.
04:24And he survived.
04:26Uh, well, I, I mean, I didn't know that he'd been shot down three times.
04:31Apparently I never knew that somebody went to his funeral.
04:34I was in Africa at the time when his funeral took place.
04:36Um, apparently all these people that were served with him came to his funeral.
04:40So I didn't even know he, uh, kept in touch with, um, and spoke at his funeral.
04:45And one of them was with him when he was shot down and talked about that.
04:49Wow.
04:49We were, we had such a touching chat with Steven about his mother.
04:53Yes.
04:53And about what she went through and his family.
04:55It was a stroke of luck.
04:57I know.
04:57She didn't go to work that day.
04:58His brother was ill and she had to take care of, and it's just, uh, I have chills.
05:02Yeah.
05:02Just thinking about it.
05:03Yeah.
05:04Um, such a touching chat.
05:06So, I, I mean, I guess the rumors are true that you hadn't seen Peaky Blinders.
05:10No.
05:10Of the show, right?
05:11I hadn't.
05:11I bumped into, I'd worked with Killian and, um, I bumped into him along the road.
05:17You know, he was, he'd be shooting some Peaky stuff and he'd happen to be in Liverpool or
05:21somewhere when I was shooting something else and we would talk about it.
05:24But it had such a fantastic reputation, Peaky, amongst the acting community.
05:31Um, you know, it was a place where good, good actors passed through.
05:34It was just generally that thing.
05:36I mean, the, the front man is, he's not too shabby.
05:41Yeah.
05:41So, I mean, it's an awful, it's an awful outfit.
05:44Did they, like, I mean, at this point in your, in your career, you could pretty much do whatever
05:49you choose to do.
05:50It doesn't work that way.
05:51You think it was.
05:52No.
05:52I mean, my, my, the driving force, um, is always fear of unemployment, which is still
05:59very English, right?
06:01Very English.
06:02Very English.
06:02What you've done, like, oh, but what about tomorrow?
06:05What about if they don't meet me?
06:06And then you've got that thing of, you do the, you do the bad ones to pay for the good
06:12ones.
06:12Right.
06:12Ah.
06:13You've got to get the education sorted out for the kids.
06:15You've got to do the, keep the roof on.
06:16You've got all of that stuff.
06:18And then, oh, this one's a good one.
06:20Hopefully I can get that.
06:21So that's pretty much, so you do dodgy ones to pay for the ones that you love.
06:27And that's just the way it is.
06:28Did the filmmakers want, did they not care at all that you hadn't seen the show?
06:32Or they almost liked a fresh take on something?
06:33I didn't tell them.
06:37And I seriously, yeah, I had conversations with my wife going, I don't know if I should
06:41tell them.
06:42What do you think?
06:42And she, I don't know.
06:43What do you think?
06:43And, you know, and in fact, it did work.
06:48I, I mean, even, it's only recently I told them.
06:50Oh, come on.
06:51You mean after it wrapped?
06:53Absolutely.
06:53It's only during the press that I thought, maybe I should mention.
06:56Do you, do you think that helps with the character though?
06:58Because he's new into the Peaky Blind as well.
07:00So in reality, you're also new to it.
07:02So it kind of helps with playing that role, I guess.
07:05I think it totally worked in my favor.
07:06And so, and it was a, because I could have crammed on it, right?
07:10And I was tempted to.
07:14And, but, and also actors that I knew said, you've got to watch this and stuff.
07:18So all of that.
07:20But then I thought I'll hold off because my character doesn't know these guys.
07:24Right.
07:24You know, he knows of them.
07:26He's been briefed.
07:28Well, yeah, because then you don't sort of develop that like emotional connection just
07:32simply from watching the series to where you could feel, you know, some kind of emotion
07:37toward those characters, like Ada, for example, you know.
07:41I know, right.
07:41Yeah.
07:42Yeah.
07:42Right.
07:43So, no.
07:44So he's just reacting to them.
07:47And so when, when I came on set, there they are.
07:51But, so I'm not thinking as Tommy Shelby.
07:57It was just like, all right, now I've got to have a conversation with, I've got to have
08:01a conversation with, we're going to have a little chat about, we're going to do this.
08:04Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but, you know, and, you know,
08:07spoiler alerts, but, but so it actually freed me up and, you know, listen, the writing's
08:17pretty bloody good and yeah, he's, he's all right.
08:21But didn't you, didn't you change the character?
08:23The writing is great, but you came in with, I've never seen this show before and I've got
08:27a few pointers about my character.
08:28Can we change the background?
08:30Well, I, I always do a what about if session.
08:33Um, and so we, we all jumped on and I was in America that they were over there in England
08:41and, um, having read it, um, I, I said, bear with me here, but what about if, and it was
08:50written, uh, aristocratic, upper class, regimental.
08:54That was the, the nature of the character that they, they'd formed.
08:58And I said, what about if we flip that and, um, we make him working class?
09:06Uh, I said that like a geography teacher, you know, no, you know, no disrespect to geography
09:13teachers.
09:14Some geography teachers watching this.
09:16It was a person.
09:16Like, I'm not a fascist.
09:19No, it was a personal experience of, it's like, you know, cause I didn't spend much time
09:23at school.
09:24Um, but your geography teacher was horrible.
09:26He was, he was actually, no, he was a hippie.
09:29Okay.
09:29He was, Mr. Cook, he was a total hippie.
09:31He was really cool.
09:32Shout out to Mr. Cook.
09:33Yeah, Mr. Cook.
09:34Um, but, um, but no, but a lot of the kids were just like, oh God, geography.
09:40And, um, they just want to go play football.
09:42Yeah.
09:42So it was that, but he had a slight professorial kind of tone, we, you know, and it, it meant
09:50that I would, I could play fake father on, uh, on the Duke character a little bit and play
09:56around with that, but also making him work in class meant, I think that I stood more of
10:03a, or my character stood more of a chance having a conversation with, um, with the Peakeys.
10:10If I, I, I really do think if I had been, if I'd gone in there and after class, if
10:15they
10:15were true to themselves, my neck would have been twisted and I would have been chucked
10:18out the back door.
10:20You, you, you, it basically gave him more room for maneuver, um, in the existing story.
10:28And Steve and Tom just went, roll with it.
10:30Where's it going to take us?
10:32And off we went.
10:33Yeah.
10:33So when you were, you know, coming in to shoot for your first day and, and you know how massive
10:38this show is and how much the fans love this show, you know, as, as, as he knows that part,
10:46but he doesn't know why, but, um, you know, it's obviously you've been in this career for
10:52such a long time.
10:53You've done massive movies.
10:55Were you, were you still, uh, did you feel intimidated at all?
10:58Did you feel pressure or were you just excited to take on the project?
11:02It's been, it's been, it's been, you know, it is unusual.
11:06I've come across it a few times where the group that you walk into, uh, is, you feel so
11:13comfortable.
11:14I mean, you got, I mean, the actors that Killian, I mean, Killian, um, got myself on board, got,
11:20um, got, uh, Barry on board, got Rebecca on board.
11:24He was responsible for putting the people that he wanted to work with around him.
11:27Um, but, um, you're, you know, you walk in and it, you're, it's no, a very friendly,
11:36very respectful, um, environment.
11:39Plus, you know, the sets, it's all three-dimensional.
11:42There's no green screen.
11:43It's none of that stuff.
11:43Isn't, and they're not doing shaky camera thing.
11:45You know, it's, it's, it was a proper old movie, you know, and you really felt you were
11:50part of something kind of, um, terrific.
11:53So, no, there was no, uh, no, I wasn't nervous in that way.
11:58You just want to get it right.
12:00And then he's done a good job with the, with the script.
12:03So you can, you know, half the job is done for him.
12:05I mean, your chemistry with Barry was just excellent.
12:09He just makes me laugh.
12:10It was just so great.
12:11And you made us laugh last night.
12:13You told, uh, could you tell the story of the pig shit one more time?
12:16Oh, Jesus.
12:17We were, we were laughing so hard.
12:18But it was, it was literally, I think it was day one and we were doing pigs.
12:24I think that was what we started on.
12:27So they got this big warehouse set and they, it was all mud all over the floor and it was
12:34full of pigs moving around, little herds of pigs and stuff moving around.
12:39But there had been an incredible rainstorm for two days.
12:42And so it was a swamp in there.
12:46They put mud down and, and so, but I come in and I'm tiptoeing through and it smells amazing.
12:54I'm tiptoeing through.
12:56My character's trying not to get his shoes covered in shit.
13:00And so, but it's a shit fest.
13:03And I, and I come through and I get, get to where I'm supposed to be to start doing the
13:07scene.
13:07And I start talking to Barry and I, my eye just keeps getting.
13:11And, and there's a, there's a, a pig just walking past taking a huge shit.
13:16And then another one's taking a piss.
13:18And that's a tyrant, I mean, that's a big, a lot of piss.
13:22And then, and they just constantly were doing that.
13:25And I'm trying to, what's my line again?
13:27Kind of thing like that.
13:28Because I'm looking at pigs' asses.
13:32That's a big scene though.
13:34And that's an important scene.
13:34And it's a big scene.
13:35But there's a lot, but the pigs were the main character in that scene.
13:38I think Barry said he thought that you went somewhere in your brain to try to.
13:42I could just claim that it was acting.
13:44But it was.
13:44You're actually going, oh my God, that's a massive dump.
13:46They don't.
13:47Yeah.
13:48I mean, there's a lot of, and they shit on the move.
13:50Right.
13:51Yeah.
13:51Wow.
13:52It was.
13:52What about Tim Roth playing villains?
13:55Because you, you've always specialized in, in that area.
13:59Where does this villain rank?
14:01Do you think?
14:01And do you approach roles like that?
14:03Well, I always, I think he's a good guy, this guy.
14:06I mean, I really do.
14:07You do?
14:08Yeah.
14:08He's trying to bring peace to our time or their time.
14:12Wore us to be part of it.
14:13Hey, you know.
14:16But no, it's, it's that guy.
14:18But no, I mean, I don't.
14:20The thing is, you know, you play a lot of good guys, you do all that stuff.
14:23But, but people love a good guy.
14:25They remember the villain.
14:26They love a good bad guy.
14:26Right.
14:26You know, and so, you know, and, but, and when you get a shot at doing something like
14:34this in, in a, a, a very well established and cleverly crafted world, um, where the heroes
14:42are bad guys.
14:43Right.
14:44Um, which is, I am a good guy.
14:47No.
14:48So, but, so there is that, you know, it's not like, it's not a cheap shot.
14:54You've got to get it right.
14:56You've got to, you've got to serve it and you serve the fans as well as just trying to
15:00independently make a film.
15:01And you're coming after people like Tom Hardy and people like that that have played the,
15:05you know, the previous villainous roles.
15:07Yeah.
15:07But you also, the reputation of, of the writing and the reputation of the set and the reputation
15:13of the actors that you will pass through, whose hands you will pass through, uh, is pretty
15:19bloody good.
15:19Yeah.
15:19And so, um, yeah, you just know that you're going to be in safe hands.
15:25If you sit, if you, you know, if you're doing it in a scene with, with, um, Killian or if
15:29he's, you know, and in a scene with Barry, because he's there because of Killian again,
15:33like I was, you know, you just, you're in pretty good hands, I think.
15:37What was one of your most favorite memories of making this movie?
15:42Whether it was...
15:43Apart from the pig shit?
15:44Yeah.
15:44Apart from the pig shit.
15:45Can you still smell it?
15:46Huge highlight.
15:47But, but whether it was, you know, on, on the movie or, or, you know, off when you guys
15:53were just getting to hang out.
15:54Um, I think it was, I mean, all of the above, but I think one of the things that made
16:04me
16:06immediately happy, initially happy was walking on the set and it was real that they were,
16:12but, which is so rare nowadays that, um, the only green screen that they had was because
16:19they're skyscrapers when we were outside.
16:21So you, to get rid of that, um, and also to keep the pats at bay.
16:25Um, so they put green screen down, you know, and that, but apart from that, um, you really
16:31felt like you were in a proper old movie.
16:33You really did feel like that was that and they're very rare now and, and watching what
16:39Tom was doing with the camera, which was very gentle and stillness was, was, was there.
16:45I mean, it does roam, but it's not that shaky camera nonsense that is so, um, much.
16:49You feel like you don't like the shaky camera nonsense.
16:51It just is.
16:51It's, it's, it's a habit that we're going through.
16:53It will come out the other side of it, but it did feel like, oh, we are really making a
16:59bit of cinema here.
17:00We could tell too, as the audience, I think so.
17:03And I, and I think it was very respectful of the audience and respectful of their audience.
17:08Uh, peaky, the peaky fans too, which, you know, it, um, killing talks about it a lot
17:14in the, it's just, this is a nod to them.
17:18The only reason, I mean, I know it's obvious, but the only reason that we're in this position
17:23is because the fans went, yeah, we'll go with this and got them there.
17:26Is there something you like about it being set in the UK?
17:30You live in the States now, but you're from there.
17:33You're very big on, as you said, the reality of it.
17:35It looks like a real kind of old time war movie.
17:38The settings are mostly real, but the fact that it's set in the UK as well, because you've
17:42done so many other big projects.
17:44A lot of them are based in the States, but you get to go back and you do something that
17:47is so authentically British.
17:49Yeah, yeah, it, yeah, it, it felt, um, it was also kind of big, big time nod to my dad
17:56too, because he's in the war.
17:57So it felt like, um, it felt like going home, uh, and making a, making a film that you actually,
18:05you know, very much cared about story that, that I know my dad would have loved it.
18:09He might, he might disagree with the music.
18:13He was a bit jazzy, but, um, but no, and he would have liked the comedy of it as much
18:21as the horror of it.
18:22And, and, and it did, it did definitely, um, it, it, it, like I say, you felt like you
18:28were walking into the real, a proper old movie and he loved it.
18:31He loved those.
18:32I mean, you know, Gregory Peck and all those guys doing their thing.
18:36You did such a beautiful job, uh, to, to let this film come to fruition for those.
18:41for the people who love the series.
18:43Um, you said that you got this role texting with Cillian Murphy.
18:47So I want to ask you, would you have taken any role that Cillian Murphy said, Hey, you
18:52want to be in my movie?
18:53No, I thought they were going to actually green screen him out.
18:59No, I thought they were going to offer me Tommy Shelby.
19:03Yeah.
19:04I mean, I've worked with him before and I love working with him.
19:07Do you still have the text or can we see it?
19:08No, I do have the text.
19:12No, I, I, yeah, I, I said to him, you know, cause he just won his Oscar and I said,
19:16keep
19:16your head down and run for the hills, you know, cause I know it can be mad that stuff.
19:21And he said, doing it, doing it.
19:23Do you want to do a movie?
19:24And then it, and it was like Peaky Blinders.
19:26And then, oh yeah, I think so.
19:29Yeah.
19:30Straight away.
19:31It's like, fuck it.
19:32But, um, and, and, but he had done the same with, you know, he worked with Barry.
19:37He'd worked with my, with myself.
19:39He had, I don't think he'd worked with Rebecca, but I mean, she's gold dust.
19:43Um, she's a brilliant actor.
19:45So, you know, he was planning this with the gang and he wanted to do it right.
19:53And he got, he got just some, you know, people around him that he wanted to be with on this
19:58journey.
19:59And, uh, and as a, as a consequence, we, we had an absolute blast.
20:04Yeah.
20:04And we had a blast watching it as the audience.
20:06Thank you so much for, uh, for the time today.
20:09Good stuff.
20:09We appreciate this.
20:10Yeah.