Posted in: Hulu, TV | Tagged: A Thousand Blows, Malachi Kirby, steven knight

A Thousand Blows Star Malachi Kirby on Preparing for His Dream Role

Malachi Kirby (Devils) spoke with Bleeding Cool about why he found his role in Hulu's A Thousand Blows so fulfilling on a number of levels.

Few actors ever get as prime an opportunity as Malachi Kirby does when it comes to dream roles as he got in the Hulu historical drama series A Thousand Blows. Not only does he challenge himself in a very physical role, but he also has a leading role in an ensemble cast and a period drama from Stephen Knight, the mind behind Eastern Promises, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Peaky Blinders. Kirby, who's also appeared in EastEnders, Doctor Who, Roots, and Black Mirror, spoke to Bleeding Cool about his role as Hezekiah Moscow, how the role fulfilled four things he wanted to do on his acting bucket list, the extensive training, co-stars and future. Inspired by true events, A Thousand Blows follows the life of two Jamaican brothers, Hezekiah and Alec (Francis Lovehall), who find themselves in the criminal underbelly of the bare-knuckle boxing scene in 1880s East End London.

A Thousand Blows Star Malachi Kirby on Prepping for a Role of a Lifetime

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'A Thousand Blows?'

Interesting story for this, so before I read the script, I had a chat with my agents. I had four things I wanted to do next that I shared with them, one, was to play a boxer. Second, to play a real-life person who really existed, Third, to do a period drama, and last, to film in London. When I read the script [for 'A Thousand Blows'] and it had all four of those components in it, I was like, "Okay, this feels like an alignment. This is everything that I've been looking for!" It's one of the easiest yeses that I've ever made in my career, if I'm honest.

It must have felt like a jackpot.

Yeah, for sure. I didn't think they'd all come in one project. I thought maybe four separate things.

What's it like working with Steven Knight as a creative?

Oh man, it's been an honor, honestly. He is more than just a writer. He's an artist, poet, truth teller. It was a pleasure to bring his words to life and bring the world that he's created to life.

How did you prepare for and train for your role as Hezekiah? I imagine it's been a process.

Yeah, "process" is a good word [laughs]. Look, I'd never boxed in my life before, so there was a lot for me to learn in a short space of time. I had a great coach, David – who came over from Thailand – who basically started me on a training regimen before Christmas, and the diet also came with that, which was great timing. I had about three months before we started filming to get into boxing shape. Obviously, this is the 1800s, so it wasn't a time when people were heavy on the gym, but I still needed to get my fitness up and look like I could have beat someone up. There was a lot of working out and diet work to do; then there was learning how to box. I was at a disadvantage, knowing nothing about boxing, but I knew even less about that period of boxing because it's not the same as we fight now.

The fighting style is underhand, and they didn't block. Also, we were talking about bare-knuckle fights, and so the rules were quite different. You'll see from like the first episode, you'll see head butts and biting. It was very dirty fighting, but there was a lot to learn. Essentially, I was working out and training every day for about a year by the time we finished, I had an amazing boxing coach from All-Stars Boxing Gym in West London called Jamal, who's a pro fighter. He taught me the ropes, basically.

What would you consider to be the most challenging aspect during filming? I imagine there was a ton of fight choreography you kind of had to do, or was there a particular different scene that stood out you struggled with?

Emotionally, there were moments in the series that were challenging, but honestly, it was probably the fight for me. Both fights were all shot within a week, and there were a lot of fights, so it was basically like learning 10 different dance sequences and then doing it all at the same time with different people. Mentally, like it was challenging just remembering everything and keeping everyone safe, but still committing and jumping into the emotions of those fights because they weren't just physical but were also telling an emotional story through them. I would say those days were the most challenging. I also didn't want to have makeup on me, so I was like, "It's got to be my own sweat." What ended up happening was basically working out for eight hours a day constantly and trying to keep my weight up. That was tough.

Can you talk about some of your co-stars like Francis, Erin [Doherty], Stephen [Graham] or anyone else? What was it like to film with them, and what were they like?

Francis plays Alec Hughes, my character Hezekiah's best friend, and that relationship for me was the most important from the start. As soon as I read the script, I was like, "Okay, cool. I wanted to know who they'd cast for this guy because it's got to be right," and I'm so glad it was him. I hadn't worked with him, but I'd seen him in a show before. I thought he was brilliant in a theater show, but we hadn't acquainted properly.

I had this idea for us to go to Jamaica before we started filming. He's from Jamaica as well, but he's living in London like me. I had several reasons to go. Part of it was to bond with him, another was to do some research out there, and the last was to take a holiday. I wanted some time to bond with him and it was incredible, and he's incredible as an artist.

It was a pleasure to work with him, Steven Graham. I'd worked previously on a film called 'Boiling Point' (2021), I played a small part. This was our second time working together and he's honestly one of my favorite actors, not to mention one of the best actors of his generation. It was an honor to learn from him on and off-screen. He's a presence, and he became like an older brother on set.

Erin, who plays Mary Carr, we did a screen test together when she was auditioning. Some incredible women came into that room, but across the board, everyone was like, "It's her." She brought something to Mary Carr we hadn't seen and probably wouldn't have known what to ask for, if I'm honest. She brought a depth to her that was just beyond my imagination.

It was such a pleasure working with her every day, and all the cast were so generous. I remember when we did the cast read-through. We sat down and I got to meet everyone for the first time. I realized every single person was how I imagined them to be when I read the script, which rarely happens. Everyone felt so perfect in their parts. It was a special job.

You have done a lot throughout your career. Did you have any dream projects you hope to still do, or maybe a genre?

I like to do more in the action world. I've had little taste of it here and there throughout my career, but I wouldn't say I'm committed to like doing an action film and adventure film like the Indiana Joneses, Marvels, or something like that kind of world, Star Wars. I'd love to step into that world, and also, I love the physicality that I got to do in this job. I'd love to explore more of that, more roles that need me to work out a lot.

A Thousand Blows was renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere. You can check out season one on Hulu.

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