Sophie Rundle on ‘secret marriage’ rumours and filming for Peaky Blinders series 6

The Peaky Blinders actress, 32, on corsets, playing a new kind of vampire and the truth about her ‘secret marriage’.

You produced and star in vampire movie Rose: A Love Story…

It’s the story of a couple who are living off-grid and Rose is suffering from an illness that’s taking a toll on both their lives.

The vampire genre is so familiar, it’s hard to get an original take on it. I thought it was clever to think of vampirism as this thing that takes you over and strips you of your humanity, with these parallels of having a terminal illness or an eating disorder.

Your boyfriend, Matt Stokoe, wrote Rose and plays your on-screen husband. Was it intense working and living together?

We were only both in it because we were cheap! We didn’t have the budget to get other actors. We did sort of draw limits around over-talking about it but it felt natural.

And now you’re busy producing something else together — a baby. Why did you announce it on Instagram?

It’s a funny one because I’m so nervous about privacy. It’s such a difficult thing to navigate, how much of yourself you share.

You don’t want to share too much on social media but in real life I’m a massive, compulsive oversharer and this is a beautiful, monumental part of my life so I wanted to share that a little bit.

We have all had such a horrible year that when something is joyful and positive you want to embrace that.

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I called Matt ‘your boyfriend’ but word is you got secretly married during lockdown. Any comment on that?

Goodness, people are fascinating but strange! No, I don’t have anything to say on that.

Have you enjoyed lockdown?

I do quite like it. I like the privacy and peace of it. Lots of long breakfasts and reading books and taking Buddy, our dog, for a walk.

And picking up strange new hobbies that I very quickly give up. I tried crochet but I don’t have the dexterity or the patience.

Then I really got into my sewing and quilting, like a real old nana. I made quilts for quite a lot of people that I now realise are terrible. My sewing skills are dreadful but I’m very enthusiastic.

If you were a dog, which breed would you be?

I would have to be a golden retriever. People say owners looks like their dogs and it is freakishly true.

When you walk around a park you realise that people really do look like the dogs that they choose. I don’t know if that’s very arrogant of me because Buddy is a very lovely golden retriever and I’m more of a scrappy little mongrel.

What do fans mainly recognise you from?

Peaky Blinders, which I’m always amazed by because in that I have so much make-up on and a short, dark wig.

I’m always amazed when people recognise me, especially with my mask on. That’s very impressive.

Is there a family feeling, going back to shoot series 6 of Peaky Blinders?

I feel a real sense of loyalty. ‘Peakies’ was one of my first jobs. I love it and I really wanted to see it through to the end.

I love long storytelling where you get to come back and with each series it grows and changes and adds layers. I think I’ve really changed as an actress.

You’ve done a lot of period dramas. Which era, in your view, has the best outfits?

I feel like an authority on which is the most comfortable decade. I’d say Peaky Blinders. The 1920s and 1930s are much more comfortable than the 1830s. Corsets are just awful.

I mean, they are fabulous when you go into a fitting and you are stood there like a dolly, looking amazing. Then you have to sit in it for 12 hours a day and they are horrific.

No wonder so many women were repressed for so long. I think they were just knackered. Gentleman Jack was particularly hard because puffy sleeves were very trendy in the 1830s so there are doorways you literally have to go through sideways — much to the hilarity of the crew.

What’s the scoop on series two of Gentleman Jack?

Hopefully, as much of the same gutsy detail that people enjoyed last time about Anne Lister and my character, Ann Walker, and their marriage.

Exploring what left people fascinated at the end of last series — how’s that going to work, and what it’s like for Anne to have her wife at Shipton Hall?

The funny thing about it is that all the spoilers are out there already because it’s so faithful to Lister’s diaries. There’s a group of people who have read the diaries and cracked the code so they know exactly what’s going to happen.

Rose: A Love Story is out now on all major digital platforms.

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