Who plays Uncle Jack Nelson in Peaky Blinders?

With Peaky Blinders coming to Netflix worldwide, many fans of the show have questions about the new series and the cast. Season six is the last outing for the global smash hit about a group of Birmingham gangsters. Express.co.uk takes a look at the show’s newest villain and the actor behind him.

Who plays Uncle Jack Nelson in Peaky Blinders?

Jack Nelson is portrayed by 31-year-old Australian actor James Frecheville.

The Melbourne-born star showed an interest in drama from an early age and later joined various youth theatre groups and school productions.

He then started working as a supporting artist in the TV series City Homicide and undertook a number of acting courses at several school, including The Australian Film & Television Academy.

In 2009, Frecheville starred in The Fourth Pillar but it would be in the following year he had his big breakout as Joshua ‘J’ Cody in Animal Kingdom.

The Australian movie followed teenager J as he tried to survive in between a criminal family and a police detective, who he believed could be his saviour.

Frecheville’s role won him critical acclaim and he was nominated for several accolades including an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor and a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor.

Following on from Animal Kingdom, Frecheville landed roles in short film KIN, The First Time, and Adore – Adoration.

He then went on to star in American films and TV shows including Mall and The Drop – the latter starred Peaky Blinders actor Tom Hardy – as well as featuring in episodes of New Girl and Transparent.

More recently, he appeared in the BBC horror series Requiem, The Pursuit of Love, and Eric Bana movie The Dry.

Frecheville will next be starring in Hardly Functional and The Seven Sorrows of Mary, which is currently filming.

Peaky Blinders is perhaps Frecheville’s most high-profile gig to date with creator Steven Knight taking inspiration from Joseph Kennedy Sr, the father of assassinated American president John F. Kennedy.

Much like the show, Kennedy Sr signed contracts to import whiskey from England after Prohibition in 1933, which is the year season six is set.

The Kennedy family also gained political power during this period and had much influence.

Reflecting on the inspiration for Uncle Jack and Gina Gray (Anya Taylor-Joy), Knight said: “As ever with Peaky [Blinders], you look at history and you take real facts and fictionalise them. There is a resonance with Boston, with senior politicians…”

The Taboo writer went on to say: “The best you can do as a writer is to take what really happened, which is always beyond anything you would dare invent, and then use that.

“And what really happened in the 1930s with these powerful people, is something that, as a writer of fiction, you wouldn’t dare to create because it’s so insane.”

He added to Den of Geek: “So it’s trying to take some of that madness and chaos of reality and put it into the story.”

The BBC confirmed season six of Peaky Blinders would be the final outing with reports of a film to round off the story which as yet remain unconfirmed.

However, should Peaky Blinders make it onto the big screen, Uncle Jack could be returning again to cause more chaos as he and fascist MP Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin) scheme together.

The end of Peaky Blinders saw Brummie godfather Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) very much alive and still ready to fight against the rise of fascism.

Peaky Blinders season 6 is streaming on Netflix now

source: express.co.uk