Peaky Blinders star sparks debate after admitting to not watching any of the show despite starring in movie

Peaky Blinders fans have been left divided over a controversial choice made by one of the movie's stars.

The Birmingham-based crime drama, which follows the notorious Shelby gang, finally came to a complete end today with the Netflix release of the movie Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.

The TV show has built up a dedicated fanbase after it first aired in 2013 and finally concluded in 2022 after six seasons.

In the film, writer Steven Knight picked up the story with Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) in 1940, seven years after the series ended, as World War II begins.

Other familiar faces have also returned, such as Stephen Graham, Sophie Rundle, and Packy Lee as Hayden Stagg, Ada Shelby, and Johnny Doggs, respectively.

And new A-listers also joined the cast for the movie, most notably Barry Keoghan, Tim Roth, and Rebecca Ferguson.

However, Roth has caused quite a stir online by admitting he hadn't watched any of the TV show before taking on his role in the film, as antagonist John Beckett, a British ally of the Nazi forces.

Tim Roth has sparked a divide with his controversial Peaky Blinders choice (Dominik Bindl/Getty Images)

In a recent interview with Discussing Film, which has picked up traction online, he admitted: "For some reason, I had never been able to sit down and binge, so when Cillian offered me the job in this weird way that he did, I had to make a decision about, do I watch it or do I not watch it?"

The 54-year-old actor continued: "Because my character wouldn't know these guys, and that's the road that I went down with it, was to wait."

But the choice not to, as one person has put it, 'do your homework,' has sparked a mixed reaction from devoted fans of the show on social media.

One X user questioned: "Are you not supposed to watch to know what you should be expecting?"

In the show, Roth plays villain John Beckett (Netflix)

While a second brutally wrote: "Not watching the source material isn’t ‘method acting’, it's just avoiding homework and calling it genius."

And a third agreed: "I think it's unprofessional to jump on a project, you have no idea what the prior episodes look like. What then was your motivation, the money?"

Meanwhile, a fourth and fifth penned: "But why didn’t he watch it?" and "The Immortal Man is a farewell film. In my opinion, any new actor involved should have immersed themselves in that universe or at least been more careful about what they say publicly."

However, not everyone is in agreement, and some fans have instead branded the move as 'intelligent'.

"Lowkey makes sense - why would his character binge Peaky Blinders lore before showing up?" one viewer wrote.

While a second agreed: "I like this. I like his response. I think it’s honestly not a bad idea to not watch the show you’re going to be in."

And a third argued: "Some people will call it lazy, but it’s actually discipline. He’s showing up blind because the character is."

"Tim Roth deliberately not watching Peaky Blinders so his character's ignorance stays authentic is the most intelligent preparation decision an actor has made in years," praised a fourth.

Tyla has contacted a representative for Roth for comment.