Cillian Murphy debuts striking new look as he transforms into struggling headteacher in first trailer for Netflix film that 'broke his heart'
The Peaky Blinders and Oppenheimer star is taking on one of his most compelling roles to date as the principal teacher of a last-chance reform school.
Upcoming film Steve follows a pivotal day in the life of the titular character as he fights to protect the school's integrity and prevent its impending closure.
It explores the struggles of the students, as well as the mental battles faced by Steve - who gives everything he has to his job and what he perceives as his duty.
And Oscar-winning Cillian Murphy is sleep-deprived and bleary eyed in the role, which has seen him grow out his greying beard and his curly hair.
A deeply moving relationship develops between Steve and Shy, played by Jay Lycurgo - a troubled teen trying to reconcile his fragility with his impulse for self-destruction.
Set in the mid 90s, Steve is a reimagining of Max Porter's bestselling novel Shy, a book Cillian said he was drawn to because of its powerful writing.
After reading Shy for the first time, Cillian told Deadline: 'Max gave me that book in a proof edition before he finished it, and again it just broke my heart.
'They're the sorts of things I love as a reader and as a performer, so I really wanted to do something with him.'
Porter has also penned the scripts for the upcoming film, and Cillian himself plays a vital behind-the-scenes role as one of its producers.
The promising cast includes Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo, Emily Watson and Roger Allam.
It comes as Barry Keoghan revealed what acting alongside Cillian Murphy was really like, as he gears up for the release of the new and highly anticipated Peaky Blinders film, The Immortal Man.
The feature film, which is likely to come out within the next year, will see the infamous Shelby family of cut-throat gangsters transition into the Second World War.
Described as 'one for the fans' to conclude the much-loved series, Barry is set to feature alongside Dune actress Rebecca Ferguson, Adolescence writer Stephen Graham and of course star of the show Cillian Murphy.
It explores the struggles of the students, as well as the mental battles faced by Steve - who gives everything he has to his job and what he perceives as his duty
And in a recent interview with The Mirror, the Saltburn actor revealed exactly what it takes to live up to Cillian's high standards.
There is no slacking for him,' Barry said: 'And it's not in an intimidating way. It is in a way that he does not settle for less. He has an athlete's approach to it. Cillian is such a legend.
'He does not say anything, but you feel it.'
Recalling the moment he first pulled his Peaky Blinders costume on, Barry told of Cillian's reaction: 'He (Cillian) was more excited to see me in my costume. He was like, "Ah man, look at you."'
The Immortal Man isn't all Barry has to look forward to however, with it recently being confirmed that the 32-year-old will star in four upcoming biopics about The Beatles.
With the movies planned for release in 2028, Barry will be playing Ringo Starr - who he was so nervous to meet that he couldn't look at the drummer.
After being asked by Jimmy Kimmel whether he was able to 'study' Ringo when they met, Barry replied: 'I was.. and when I was talking to him, I couldn't look at him.
'I was nervous, like right now. But he's like, "You can look at me."'
Despite his nerves, Barry did stress that Ringo was 'absolutely lovely' and that they sat in the garden 'chatting away.'
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Harper hasn't heard of it, but thinks it's 'stupid'. 'The trolls that are out there just want to attack in any way, because people are going to have such a strong opinion when it comes to weight loss,' he says. He is keen to share examples of people who have told him they were inspired by The Biggest Loser: 'I really do believe that we did help a lot of people.' But even if you buy into the show's 'inspirational' message, the fact remains that most of Loser's contestants regained weight after the competition had ended. When it comes to any kind of diet or fitness regimen, 'the success rate overall is very low,' Harper says. 'It's really sad, but it's such a reality.' He is much happier to talk about the show's 'success stories', like Olivia Ward, who entered season 11 of The Biggest Loser with her sister, Hannah Curlee. She won, with Curlee coming second, and later named her child Harper in honour of the trainer. 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If it had happened while he was alone in his apartment, he says: 'I wouldn't be here.' Having the heart attack 'fucked me up', Harper says. He struggled mentally with going from being the man working out in his 50s who could keep up with 20 and 30-year-olds, to 'a person that couldn't walk around a city block'. Plenty of people from The Biggest Loser got in touch when they heard what had happened – but not Michaels. 'We weren't besties, but we were partners on a television show for a very long time,' he says, so it 'spoke volumes to me' that she didn't get in touch. But, he adds: 'I would not expect Jillian Michaels to do anything other than what she wants to do.' Michaels was always the more headstrong of the show's original trainers, and she caused controversy in 2013 by giving rule-breaking caffeine pills to her team of contestants. Did Harper ever give his contestants any kind of supplement? 'Absolutely not,' he says. In any case, the 2013 season marked the beginning of the end for Loser: on top of the furore over the caffeine pills, the show was further criticised when winner Rachel Frederickson appeared in the finale having lost a record-breaking 59.62% of her original body weight, with many viewers believing her weight loss had gone too far. He and Michaels 'were horrified' when Frederickson appeared on stage for her final weigh-in, Harper says. He thinks her background in competitive swimming led to her extreme approach. 'You talk to any person who's an athlete. That's a different breed of person,' he says. 'And evidently this woman was like, I'm going to win this show and I'm going to do whatever it takes.' Yet his 'horror' at Frederickson's extreme weight loss doesn't seem to have led to much reflection on his involvement in the show that encouraged her behaviour. Granted, he wasn't Frederickson's assigned trainer. Nor was he season three contestant Kai Hibbard's, he points out when I ask him how he feels about reports that Hibbard later developed an eating disorder. There has also been criticism from contestants he did train, including Suzanne Mendonca, who appeared on the second season and in 2016 threatened to file a class action lawsuit against the show, complaining that she later regained 150lbs (68kg) , and that during taping she was 'dehydrated, vomiting and limited to eating 800 calories a day.' Though Harper tries 'not to have too many regrets in my life,' he does concede that two moments that are brought up in the documentary – shouting at Gwynn and telling Mendonca that it was 'good' when she threw up because it would help her lose weight – were things he 'shouldn't have' done. But, he adds: 'You also have to remember, everyone that came on Loser, we were all adults.' Well, except for the 'kid ambassadors', junior participants whose weight loss was documented in segments of some of the later seasons. 'Oh, I don't really remember that,' Harper says. Does he think the show would get made now? He doesn't see why not, although he admits: 'It would have to be completely different.' But 'we as a society are just as obsessed with weight loss as we have ever been,' he says, pointing to the rise of weight-loss drugs. Harper doesn't necessarily promote those types of drugs, but says he is 'for anything that you need to get you on the path that you want to be on'. When it comes to his own path, he says he is in his 'retirement era', but is still enjoying teaching hot yoga classes in New York. He is single, having broken off his 2019 engagement to his long-term boyfriend Anton Gutierrez, 'so if you know anyone …' he jokes. He is content with the life he has built for himself, and seems unlikely to be affected by conversations about the ethics of Loser that Fit for TV will undoubtedly bring back into focus. 'I knew what the show represented to me,' he says. 'I have nothing but a good experience and really good memories.' Fit for TV is on Netflix, from Friday
