Barry Keoghan speaks out about his Peaky Blinders character being recast

After Barry Keoghan's turn as Erasmus 'Duke' Shelby in the Peaky Blinders film, The Immortal Man, fans of the show could have been forgiven for expecting him to carry on portraying the character in the upcoming "next generation" series of the show.

However, when the cast was announced in April this year, viewers were shocked to see that Barry would not be returning, and that his character - Tommy Shelby's son - had been recast, with Hollywood's Jamie Bell taking up the mantle instead.

The show's creator Steven Knight described the team as being "incredibly fortunate" to have cast Jamie in the show, who is known for his roles in The Adventures of Tintin, Rocketman, King Kong, Jumper and Fantastic Four.

However, it did leave fans of the franchise wondering why Barry would not be returning - especially since he himself had been the second actor to play the role, following Conrad Khan's portrayal in season six of Peaky Blinders.

Barry has now spoken out about his time working on the film - and although he's not explicitly said why he won't be returning to the role, he did open up about his decision-making process behind which work he takes on now.

He told Variety: "I carefully, cautiously pick because I just want to enjoy, and I want to heal, I want to tell, I want to find, I want to explore. I want to discover all of those things while I’m making a movie with people who are like-minded."

Barry added that he'd thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Peaky Blinders film, saying that he'd "loved making the movie — it was incredible."

He's currently working on anthology films about the Beatles, portraying Ringo Starr alongside Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney and Stranger Things' Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.