Playing a blinder
He may not have scored that goal against Sweden, but London actor Joe Cole is making a name for himself in Peaky Blinders and now, Black Mirror
Actors. A bit soft, right?
Not Joe Cole though, when he tells you about shooting A Prayer Before Dawn, out next year. Filmed in part in a Thai prison with thousands of real prisoners for extras, it tells the true story of Billy Moore, a British boxer who fought his way through a threeyear stay in Bangkok’s Klong Prem prison. “I learned Muay Thai boxing,” says Cole, 28. “I was sparring for real with prison boxing champions. One of the guys had killed three people. I’d go to sleep and dream that they’d lost the footage and I’d have to do it all again tomorrow…”
But fist-fighting with murderers in a Thai prison is better than what Cole was doing a few years before. He was in Kingston, Surrey, in a rut. “I felt like the world was against me,” he says. “There were points in my teens when I said, ‘OK, I need to do this, because right now I’m selling carpets, I’m being cheated on and I’m a mess. I’m not going to be this person.’”
And now he isn’t. In addition to A Prayer Before Dawn, the new season of Peaky Blinders — the period drama in which Cole has played John Shelby since it first aired back in 2013 — returns to the BBC this month. For those who live off-grid, it’s about the Shelby family, gangland anti-heroes operating in the underworld of Birmingham following WWI. It is a certified hit and more seasons are planned, but Cole seems ready for new challenges. “It has been fantastic to grow up and work on a show that is so incredibly popular. It’s a joy, man,” he continues. “The thing is, I’m just busy.”
He’s busy on projects such as an episode of Black Mirror, though other than saying it’s about a dating app that maps out all your relationships, he’s tight-lipped.
So far, Cole has had lots of fist-wielding, macho roles (even his crossdressing Connor in 2014 short film Slap was a boxer). But, inspired by actors such as Blinders co-star Tom Hardy, he won’t be pigeon-holed.
“I think he’s bold, which for me is exciting,” Cole says of Hardy. “Not playing by the rules and doing the most obvious thing: I find that interesting.”
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Black Mirror: Season 4 launches later this year on Netflix