HARRY KIRTON - Flow #612

Salve, salve, família! Bem-vindos a mais um Flow. Eu sou o Igor e hoje vai ser um episódio em inglês com Harry Curtin, que além de fazer um personagem no Peaky Blinders, tem várias outras coisas interessantes para a gente trocar ideia hoje aqui, como por exemplo fragrâncias neurais. A gente vai entender melhor. Hi, Harry! We've been talking and let's just pretend we have just met. You've just sit there, you know.

Do you, do you know why you got cast?

Who knows? Who knows truly? Like, I don't know, but One story I do have, which I'll go back to, is like, um, excuse my phone, which is, you know, if I may stand up real quick.

Yeah, man, that's fucking crazy, right? That's crazy. I do think— I thought about this a lot.

I didn't have, I didn't have as much time as I, as I do with you. But, for example, we— but I did try my best with Coppola. For example, I had only 15 minutes.

Yeah, you know, I know peculiar, but what do you mean with peculiar?

As a parent, I adjust to my kids too, you know.

Do you have— you told me you have brothers, right?

Male cousins. I have one sister. One sister.

Okay.

Who might as well be a brother because she could knock somebody out. She's great. I dare you. Say something. Say something. Even now.

So 7 years older than me, 7 years older than me.

Well, do you think it has to— do you think it has to be I mean, of course it makes sense. Do you think it has to happen where you no longer have a—

I mean, we say a life that never comes. I mean, if you, if you are, if you're expecting to have your next house, your next car, go, I don't know, for your next trip or your next big gig, there's always going to be the next thing, you see. So I realized that there's always the next thing. So there is no— if you want to be a dad and you feel like you have everything in place for doing it, you don't have to be rich. You just need to have somebody close to you to help you when you need to go to work, maybe your mom, you see, or stuff like that, because the right time never comes. That's what I mean. You see, the right time, it never comes.

I've heard this, I've heard this. I mean, so my— I was the second child. My dad had— my dad's like almost— not really, but almost 30 years, exactly, exactly 30 years older than me. I'm July, he's December. Um, fairly young. Yes, yes. So you know what I was—

he was apparently, when he was 30, I was when I was 28, so it's pretty much the same.

Yeah, I was gonna say same, same as you, but my, when he had my sister, he was 20, like 6 and a half or 27. Okay, so when you have my sister, the first one, and, um, um, my mom is like 2 years younger. Okay, so she was like 24. She must have been like 24 when she had my sister. So early. I mean, I mean, some of, some of my closest friends, one of my closest friends, an actor from England, Kane Zayas, he he's got 2 children already, you see.

So, and they're already like, the youngest one's already like 2 years old. Like, he had his first child, I can't remember actually how old they are, but anyway, so it's, it's weird how our lives, yeah, go.

Sure. Yeah, yeah.

I would love to. I can't wait to be a father though. Like, I mean, I literally can wait. I'm ready to have a bit more fun and experience life as much as I am very much a romantic, but, they can wait. But that's also because I, I did have a very passionate love that, that is now not a thing. So I'm taking a big break type of thing, you know. Okay, okay, I see that. But even when I was a younger man, like 22 till about the age of 25, was ready— marriage, children, the lot. And then, you know, life sometimes just— you're right, changes.

You're right, you're right. Okay. but yes, let's—

we completely moved on. Yeah, so the acting and the—

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we are— I love when this happens, you know, when people ask me stuff. Nobody asks me anything, you know, usually. But, you were— you are here because you are— you have some kind of business now here, right, with the Neurofragrances, right?

In a way, yeah.

How does that work, right? Because I've read about it, but people watching us, how would you tell people what's going on? What's that about?

I don't want to— because I love to talk, I'm going to try and give you the simple version, which is Noura Fragrance is different to just normal fragrance. There are parts of our brain that we all understand certain things do things in our body, in our— in our— so the science of the neurofragrance does something to your, to your brain neurologically. That's what it's called, neurofragrance. It opens up parts of your brain. Say opens up, I'm using a fancy term.

It can help regulate you, help relax you. A lot of fragrances, they smell nice, right? But there's something about the science of these neurofragrances where it, you know, like the— this whole thing of the modern man for a long time is working, is busy, he's moving, he's doing his job, he's doing his thing. It's okay. Any bar of soap, clean, clean, clean. And sure, but more and more times seem to be changing, surely. I'm sure you found this.

I don't know how you feel, but even since— again, I'm still a young man, but even since I was a younger man, the difference between what's accepted as younger people, not just because of our age but culturally, at least in England, compared to now, a lot more has opened up. The modern man is— the modern man seems to be blossoming in the options. That is more acceptable. Society specifically has blossomed. I like it when brands link feeling and passion to things.

A passionate— passionate— I'm passionate about meditation. I'm passionate about the inner. Everything comes from the inner. Acting, where does it come from first? It comes from inside, and then it's expressed outside. Humans, we're storytellers. We enjoy stories. We enjoy feeling. The reason we enjoy stories is because the feeling that is conveyed to us by another human being teaches us about certain things. But today, you know, this is going to go— well, that sounds cocky, but this can go worldwide.

You can listen to this wherever you want. We're so interconnected. I know about the wars that are happening over here. I know, but everything's so big. So big, so many things are happening, but we forget about what's happening right next to us. Sure, right here. You know what's key? You know what's valuable is like ritual. Ritual is now almost more important than time. Everything's 24-hour, 24-hour shops, online, whatever time.

Back in the day, it's not the same. Back in the day, it used to be things were closed. Oh no, of course there wasn't these, these machines. So something that links science and, in my opinion, a sort of spirituality, right? Because if, you know, smell and memory, smell and feeling— but the science of neurofragrance fascinates me. I didn't know about this. Did you know about it?

No, no, no. The most— I think the farthest I would go would say that when I smell— there is a specific shampoo smell that reminds me of, I don't know, the first days I was dating my wife because she used to, I don't know, she used that shampoo, you know? So I believe there is something to smells that would do something to our brains. I believe that. That's actually, I mean, there are studies about that, right? so I think the idea is very interesting, you know, using fragrances or smells to make you— to change something, you know, not just to smell good, right?

Yeah, yeah, it has more than just one function. That's why it's great. I think men— if I— I mean, I'm not the authority on what men like, but I think, you know, I, I'm linked into culture I'm interested in culture. I mean, one of the most multicultural, um, countries actually in, in the world, especially the cities— Birmingham, London. I'm connected to like all of the biggest fashion in, countries and industries in, in the world, respectfully.

I'm, you know, there's a long history— English tailoring, French Italian tailoring and, scents. And Europe's great, you know, it's been doing this for a long time, and it's not exclusive to Europe. I'm just only speaking about Europe because because it's what I'm used to. Yeah, I like innovation. You know what I'll say with KODS, like, as a brand, the sort of thing I enjoy from them is it's, it's classic. I like that there's an influence from England, from Europe.

There's a classicness, but it's, it's ready to be fresh. There's new things I didn't know about Nora fragrance. But you know what I like? I also really enjoy science. Science fascinates me. Philosophy, science, psychology, and a couple of other things are things that really excite me. They've really excited me because I like information, I like understanding things. Yeah. And if you can have like a bit of a tool to like, um, assist yourself, why wouldn't you do that?

Like, it's cool, man. Sure, it's cool. I, I'm also a big— like, I'm a big fragrance guy in general.

Do you think, do you think, do men, I'm saying from my experience, okay, when you look at me, I am not trying to look like you. You take a lot more, you pay a lot more attention to how you look than me, okay? I don't know, you look a lot nicer than me, you see, so you're wearing you're wearing a chain. I'm wearing something my daughter made for me, you see. So what do I mean? I mean that I am not— I don't pay a lot of attention to that.

It doesn't mean I don't like it, but I'm not wearing a perfume right now, for example, you know. So I use a body blocker. That's that, you see. Body blocker. Yeah. How do you call that?

Antiperspirant. Okay. Different thing.

B.O. blocker.

BO blocker. I like that.

I, I meant body odor blocker.

Yeah, sorry, same thing though. And I'll get you—

sorry, go on. what was I saying? Do people— do you think men— do you think men, they are trying to— to— they are more like me in your experience, or they are more like you in your experience? They, they try to— I mean, they are more Do you think people, man, are trying to look better? Are they paying more attention to their own image or how they, how they smell and stuff? or are they more Shrek-like?

I may— it— I, I think the world's a big place. Culture is very different. Generations very different. I think generations that have passed by were more perhaps in touch with these things.

Okay.

If you look at really old movies, if you look at really old, even like music videos and, and people who would perform, look at how, smart they would dress. Even, even back in the day, like, the working class would— and the reason I mentioned this is because if you look at the older generations, there seemed to be an understanding. And again, things are trends, but there are some very, like, timeless things. I feel like men for a long time, especially in Europe, because just because I don't know the history, sure, used to really look after themselves.

And it wasn't, it wasn't necessarily just royalty or the upper class, but it seemed to be largely that. The reason I mentioned this is because as time went on, and in the early 20th century, even such a thing as Peaky Blinds was based on that. Even if you look at this, it's just a reference because people will understand this and they'll know what I'm on about. Even in the 1920s, 1930s and onwards, even before, but during this time, even the working class, even the Peaky Blinders, there was still a quality over quantity type of thing.

And then industrialisation of products happened, the sort of fast fashion, the quick, What was this, maybe the '80s or the '90s, if I remember correctly?

I think it was the '80s.

Yeah, yeah, you know, the plastic, the quick. I think it was the '80s. Get it out there, get it out there. That's when we lost the effort, the passion. And this is my thing, all great things, all great things have passion behind it. A good table, passion. Sure. A good-looking man, passion. A good relationship, passion. Good art, passion. Passion, passion, passion. And when that's lost is when people stop caring. And I think it's very important that no matter what culture you're in, there seems to still be like a common, a common understanding.

Now I don't want to go so far as to say like the ego You know, when you become egoic, you become over-obsessed, and you become more in love with yourself, maybe not even for the right reason. That it's not— it goes beyond self-care. And I think maybe a lot of men think that this effort is too much. It doesn't have to be. And I think I like it. My generation, more than before, It's, we're standing on your shoulders, we're standing on your shoulders, and you're standing on the shoulders of those that came before us.

So now we have the, the opportunity, we have the sort of license to check in and hopefully become more full-bodied. I mean, there can be less to do with self-care, more to do with society. I think You've got to be careful nowadays. There's a saying which I've been referencing, which I really enjoy. Hard time— it's not my saying— hard times creates hard men. Hard men create soft times. Soft times create soft men. And then it goes on because it's a cycle.

And I think this is important because We're in a time now where we're so connected that it's almost like, where are we? And I don't want people to forget that the individual is what matters. You have to self-regulate. That's, that, that's the most valuable thing. I think there's just so much going on all the time. It doesn't have to be, but it's everywhere. Billboards, cars, cars, cars, selling, selling, selling, and everything's in your face, and it becomes less about the person it becomes about what's new, and it can be hour to hour.

Even back in the day, I'm sure you remember when you were younger, it— it— like, how many famous people were there? Now, fucking everyone's fucking famous. And like, listen, I, I'm— I wouldn't say I'm like famous to the ex— but I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm known, right? And the reason I mentioned this is because You're not Donald Trump, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what I mean? There's a, there's a, there's a fucking scale. Yeah, sure.

And I'm around people, the who I, that I've met are much more well-known, and you can tell there's a difference between old actors and new actors.

Okay, and I suppose you learned a lot from these guys back in the set, right? Yeah, filming with Cillian, right? That must be. But I was going to ask you, what do you think made Peaky Blinders so successful? I would say that the aesthetics they have, they play a big role in that one. You see lots of people here in Brazil, they like the, the idea behind the Peaky Blinders, maybe the Peaky Blinders chipude, The, you know, the facade.

Yeah, no, the next— when, when— I mean, the Peaky Blinders in the series, they start as a gang, I mean, they, they do their stuff, small stuff, but then they become, you know, the, you know, important. Yes. And I, I think that, makes, you know, part of the aesthetics. And people like this, people enjoy this, and they also enjoy, the the— I don't know, the way the characters would, would go about. So that, that, that look in their faces, that, well-placed cigarette, you know, always the well-placed cigarette.

Yes, always that well-placed. So, how do you— do you think that, the aesthetics of the— of Peak Miners play a significant role in its success?

You know, I— it must have done. It must have done because there was such a shift, so it seemed, in modern-day culture, you know. Like, me personally, I never experienced anything like that. Like, I'm an English man. I'm very, you know, very English, proudly so. When I was a boy, I also wore— when I was a boy, the most, British thing I wore was like, short shorts, right? And long, long socks and everything. And we— there's still a lot of tradition in England.

Peaky Blinders for me was beautiful. I'm from Birmingham. Peaky Blinders is Birmingham. It's about Birmingham, which hadn't really been established. And I assume a lot of the fascination with Peaky Blinders is not just how great the story is, but the cultural shift, sure, that it presented. And a lot of people, they did, they seemed, they seemed to replicate that. I like that because it's a great period of time. Obviously there was a lot of, um, how do you say, like, different times, you know, call for different things, but nowadays everything's so open.

We had the '20s, the '30s, the '40s, the '50s, the '60s, the '70s, the '80s, the '90s. Sorry, I don't want to start like a rapping, but it was very— each period of time had its thing. I don't know how it is in Brazil, but I feel like all over the world, especially in somewhere like England, as multicultural it is, and as forward-thinking as it can be. Everything is an option. You see people who dress, in different periods. Every— it seems to be everything is incorporated.

I see. And Peaky Blinders, I think, Dick, because when I first started, the boys in my school especially would, as we say, take the piss, you know, say bad things about my haircut when I first started the series. Being like, why do you have this? This is stupid. Not knowing why. And then a year later and the following years, everyone's got the haircut. People start dressing like the Peaky Blinders, and it became like a real, like, thing.

And I think it's beautiful because, well, listen, man, there's a lot about Peaky Blinders that should not be replicated, you know what I mean? But, but it's relatable because it's a typical rags rag— as we say, rags to riches. Sure, they were working class, rubbing pennies together. And also, you know, there's something quite beautiful that not a lot of people are, as we say, privy to. Not a lot of people understand the sort of illegal, naughty side.

So that excites people. That's why people like murder mystery. That's why people like, The Godfather, Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders. It's very interesting to see how receptive Brazil has been. Sure. Other places also, Italy, Spain, some of the places, even the USA, are fascinated. And for me, there's a lot of pride because that's Birmingham. That's Birmingham. Because even now, it was the industrial hub of the United Kingdom during the World Wars.

And also the Industrial Revolution, you know, that's— that as far as my knowledge goes, the Industrial Revolution started in the UK, for better or for worse. But Birmingham, full of factories, full of working-class men, full of people who hold the country up. Now maybe it's different, still working class, but it's not as I'm sorry, Birmingham, but it's the truth because I have so much love. But it's also a thing of, it's not, maybe it's not as important as it used to be.

Okay, but that period of time that Peaky Blinders highlighted, it's the truth. Obviously the story, the, the story that Steven Knight created, great, great writer, great story, it's not all true, of course.

But there were—

but the world, yeah, the world, the real gang. Sorry, sorry. The World, the real gang, it was real. It was real. And I get why people were interested. What can I ask? Why do you think, well, people relate to it? Well, have you, have you seen it?

I mean, I'm sure, sure, yes, I have. And, I was— I hated your character, by the way. but I think it relates a lot here in Brazil. There is a, the way we see things, they are usually through— I mean, we have seen a lot of crime and lots of groups and gangs in grow up and become full-on, I don't know, crime organizations, you see. So, we are kind of used to that. And seeing things like Peaky Blinders and the, the trajectory— not the trajectory, the, the journey— and there were some movies in Brazil, with the same theme but Brazilian styled, you know.

And I think that does make us feel a little— it does put us into a cathartic state, I'd say, you see. So I think that's why it resonates so much with us. Also the classic looking characters, you know, and how they act in front of their problems and how they deal with enemies and stuff, and some measure of violence and some measure of diplomacy that kind of makes us— I think that's what kept me watching. Okay. And for us to end, because you have some stuff to do, in a few words, how was it to work with the guys you did, especially Cillian and Tom Hardy?

Well, I I spent, thankfully spent many years acting alongside Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Helen McCrory, Joe Cole, Sophie Rundle, more characters, um, they're their real names for people who don't know. So Tommy, Arthur, Polly, etc., Ada, all of them have it was like a university for me. I didn't study, I didn't study acting, but Peaky Blinders in itself was like a university for me because my fascination as a young, as a boy and a young man, there's different styles.

Cillian's very different to Paul Anderson. I don't want to speak for them, but Cillian is very, stoic. Not, not just his character, but of course as a person.

People say that he doesn't have social media or a phone, for example.

No, no, no, no. He, he, he's very family-oriented. He's a good— I'll say this, like, I really, I really respect him. He's a great man. I didn't have the same, not just because I was in the show, but because of my age. I'm a people person, so for me, I'm not gonna act like he was my best friend. It's not how the industry works.

Sure.

But I spent over a decade working with Cillian, and the show was very much about that character because it was a good way of telling the story. He was very calculated as an actor, knew the angles. So like, even I'm aware, like, I know I'm in shot right now. I know, like, the lighting, you've got dual lighting. I understand if I get really close to the mic, I probably have to be a lot quieter now. It's an ASMR session.

Where is that when you stood up and you were worried?

Yeah, yeah, I was very worried. I was very worried because I understand, like, if I'm this far away, I have to be a lot louder. And anyway, Paul Anderson, if I'm correct, Cillian didn't even That's right. No, you're good. Cillian, Cillian wasn't even, didn't, didn't even go to university, if I'm remembering correctly. Paul Anderson did, whereas Paul Anderson was a fascinating man. So Arthur Shelby, for those who are curious, was very raw.

Fascinating character too.

Very fascinating character, very fascinating person. I actually had a lot of scenes, funnily enough, with him I had a lot with Cillian. I had quite a few with Helen McCrory, Polly Gray, our auntie. Our auntie, as if I really am, is it? Yeah, you know, but there was a lot of different styles involved and there was a lot of different approaches. And it was fascinating because I was able to take, as we say in England, like a leaf out of everybody's book, you know.

Oh, okay, Cillian has— Cillian has this, Paul has this, Helen has this, etc. And, and one person that I found to be very, very kind, and maybe because he was closer to my age, was Joe Cole. Now obviously, spoiler, so if you haven't watched Peaky Blinders, stop listening for like 30 seconds. Joe Cole was close enough to my age but had already had enough experience— John Shelby— where it was a lot more— we would talk about stuff, life, what was going on, the scenes.

Dude, I didn't know. I wasn't trained, man. I, I hadn't— I was fucking lost. What is going on? I'm on set and I'm— I know that I have to turn up on time and learn these lines. And so to, to come to the, the, the sort of crescendo of the point is that there was a lot to be learned, and all I could do was learn as I, as I went on. And it helped because the the older I got, the more experience of life I had, and the more lines and involvement my character had.

So as Finn grew up, I grew up, and it was quite— it was a very beautiful sort of coming-of-age thing. And obviously now with the movie, they've skipped a lot of time. They've skipped about 10 years.

And I haven't watched the movie yet.

Yes, sorry. No problem. Okay, so I'm curious. Well, yeah, yeah, well, you'll have to let me know. You have to let me know what you think. I almost— it was fun for me because I went to the premiere. It was in Birmingham. It was phenomenal. It was the biggest red carpet I've ever seen in Birmingham. Like, it— for my city and just for the whole Peaky Blinders thing, it was phenomenal. Now Netflix has backed it, and anyway, amazing.

I, I bought my friend— we had a great time. There was champagne. I got to see my old colleagues again. It was beautiful. Cool. They, they've skipped a lot of time in the story. And now with the new series, they've also— because they're gonna— they're continuing it apparently, as far as I'm aware. They, they're— because, Duke Shelby was in the series, I think season 5 and season 6, maybe definitely season 6, which was played by Conrad Khan.

And then Duke Shelby was then played by, Barry Keoghan. Both phenomenal actors. Huge fan of Barry Keoghan. I think he did a brilliant job. Nice. And now in the new, new seasons of, of the series, I know nothing about— okay, but from what I know, they've obviously— they've, they've got a new actor for Duke again because they've passed more time. So, sorry, there we go, being aware. The, the, the, um, the character of Finn Shelby I would love to come back.

I'd still look quite young. It's the vegan, it's the moisturiser, it's the, you know, I get ID'd even now if I go to a shop. I'll have a beer. Where's your ID? I look very young. But my point is, I would like to see Finn Shelby come back. I think it's an incomplete story. True. And if it's nothing to do with me, I have no say. But if Steven Knight was to bring him back, I would like to do it. Maybe if they put a fake beard, I get really muscly, come back, maybe they age me a bit, you know, and let's have a war. I think that'll be— I, I— what do you think?

I think it's amazing. Maybe if you get a scar too on your face, right? And, Tommy Shelby attitude, right? It's going to be nice. I think it's a good, good plot. Maybe, maybe the writers want to do it.

Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully. And, um, before, I understand, because obviously, unfortunately, you have to go. As much fun as I'm having, I have to go. I would like to give you a gift.

It smells like Peaky— I feel like Peaky Blinders. I feel like a Peaky Blinder.

Try, if you may. I don't know, you do what you wish. Try the blue one. Yeah, take a good old whiff.

Oh, você que tá assistindo aí, quiser experimentar essas fragrâncias aqui, a gente vai deixar aqui no comentário fixado, assim como as redes sociais do Harry, para você também acompanhar ele na internet aí, caso, sei lá, tá aqui. Com um clique só você alcança tudo que você precisar aqui no comentário fixado, tá bom? Na descrição tem também ali o Discord para você sugerir novos convidados e novos temas. E vira membro, cara, custa menos de R$8, dá nem para comprar uma seda, tá bom?

E ajuda a gente a continuar fazendo flow foda, tá bom? Harry, thanks a lot, it was amazing having you here. Thank you, and I hope seeing you again next time you come to Brazil.

Gente, muito obrigado. A gente se vê depois e até a próxima. Tchau, tchau.