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After being discovered with crack cocaine, Paul Anderson’s future as Peaky Blinders has been cast into danger.
The actor, who was supposed to reprise his role as Arthur Shelby in the upcoming film based on the BBC series, was caught with multiple drugs in a pub in Hampstead on Boxing Day 2023 and fined for possession of them.
The 48-year-old Anderson entered a guilty plea on Thursday (January 25) for the possession of class A crack cocaine, class B amphetamines, and two class C prescription medications during his court appearance. The court fined him £1,345.
Mail Online reports that following Anderson’s use of the disabled restroom, the bar management smelled what he thought were crack cocaine odors and called the police.
According to reports, the British actor was transported to a police station, where they discovered crack cocaine, amphetamines, diazepam, and pregabalin. His other credits include The Revenant and the recent Kevin Hart movie Lift.
“He has found himself in an unfortunate position and should have had the strength to say no,” Anderson’s lawyer allegedly told the court, adding that Anderson had not been consuming crack cocaine.
“You will recognize the defendant from a very intense part that he has played in a recent television program,” his lawyer allegedly continued. He does his best to fit in with his persona and win over the show’s viewers, and he gets recognized often.
People regularly provided him with inducements due to his lifestyle, and he sought to act up for these folks on Boxing Day.
Steven Knight, who created Peaky Blinders, is slated to adapt the program for the big screen after its April 2022 finale. In the first episode, which premiered in 2013, Anderson played Arthur Shelby, the older brother of Thomas Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy.
Someone close to them close to the project has told Daily Star that the fine causes “huge problems” for the picture and casts doubt on his continued involvement.
Further, they mentioned that having a Peaky Blinders picture without a key character would be challenging, and even more challenging to have him return to the role as if nothing had transpired. Thirdly, we could scrap the whole idea.
