Vinnie Jones has revealed he wish he’d been cast in Peaky Blinders after believing he was ‘made for it’.
The former professional footballer played for clubs including Wimbledon, Leeds United and Chelsea before switching focus to an acting career.
His first screen role was in Guy Ritchie’s 1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, in which he played a mob enforcer.
In the years since he’s become known for playing criminals and villains, going on to appear in Gone in 60 Seconds, NCIS: Los Angeles and The Gentlemen.
However the 59-year-old has now lamented missing out on being cast in Steven Knight’s hit period crime drama.
Peaky Blinders followed the Birmingham-based crime gang in the direct aftermath of the First World War and starred Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle and Joe Cole.
It ran from 2013 until 2022, however a movie based on the series is also currently being filmed.
But during a recent interview Vinnie reflected on the two massive shows he wished he’d starred in.
‘Yeah. I mean, Fools And Horses, it’s one of them where you look at it same as that Peaky Blinders,’ he told The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X.
‘Obviously, I wish I would have done that, because I thought I was made for that as well. Some things you think you’re made for, you know?’
Vinnie then spoke about his love of the sitcom ahead of making his stage debut as Danny Driscoll in the Only Fools and Horses The Musical.
‘I grew up with Only Fools And Horses, and when I was playing football, and you done all the magazines, it was like every footballer’s favourite TV show! “What is it?”. “Only Fools And Horses”’ he said.
‘And here we are, you know, a few decades on, and I get asked to do it, and it’s, you know, it’s an honour. It is an absolute honour to do it. And look, we’ve had to put three more shows on the tickets have gone crazy!’
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Although Vinnie never appeared on Peaky Blinders, in 2018 he was praised by Steven.
‘I think Vinnie is a person, some people have just got it, where they have a presence about them with the screen – they tend to catch the eye,’ he said when asked if the actor could appear on the show.
But he continued: ‘It really is astonishing we do get a lot of people saying they want to be in it – but if you do one scene or episode with a particularly famous person it swamps the whole thing and loses its credibility.’
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Peaky Blinders is streaming on BBC iPlayer and Netflix.
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