In the sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy had the opportunity to speak in the language of Molière. How did the interpreter of Thomas Shelby learn to master French?
Warning, spoilers. It is advisable to have seen the first episode of Season 6 of Peaky Blinders before continuing to read this article.
Available since June 10 on Netflix in France, season 6 of Peaky Blinders marked the end of the serial adventures of the Shelby family, who should soon return in a film. In this final round of episodes, Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) gets back in the saddle after his failed assassination attempt on fascist politician Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin).
The leader of the Peaky Blinders launches an all-new offensive with ingenious plans to battle his enemies, including Michael Gray (Finn Cole), who blames Tommy for the death of Polly (the late Helen McCrory).
Years after Polly’s funeral, Tommy sets a trap for Michael by inviting him to a bar in St. Pierre and Miquelon for a chat with business associates of South Boston gang leader and uncle Jack Nelson. of Gina, Michael’s wife, to talk business. Eventually, Tommy will arrange for Michael to be imprisoned for possession of opium.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a French archipelago in North America located in the Atlantic Ocean south of the Canadian island of Newfoundland and although English is common there, the majority of French is spoken there. Tommy Shelby therefore dealt with locals, including the managers and customers of the bar where the meeting was organized, among which were the Frenchies Grégory Fitoussi and Assaad Bouab.
A French teacher mother!
The leader of the Peaky Blinders therefore had to speak in the language of Molière, which he knows thanks to his traumatic experience during the First World War. And his interpreter Cillian Murphy had quite impressive French.
But nothing surprising for the Irish actor since his mother is a French teacher! Cillian Murphy explained to Deadline that she had helped him for this passage from season 6 of Peaky Blinders:
“My French was really, really good when I was around 20, then I gave up and didn’t continue to practice it, which was a stupid decision. I sent [les scripts à ma mère] and she sent them back to me and we figured out how to make this passage as conversational as possible. We didn’t want it to be too formal, like the kind of French learned in the trenches back then. So yes, my mother was my French teacher at that time even if she was not credited as such.