Sophie Rundle, star of Peaky Blinders, shares her experience returning to the set just four weeks after giving birth to her first son, calling it a “crazy” and deeply vulnerable time.

Quick Return to the Final Season

The 37-year-old actress and her fiancé, Matt Stokoe, welcomed their first son in Easter 2021 and a second in June 2024. Despite the demands of new motherhood, Rundle resumed filming the final season of the crime drama as Ada Shelby, a role she held across all six seasons.

In a recent appearance on Josh Smith’s Great Chat Show, she described the challenge: “It was crazy and I’m really keen to talk about it because I’m incredibly proud of myself and my family for what we did to make that happen but it wasn’t easy.”

She emphasized the importance of not normalizing such a rapid return: “It’s really important to celebrate it, but it’s really important to say it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t something that we should expect of mothers.” Rundle credited her partner, family, and the production team for their support.

Navigating Vulnerability on Camera

Rundle called her maternity leaves “very strange,” noting her first son was four weeks old during the series finale, and her second was 12 or 13 weeks old for the upcoming film, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.

“I think I could have gotten lost in early motherhood,” she reflected, “but it was very hard having to bring myself out of this really protected, vulnerable space to come back and film something and have a camera on you.” The transition felt exposing after the “seismic shift” of motherhood, yet it served as a “lifeline back to myself.”

She highlighted the oddity of capturing that period on film: “It’s a very strange thing to have gone through to have this thing out there that is a kind of a time capsule of the most vulnerable period in your life.”

Body Image and Character Demands

Playing Ada Shelby, whose storyline did not involve recent motherhood, added pressure. “Peaky is a very aesthetic show and your body has changed,” Rundle noted. “It’s not just me sitting here going, ‘Hey, I’ve just had a baby this is how I look.’ It’s, well, ‘Ada hasn’t just had a baby.'”

She joked about requesting a ticker-tape disclaimer: “I did petition for ticker tape to run across the bottom of the screen saying this actress had recently had a baby. But they wouldn’t go for it!”

In May 2021, Rundle posted on Instagram about the experience, sharing a photo of changing her baby in her trailer while in costume. “I went back to work on Peaky Blinders four weeks after giving birth to my son,” she wrote. “It’s been the most exhausting and challenging thing I’ve ever done but worth it to finish off this bats**t crazy, brilliant show.” She thanked the cast and crew for their understanding.

Support from Co-Stars

After wrapping Peaky Blinders, Rundle returned to Gentleman Jack two months later. She praised co-star Suranne Jones for advocating for her during pregnancy on the second series: “Suranne is an amazing, beautiful woman and she was a real advocate for me.”

Rundle appreciated the evolving industry landscape: “There are so many amazing women that I have been personally really amazing to me and I have just admired and learned from afar. There is more appetite for these amazing female protagonists.”