Actor Cillian Murphy, best known for his depiction of Tommy Shelby in BBC series Peaky Blinders, said that he would frequent pubs in Birmingham to perfect the local accent.
The talented TV star also noted that he hated having to beef up for the role as Tommy in the hit BBC series, as reported by the Mirror.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Cillian spoke about his meet-up in a local Brummie boozer with the show's creator, Steven Knight, who was from the area, in order to nail the dialect.
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Cillian said: "I hung out with Steve, and we went to the actual Garrison pub in Birmingham with his Brummie mates.
“And they’re singing Birmingham City songs and telling all sorts of stories, and I was recording on my iPhone, and then I took that home, and used it to try and track the accents, you know.
“And then I would call Steve and just leave voicemails on his phone in the accent and see how close I was to it.”
The actor, 45, also claims that there is “no iota of commonality” between himself and the hard-man character of Tommy, and admits it was hard to act the tough guy.
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He said: “I’m not a very physically imposing person. So I have to eat a lot of protein and lift a lot of weights. So that takes a while, which I hate.”
Cillian also discussed the overall grief that the Peaky Blinders cast has felt after losing Aunt Polly, played by the late Helen McCrory, who died of cancer last April, aged 52.
He said: “She was a remarkable human being and a remarkable actor. And I feel very privileged to have got to know her so well.
"She really was on a different level, and our scenes were my favourites.”
The sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders begins this Sunday on BBC One.
