'Peaky Blinders': 7 guest appearances from Adrien Brody to Anya Taylor-Joy, and more

'Peaky Blinders' is a gripping British crime drama following the rise of the Shelby family and their infamous gang, led by the sharp and ruthless Tommy Shelby in the gritty streets of post-World War I Birmingham. Across six seasons, the show built a dark and compelling world, and part of what made it so special was its ability to pull in some of the biggest names in Hollywood for guest roles. Here is a look at seven stars whose appearances on the show are worth revisiting.

Adrien Brody brought serious weight to Season 4 as Luca Changretta, an Italian-American gangster who arrives in Birmingham burning for revenge after losing his father and brother to the Shelbys. Cold, calculated, and utterly ruthless, Luca is one of the most formidable enemies Tommy has ever faced. His target is Tommy Shelby and the Peaky Blinders, and the two go head-to-head in a brutal and bloody clash that keeps viewers on edge throughout the season. In the end, though, the Shelbys come out on top, and Luca's revenge mission falls apart completely.

Tom Hardy is arguably one of the most memorable faces the show has ever had, playing the volatile and deeply unpredictable Jewish gang leader Alfie Solomons. Born to a Russian refugee mother, Alfie is violent, untrustworthy, and the kind of man you can never quite read, no matter how long you have known him. He and Tommy share one of the most fascinating and unstable relationships in the entire series, constantly double-crossing each other and even making attempts on one another's lives at different points. By the finale, though, in a turn that feels both surprising and oddly fitting, the two manage to find common ground and strike a business deal together.

Anya Taylor-Joy, known for her role in 'Dune Part Three', joined the show in its fifth and sixth seasons as Gina Gray, the sharp, ambitious, and deeply scheming American wife of Tommy's nephew Michael. From the moment she appears on screen, it is clear that Gina has one goal and one goal only: to put her husband in the driver's seat of the Shelby empire and push everyone else out of the way. Her constant plotting and manipulation eventually push Tommy too far, leading him to banish both Gina and Michael from the family entirely. Even after that, Gina never truly backs down and spends the rest of her time on the show looking for any opportunity to get one over on Tommy.

Annabelle Wallis, known to Bollywood audiences from her appearance in 'Dil Jo Bhi Kahey', played Grace, Tommy's beloved late wife, across four seasons of the show. Grace begins her journey as an undercover agent planted by the Birmingham police to spy on the Peaky Blinders from the inside, but things take an unexpected turn when she falls deeply in love with Tommy. She eventually leaves Birmingham for America, where she marries another man, but returns after he passes away, bringing with her Tommy's son, Charles. Her return marks the beginning of a new chapter as she marries Tommy and becomes the heart of the Shelby family before her tragic end.

Sam Claflin, known for his role in 'The Hunger Games' franchise, came aboard in Season 5 as Sir Oswald Mosley, a character directly rooted in a real and deeply controversial historical figure. Mosley is a British aristocrat who rises to lead the British Union of Fascists, bringing with him a dangerous ideology and a burning anti-Semitic worldview. He is charming on the surface, but underneath that polish lies a man who is utterly ruthless and impossible to trust. He becomes one of the most persistent and irritating thorns in the Shelby family's side, and his presence continues to cause problems well into the sixth and final season.

Paddy Considine, recently seen in 'MobLand', took on the role of the deeply sinister Father John Hughes in Season 3, a ruthless Irish priest who operates as an agent of the shadowy Economic League. Behind the collar and the cross lies a man capable of unspeakable cruelty, and the show does not shy away from showing just how dark he truly is. He goes as far as kidnapping Tommy's young son, Charles, in order to force the gangster into doing his bidding, making him one of the most genuinely chilling villains the series has produced. His end eventually comes at the hands of Tommy's nephew Michael, who had suffered terrible abuse at the priest's hands as a child, making it one of the most emotionally loaded moments of the season.

Sam Neill, the man most people will always associate with 'Jurassic Park', showed up in the first two seasons of the show as Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, a hard-nosed officer originally from Belfast who lands in Birmingham carrying direct orders from Winston Churchill himself. His job is straightforward on paper: clean up the city, track down a stolen cache of guns, and put the criminal world back in its place. But nothing stays straightforward when the Peaky Blinders are involved. Campbell and Tommy clash repeatedly and fiercely, and you get the sense that for Campbell, it stops being just about duty at some point and starts feeling deeply personal. It is his idea to send Grace into the gang as an inside source, a move that seems clever at the time but slowly unravels into something far bigger and far messier than he ever planned for.