In the upcoming season of Peaky Blinders , viewers will learn about Thomas Shelby's potential new love interest. Director Anthony Byrne joked that she would be "competing with Tommy" and that audiences would "not have seen a character like her before in Peaky Blinders ". While there's nothing to go on at this stage, off-screen, the actor who plays Tommy Shelby has been married to an Irish artist for nearly two decades. So, how did Cillian Murphy and his wife Yvonne McGuinness meet?
As the Irish Times wrote, Murphy was at a "crossroads" of sorts in 1996. It was during this year that he auditioned for and was cast in his first acting role and the first time he met McGuinness. Acting and their relationship became the focus of his life, and both are still going strong today. "I remember the confidence you had when you were young," he told the media. "You just go for it, and when you're 19 or 20, nothing seems permanent. It was an adventure, but looking back, it does seem to have a huge impact on you growing up."
The couple married in 2004 and have two sons, both now teenagers. "They were not interested in my work," the actor told the Evening Standard . "I try to keep them that way because it's a very stupid industry."
Even though Murphy is a fairly well-known actor, he's more content spending time with his family than spending too much time in the head of characters like Tommy in Peaky Blinders . "It's something you have to live with," he said. "When I was younger I would get so deep and heavy (with a part) and get to the point where I wanted to cancel reality... Ideally, I'd like to do one job a year, The rest of the time as a civilian.”
In 2016, he and his family moved back to Ireland from London. Murphy and McGuinness are both Irish but moved to Kilburn after they first met. "I loved living in London in my 20s and 30s, but after a while you think, 'Right, is this it? Is this it for the rest of my life? Or is there something else that could be possible' Sex? '" The couple also wanted their children to be closer to their grandparents.
"I think we wanted them to be Irish," Murphy explained to The Guardian . "It's amazing how quickly their accents have adapted. Even within a year of moving back, they're settling into this slutty British West style. Hopefully, I think, it'll get them a lot of girls... ....”
He was also very proud of his children, and rightfully so. "I was bluffing. But, deep down...I don't know, they seemed to be adapting better than me. More confident in themselves," he said.
"I'm happy about it. For me, it's something that took a long time to figure out: It's okay to be yourself, it's okay to be an individual."
Season 6 of Peaky Blinders is currently filming and is expected to be released on television later this year. Meanwhile, you can watch the show's entire first five seasons on BBC iPlayer. enjoy.
