I Love Peaky Blinders, But Only Just Realized Two Shelby Brothers Are Related In Real Life

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.

While Boardwalk Empire injected some glamour and gravitas back into the small-screen mob, but it was a later hit that made criminality truly cool again.

Set in Birmingham in the wake of the social and economic devastation left behind by the First World War, creator Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders was a massive hit for Netflix. The crime drama starred Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, a conflicted veteran attempting to turn the titular gang into a force to be reckoned with in the city’s underworld. Facing opposition from the police, rival gangs, and later British fascists, Tommy’s gang navigated all manner of challenges across the show’s six seasons.

Peaky Blinders' John & Michael Actors Are Brothers In Real Life

The non-stop action and sharp historical commentary of Peaky Blinders left viewers with little time to focus on the show’s universally strong cast, which included both established stars like Murphy, Sam Neill, Charlotte Riley, Sam Claflin, and Paddy Considine, and emerging talents like Anya Taylor-Joy, Cosmo Jarvis, and Emmett J. Scanlan. This meant that it wasn’t until I rewatched the series that I realized Michael Gray’s actor, Finn Cole, was the real life brother of John Shelby’s actor, Joe Cole.

The third-youngest of the Shelby brothers, Joe Cole’s Johnny is a series regular from seasons 1-4, while his real-life younger brother Finn took on the role of Michael from seasons 2-6. With seven years in the difference between them, the pair are similar enough for their family resemblance to become obvious on a re-watch, although their very different career paths mean that Peaky Blinders is the only time they have shared the screen together.

Where Else You've Seen Joe & Finn Cole In TV & Film

Finn Cole’s first major movie roles came in 2018’s horror comedy Slaughterhouse Rulez, alongside Green Room.

Cole also starred in an episode of Netflix’s dark sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror, and has played the lead role of Sean Wallace in the British gangster series Gangs of London since 2020. He portrayed Harry Palmer in 2022’s remake of The Ipcress File, a role previously portrayed by Michael Caine in the 1965 movie of the same name. As impressive as the careers of both brothers are, however, Peaky Blinders remains the most recognizable title that both the Cole brothers boast on their screen CVs.