Peaky Blinders season 4: Actor Joe Cole on his exit - John Shelby's whole life was battle, it was the right way to end his journey

R.I.P John Michael Shelby, a loyal soldier in the family who died as he lived, facing a superior enemy in fewer numbers and with no fear. John Boy was confirmed to have died in Peaky Blinders season 5 episode 2 tonight; we caught up with actor Joe Cole about his time on the show.

CH: Was that your first scene where you've been shot?

JC: No, I've been killed many times on screen, much to my chagrin! I'm hoping the further I get in my career the longer they'll keep me alive.

There's a trope with on-screen shootings where the victim goes flying from the impact of the bullet - how did you make sure it felt realistic?

I'd actually just done a film in the States called Thank You For Your Service about post-traumatic stress disorder, a true story about a bunch of American soldiers coming back from the Iraq war, and one of the important things to learn for that was how you get shot, what really happens. And actually you fall from your legs, so your legs basically give way. Many actors fall backwards or make a meal of it but actually everything goes at once, your legs sort of buckle so you just drop down in a middle position.

You more like crumple than go flying.

Precisely, yeah.

Sorry to see your character go, but congrats on all your work on the show.

Thank you very much.

What was it like the last day on set, did it feel very different? Was there a lot of hugging?

It was business as usual really, just wrapping what's been a fantastic period of my life. Because the shooting scene didn't require a lot of the main cast and because we have different crews each year it was a pretty low key exit to be honest!

Did you first find out your character was dying when you got the script or had Steven [Knight, the show creator] given you a heads up before then?

I had other projects on and I felt it was the right time to go, really. So it was just a case of feeling like letting some of the other characters grow.

Did you have any expectations on how or when the character might go, if at all?

Well we spoke about it a bit, and because I wasn't able to commit too much of my time they said it would probably be right for the character to die, and I said 'Well yeah, let's do it then.' I think you need a final point on it - a satisfactory exit - and I don't think a satisfactory exit is to leave and go farm chickens in the countryside [what John was up to in episode 1], so that was the decision and one I was happy with.

And the character was always a fighter anyway, always wanted to get out in front of gunfire.

Yeah, I think it was perfect for John to go in that way, to die fighting. He's fundamentally a soldier who fought in the First World War, his whole life was battle and I think it was the correct way to end his journey.

You mentioned Thank You For Your Service, but what else have you got coming up now the Peaky Blinders chapter of your life has finished?

So I'm in Black Mirror which comes out December..

I literally just interviewed Charlie Brooker about the new series yesterday, I haven't seen your episode yet though.

Oh nice, it's about dating apps and the effect they're having on the modern dating world. I think it's quite a unique story and very different to a lot of previous Black Mirror so I think the fan's will be in for a treat with that one.

And then I've just done a Thai prison boxing movie which is a true story about a Liverpudlian drug addict who got locked up in a Thai prison and became a Muay That fighting champion. We shot on location in a real prison with ex-criminals and non-professional actors. It was a wild experience. The film comes out next year.

I also did a film called Eye on Juliet about a drone operator in northern Africa who falls in love with a Muslim girl trying to flee her country - that's more of a love story. Then I did a film with Kirsten Dunst called Woodshock, I play the boyfriend in that, a lumberjack in the redwood trees of northern California with the Rodarte sisters [directors], and yeah, Thank You For Your Service with Miles Teller and Steven Spielberg producing; a true story again. So yeah, a few bits.

You're a busy man! Thanks, Joe, and good luck with all those projects.

My pleasure mate, thanks very much.