Tim Mielants had been trying to work with Cillian Murphy on a movie "for a while" after 'Peaky Blinders' finished.
Tim Mielants explains how he and Cillian Murphy finally got the chance to work together again after Oppenheimer
The 44-year-old director was at the helm of the third series of the acclaimed period drama series that starred Cillian as gangster Thomas Shelby and the pair had been looking for a cinematic project to work on when the actor landed the leading role in the Oscar-nominated 'Oppenheimer'.
Now, the pair have finally got the chance to work together again on the historical drama 'Small Things Like These', in which CIllian plays Irishman Bill Furlong who makes a shocking discovery over the festive period in the mid-1980s.
Tim told The Hollywood Reporter: "Me and Cillian wanted to work with each other for a while, we really wanted to get back together [after 'Peaky Blinders']. We were looking for themes and stories we wanted to tell. This was pre-'Oppenheimer'.
"And we talked about ideas, and he and his wife came to me with [Claire Keegan’s] book. It was something, thematically, that I really understood, from a personal level. So I was totally up for it. We started writing it and developing it.
The film is being produced by Hollywood star Matt Damon - whom Cillian had met on the set of 'Oppenheimer' - and Tim explained that even though their project was initially sidetracked because of other big movies, it all finally came together in the end.
"Then 'Oppenheimer' came along. And Cillian was doing that and I was doing another movie [Belgian period drama 'Wil']. While making 'Oppenheimer', he met Matt Damon, and they really had a good relationship. And Matt Damon said he loved the project and got on board [with Actors Equity]. So, post-Oppenheimer, all the dots came together."
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