Meet the Belfast actor at the heart of Peaky Blinders film

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is one of the most eagerly awaited films of 2026.

As Johnny Dogs - gang boss Tommy Shelby's loyal companion - Belfast actor Packy Lee is at its heart.

The feature length version of the hit TV drama is streaming on Netflix from Friday 20 March.

Alongside Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy as Shelby, the all-star cast also includes Barry Keoghan, Tim Roth, Stephen Graham and Rebecca Ferguson.

In the film, the fates of Birmingham gang leader Shelby and his son Duke, played by Keoghan, are entwined with the fate of a Britain threatened by destruction during World War Two.

But as the film opens, Shelby is an isolated, haunted man with Johnny Dogs his only companion.

"I'm the person that he's kept by his side supposedly to make sure somebody does his errands for him," Lee told BBC News NI.

"It was a wonderful moment for me to grow into that role because we've moved on in time and we had lovely moments and options to find out what it was like for Tommy Shelby when he wasn't involved in the craziness of the world."

Writer Steven Knight, though, soon draws Shelby back into that craziness as the Peaky Blinders' exploits put his life at risk and threaten to change the course of the war.

"The wonderful thing that Steven does is that he takes fiction and fact and puts them both beautifully together," Lee said.

"It's an absolutely wonderful experience being involved in it but it's also a great experience of history because there's a lot of it that's very true.

"We were very aware shooting it how close to reality we are."

Lee said he had been to the cinema to see the film as it had a two-week release prior to streaming on Netflix, and "watched the audience watching it".

Understandably, he did not want to give any spoilers away, but said the huge popularity of the TV show - which originally aired over a decade ago - and the story was still evident.

"It's 2026 and people are still involved in that world, and wanting to be involved in that world," he said.

"I don't just mean fans, I mean actors.

"We have a wonderful cast.

"I feel that the audience are in for a wonderful treat with the dynamic of the story, but also the performances."

As a long-time cast member as Johnny Dogs, Lee has been overwhelmed by the reaction to Peaky Blinders.

"It was a small TV show on BBC Two, we moved to BBC One with the fans wanting to watch it, with the views that we were getting, with the demand for it," he said.

"I feel it's the fans' responsibility that the show actually went as long as it did, and it's the fans' responsibility that the show went to a movie because they demanded it."

Lee most recently returned to perform in Belfast at the Lyric Theatre in Owen McCafferty's play Agreement, where he portrayed the Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams.

He said stage and screen were "both fantastic in their own way".

"I'll explain it like this, there's a car and there's a mechanic and there's a body repair shop," he said.

"The body repair shop is sometimes the likes of making movies, all the beautiful outside is what you see.

"I feel that when we're doing plays, for example, we've a lot more time to dig in deep so we become the mechanic of the car.

"They're two completely different jobs, they're two completely different performances."

Lee began to act when he was at school in west Belfast, but there were many twists and turns before Peaky Blinders.

So what advice would he give to young people hoping to follow in his footsteps?

"Nobody ever sees your no's, they only see your yeses," he answered.

"You're going to feel at times that it's not working or it's not the right jobs or you haven't got the jobs.

"I've also been in those positions. The only advice I could give anybody is no matter what you want to do, do not quit.

"Do not give up on your dream."

The Immortal Man is not the end of the legendary gang - after the film, Peaky Blinders will return to TV to follow the exploits of the new generation of the Shelby family after World War Two.

"There is more to be told in the universe, but this is the final chapter of this part of the story," Knight told Breakfast.