Peaky Blinders Birmingham audition call sees huge response
The likely lads came in their droves – in the hope of winning a part in the next series of Peaky Blinders, the hit TV drama about Brummie gangs.
And at least 1,000 young men, forming a queue snaking for up to half a mile, starting at least three hours before the 11am kick-off. Vivid Projects hosted the auditions for the BBC drama.
They appealed for local lads after the first series received criticism that some of the Brummie accents were 'a bit dodgy'.
And that's exactly what they got, real Brummies and men from the nearby Black Country. There were so many that the auditions were held in groups of 10.
Those that fitted the criteria – either white aged between 13 and 19 or mixed-race 15 to 17 – had their photographs taken and were told they would be contacted if they got one of the parts.
First in the line, that stretched from the Minerva Works in Fazeley Street, Birmingham and around the corner into Andover Street, was 17-year-old Nathan Beardsmore, from Glyn Farm Road, Quinton.
Shivering in the morning chill, Nathan, who is studying drama A level at King Edward VI Sixth Form College, Stourbridge, said: "I really enjoyed the first series.
"It put Birmingham on the map and it was nice to learn more of the history of the city."
Some, like 20-year-old Alex Parkinson, of Stamford Road, Amblecote, Stourbridge, and Dylan Allison, 17, of Bond Street, Blackheath, warmed up by practising powerful dramatic speeches.
Alex, who was 65th in the queue, delivered a Macbeth monologue, while Dylan went for a speech from Oedipus.
