To speak like Alfie Solomons, master a gritty East London/Cockney accent with Yiddish influences, characterized by dropping 'H's and elongating vowels, while projecting calm, brutal honesty, using dark humor, maintaining intense eye contact, and speaking slowly with a deep, relaxed tone, often punctuating threats with a calm nod.
Tom Hardy's portrayal of Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders stands out for his self-created accent, a gritty mix of Cockney, Yiddish, and East London slang that gave the character a raw, unpredictable charm.
Aside from being a veteran of World War I, little else is known about his background but for the fact that his mother was a Jew who fled persecution in Russia. He understood the Russian language well, and appeared to also understand Italian, based on his conversation with Luca Changretta.
His accent — a wild mix of Cockney, Yiddish, and East London slang — wasn't just acted, it was crafted. Hardy reportedly improvised much of Alfie's dialogue, adding grunts, pauses, and mutters that made every line unpredictable and hilarious.
"You're behaving like a f*****g child. This is a man's world." #PeakyBlinders.
Alfie reveals he knew Tommy would track him down for his actions, and that he has cancer and wishes to die on his own terms. After Alfie unholsters and fires at Tommy, he is shot in the face and falls to the ground.
Thomas Shelby
My suits are on the house or the house burns down.” Only a much-feared criminal with a strong hold of the city would be able to get away with such a remark. “Everyone's a whore, Grace. We just sell different parts of ourselves.”
Cillian Murphy's Irish Accent, and Transforming His Voice
Born in Cork, Ireland, Murphy is indeed as Irish as they come, right down to his first name, which is pronounced Kill-ee-an.
The mistake here though is that the language spoken is Romanian, not Romani, a gypsy language. There is a large difference between the two. However, the producers corrected this in Series 3 by changing from Romanian to Romani.
The Angloromani dictionary breaks down each word: “Tickna” – “little girl” “Mora” – possible variation of “kill” or “death” “Beng” – “devil” Fans have speculated that the phrase is a kind of premonition or warning: either the devil will kill a little girl, or the girl/daughter of the devil will die.
The Man Who Speaks 30+ Languages Ahmed Diallo has mastered over 30 languages, connecting with people across cultures.
Changretta Accents. In series three both Audrey and Vincente Changretta have English accents, however in the following series Luca Changretta (eldest son) has an American accent with Italian inflection.
Why does Lucifer have a British accent? (Obviously, it's because the actor does and they thought it would add an interesting touch, considering the show wouldn't get as much traction without his accent).
Cillian Murphy has revealed how he mastered a Brummie accent for his lead role as Tommy Shelby on Peaky Blinders. The 45-year-old actor admitted that he recorded pub goers in Birmingham, together with the show's creator Steven Knight, to convincingly turn his Cork accent into that of a Peaky Blinder.
Tommy Shelby and his kin are Irish-Romani (sometimes spelled Romany) Gypsies, a unique cultural and ethnic group present in Britain since the 1500s. The award-winning Peaky Blinders is directed by Steven Knight and has run for 6 seasons,...
Irish, or Gaeilge, is one of two official languages in the Republic of Ireland, with English being the second. The number of native speakers, however, is relatively small -- approximately 1% of the population, or 30,000 people, speak Irish.
Tommy Shelby, Cillian Murphy
The actor, famous for his roles in Inception and 28 Days Later was born in Douglas, an Irish suburb in Cork, but he masterfully manages to switch his Irish accent into Tommy Shelby's Birmingham lilt.
The results were as follows:
jaffa - to be 'seedless' as in infertile, one who 'fires blanks'
Again, "Hi" or "Hello" is just fine. "Ello gov'na" is an informal way to address someone instead of saying "Hello sir/ma'am" that comes from the Cockney accent of East London, but this is already becoming quite old-fashioned and might come off as mocking if an American uses it.
Throughout Peaky Blinders, he's rarely shown consuming food. It's not an oversight—it's intentional. His character is driven by ambition, trauma, and control. Eating would suggest comfort, and Tommy doesn't allow himself that luxury.
🥃🚬 A Peaky Blinders Film starring Cillian Murphy is coming to Netflix. “It seems like Tommy Shelby wasn't finished with me.. . It is very gratifying to be recollaborating with Steven Knight and Tom Harper on the film version of Peaky Blinders. This is one for the fans.”