Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy’s number one lookalike is from Manchester

Meet Scott Blower, a man whose striking similarity to Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy has made him one of the UK’s most in demand lookalikes.

Peaky Blinders has become a worldwide hit for the BBC, with Cillian playing Tommy Shelby, the leader of the 1920s Brummie gangsters.

And Wythenshawe-born Scott has been well and truly swept up in the Peaky Blinders whirlwind after constantly being mistaken for the show’s star.

He’s a similar height and build, and with his dark cropped hair he bears a striking resemblance to the Hollywood star.

“I get stopped all the time,” says Scott. “People stop me in the street and genuinely believe that I am Cillian. It’s mental.

“It all started late last year on a lads’ holiday to Marbella. Peaky Blinders was at a high and I found myself being mobbed by fans of the show. I was just trying to have some drinks with my mates.

“The more people that asked me for a picture the more people came over. It was really embarrassing but my friends were loving it. We ended up getting a free table at a beach club, free champagne, the lot, all because the owners thought I was the actor.”

Dad-of-two Scott says his mates encouraged him to take things further, confessing he only set up a lookalike Instagram page at the end of November last year to see what kind of response he would get.

Since then he’s been inundated with requests to make personal appearances as a lookalike.

“My mates love it!” Scott laughs. “They push it more than me. It was them that emailed a few companies to see if they were interested in signing me up as a lookalike. We got so many responses. Even some from America. A lady from Hollywood wanted to fly me over to do some commercials and modelling work.”

During the week, Scott, who lives in Sale, runs his own business – SB Gardening Services.  In the evening he puts on his suit and flat cap and transforms into Cillian, attending events up and down the country and all across Europe.

“Most of my evenings and weekends are taken up with lookalike jobs now,” he says. “Even though it’s only early days for me I am still really busy. I’m still trying to get my head round it all. I don’t actually like all the attention it brings but I am going with the flow and I am enjoying doing something a bit different.”

The Murphy/Blower devilishly good looks are certainly not a curse, with Scott being offered over £500 to make appearances at events.

“I receive so many weird and wonderful requests. I had a woman over the weekend offer me £1,000 to spend the night with her, which I politely declined, obviously”.

Scott, 46, who was born in Wythenshawe, says he is a fan of Peaky Blinders and is looking forward to series five which starts back on the BBC in August 2019.

“I never used to think I looked like him but now I must admit, it is freaky watching him on TV because at some angles I feel like I am looking at myself. I’ve met some people who have worked alongside Cillian too and they can’t believe the resemblance. They have sent pics of me onto him so he knows I about me. I don’t know if he thinks we look the same or not.

“The response I’m getting is unbelievable” Scott goes on to say. “I’ve done some amazing things so far. I did a short cruise to Amsterdam with 1,000 people on board all dressed like Peaky Blinders and I just had to walk around and have my picture taken.

“This weekend I am at a Peaky Blinders boxing match at the Midland Hotel, and I’m getting booked up to do bar openings too.”

Scott also makes a point that his gran was born in Douglas, Cork where Cillian Murphy himself is from. Now there’s a coincidence if we ever saw one.

Rumours have also been circulating that the Hollywood star Cillian could be in the running to play the next James Bond – which could mean lots more work for Scott.

If you want to get a selfie with the Manchester Tommy Shelby you’ll find Scott at the Peaky Blinders bar on Peter Street most Saturday nights wearing his best 1920s attire.

Check out Scott’s instagram page @Tommyishelby.

PS in case you’re wondering, all of the pictures are of Scott, apart from the one at the bottom which is Cillian Murphy.