Sophie Rundle Opens Up on Post-Baby Vulnerability

Sophie Rundle has reflected on returning to work on the final season of Peaky Blinders just four weeks after she gave birth to her first child, describing it as 'crazy' and 'a very vulnerable exercise'.

The actress, 37, and her fiancé Matt Stokoe are the proud parents of two sons, whose names they have not disclosed, born in Easter 2021 and June 2024.

And less than a month after welcoming her first little boy, Sophie was back on the set of the hit crime drama as Ada Shelby - having starred in all six seasons.

Ahead of the Netflix release of the film, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the Jamestown star opened up on the realities of returning to week so soon after giving birth, stressing that 'it wasn't something we should expect of mothers'.

Speaking on Josh Smith’s Great Chat Show, she explained she was proud of herself for doing it and grateful because it gave her 'this lifeline back to myself', but added that it was also 'the most vulnerable period' of her life.

'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 said.

'And I think 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. 

'I always worried that I wanted to celebrate it, but I never want to make anybody feel like you should be able to do this, too, because it took a huge effort and it wasn't just me. It was my amazing partner who facilitated that happening, who was there, my family, the production.'

Sophie went on to describe her 'very strange weird maternity leave', recalling how exposing it felt to be on camera after going through the 'seismic shift' of motherhood.

'My first son was four weeks old when we did the final series of Peaky [Blinders],' she said. 'And my second son, I think he was 12 or 13 weeks old when we did the film. So Peaky has been a very strange weird maternity leave for me for the past two run-arounds… 

'I think I could have gotten lost in early motherhood, I think 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 at this time, when you feel so, especially the first time around, you're like, "what has just happened to me?" 

'And you've got to come back to this thing that you know is going to be seen by so many people.'

She went on: 'It was a really tricky thing to do, but also I am grateful for it because it kind of was like this hand reaching out, pulling me back to the person that I was and it made me come back to myself, actually.

'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 when you've just had a baby and your whole world has changed and you are changing and having to reconfigure everything.

'Motherhood for me has been just a seismic shift in everything I understood about who I was and what life was. So it's very strange, in amongst that, to expose yourself in that way. 

'It's been an odd experience and I'm very proud of it. And I'm very grateful to the show for kind of giving me this lifeline back to myself.'

However, Sophie said that being four weeks postpartum also made her feel very conscious over her looks, as she was playing a character who had not just given birth. 

She said: 'But it was a very vulnerable exercise as well. You worry about seeming vain and shallow. But it is an element of my job. 

'Peaky is a very aesthetic show and your body has changed, of course it has and then it's very strange to kind of go back and you're playing a character. 

'So 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 quipped: '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!'

Sophie revealed she had returned to work after just four weeks with a candid Instagram post back in May 2021, calling it 'the most challenging thing I've ever done'.

She shared a snap of her changing her baby boy in her trailer, while sporting her Ada costume and hair, quipping she was 'slightly delirious'.

'I went back to work on four weeks after giving birth to my son,' she penned. 'This is me - sleep deprived and slightly delirious changing a nappy in my trailer in between scenes.'

She went on: '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 and say goodbye to this character that I love so much. 

'To the Peaky cast and crew who welcomed me and my little one back into the fold and pretended not to notice my impossibly deep eye bags - thank you.'

While Sophie didn't let up after wrapping up Peaky Blinders, as she was spotted back on the set of  with on-screen lover Suranne Jones two months later.

And she heaped praise onto her co-star to Josh, as she explained how the Doctor Foster star had advocated for her when she was pregnant while filming the second series.

She gushed: 'Suranne is an amazing, beautiful woman and she was a real advocate for me, actually, when I was pregnant when we were filming the second series of Gentleman Jack. She really looked after me, she was beautiful.' 

'There are so many amazing women that I have been personally really amazing to me and I have just admired and learned from afar,' Sophie added.

'I've been lucky enough that's the changing landscape that my career has spanned. There is more appetite for these amazing female protagonists.'

Listen and watch Josh Smith’s Great Chat Show on Spotify