The only bit Kirby hadnt prefaced was that Moscow used to be a lion tamer.
Graham is Sugar Goodson, a dangerous, veteran boxer who Moscow immediately gets on the wrong side of.
What more can you ask for?
‘A Thousand Blows’Disney
It gave you the freedom as an actor to really immerse yourself in the role.
Boxing training
And immerse himself he did.
We instantly know the kind of man this guy is.
Image: Disney+
I wanted to bring back that archetypal, old-fashioned man back on screen.
Dohertys character Mary Carr also gets plenty opportunity to explore her physicality.
They are an all-female gang but their success wasnt based off their gender in any way, she adds.
We all hit a point where we thought this feels like something fresh and new.
Has gender therefore ceased to be an important factor?
Doherty pays tribute to Knight for giving the women in the story agency.
Hes one of those creatives who comes into your life and youre just pinching yourself, she adds.
I was on set with Stephen Graham pulling apart a scene and we just thought it was like poetry.
If you look at it and pick it apart he has written a verse.
I dont see the depiction of Mary Carr and the Elephants as a consequence of some fashion.
That story is worth telling.
One of my first instincts was to go to Jamaica.
Kirby spent time with an accent coach along with a historian and architect.
I didnt even know there was a Jamaican dictionary from that time so that was great, he explains.
Theres the accent and the words, but then also what happens in between the words.
How did [Jamaican people from the time] express themselves through sounds not just words?
AsPeaky Blindersshifts fromsmall screen to big and beyond, Knight is confident he can makeA Thousand Blowshis next franchise.
Its like following a rope in a smoky room, he adds, in typical Knight-ian fashion.
As long as people want it and the story works you just keep following.
A Thousand Blowslaunches February 21 on Disney+ and Hulu.
It is produced by The Story Collective, Matriarch and Water & Power Productions.
EPs are Kate Lewis, Damian Keogh, Graham, Walters, Tom Miller and Sam Myer.
The series is executive produced for Disney+ by Lee Mason, Executive Director of Scripted.
Water & Power developed the original idea of a series about the real-life boxers.
Matriarch then came on board and sent to Knight who came on board as writer and creator.
The Story Collective then boarded as co-producer and sent to Disney.
