Peakys star plays another blinder as he makes his West End debut
PEAKY BLINDERS star Paul
Anderson says he is not worried about being typecast, despite signing up to play another antihero — this time in his West End debut.
The actor, who plays Arthur Shelby in hit gangster drama Peaky Blinders, is taking the eponymous lead role in a new version of Tartuffe, the 17th-century comedy by French playwright Molière.
The play has been adapted by Dangerous Liaisons writer Christopher Hampton and set in modern-day Hollywood. It reimagines Tartuffe as a radical evangelist preacher who worms his way into the family of a French media tycoon.
Anderson, 40, described taking the part as “an easy decision”. He said: “I love the dichotomy of it, that he is essentially this evil guy — but does he know what he is? And that’s what I’m attracted to, the not knowing.
“Most types of antihero now in TV, like Walter White in Breaking Bad or Tony Soprano [in The Sopranos], they are people who do bad things and commit atrocities but you root for them. You still want them to succeed, to win through and on that basis I think that is true for this play.”
Anderson stars alongside Cillian Murphy and Helen McCrory in Peaky Blinders, which is set in Birmingham after the First World War and follows gangster family the Shelbys. His latest screen role is a film version of Robin Hood, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, in which he plays the villainous Guy of Gisborne. Anderson said: “I’m fortunate in that I have played characters who are bad people and so on, but equally there is a softer side so I’m not worried about it. You need people to see a difference in you and I think there is a difference in Tartuffe.”
The play, which starts a 10-week run in May at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, co-stars French actress Audrey Fleurot, best known for her role in cult crime drama Spiral. Details at tartuffeplay.com