Hollywood star Emily Blunt has told of her amazement at the mania around Peaky Blinders actor Cillian Murphy.
The Golden Globe-winning actress shares the screen with the Cork man in the upcoming film A Quiet Place Part II, which was written and directed by her husband John Krasinki.
The first film – set in a post-apocalyptic world where a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing – was a surprise hit in 2018.
She revealed on the Jonathan Ross Show that she and her husband were inspired to cast Murphy when watching him in Peaky Blinders.
The English actress said: “I was like mainlining Peaky Blinders into my veins. John had written the second script and he said, ‘That’s it, it’s him.’”
Blunt said she was blown away by his acting during the filming of the sequel.
She added: “He is so arresting to be in a scene with, he’s absolutely brilliant. He’s so polite and shy, the antithesis of his character in Peaky Blinders.
“He has these very famous iconic blue eyes and his cheekbones... he has websites dedicated to his eyes and cheekbones, it’s crazy.”
Emily said they went out socialising with him during filming on a number of occasions.
She added: “We did a couple of times, dragged him out.
“He quite likes to just go home, take a bath and go to bed. When he goes out, I think, when he has his Peaky Blinders haircut he hates it.”
During one night out in a restaurant, they had to cut their evening short when some of the show’s fans arrived on the premises.
She said: “As we were leaving, I could see this bachelorette party pull in and they were dressed as Peaky Blinders [characters]. We put his hood up and smuggled him… it was ridiculous. I was like, ‘We need to leave, now…’”
Blunt told how she found the use of signing in A Quiet Place difficult to master.
She said: “The sign language was challenging, quite hard… it took me forever.”
The Devil Wears Prada actress has been on a run of starring opposite Irish actors.
She played the love interest of Jamie Dornan’s character in Wild Mountain Thyme, which was filmed in Co Mayo.
It was generating awards season buzz for its leading actors until the film trailer drew a storm of derision on social media from Irish people over its cliched script.
