Tom Cullen: “Trespasses feels so inherently female”

You’d reckon on any series that starts with a burst of Dusty Springfield’s ‘It’s The Way That You Make Me Feel’ being worth watching and, sure enough, Trespasses continues in the rich vein of Northern Irish storytelling that has recently brought us the likes of Derry Girls, Say Nothing, Blue Lights, The Lovers, the Kneecap movie and Kenny Branagh’s Belfast.

Based on Louise Kennedy’s superb Troubles-era novel of the same name, it focuses on the love across the barricades relationship between Cushla, a Catholic teacher who refuses to give into the bully boys on both sides of the sectarian divide and Michael, a Protestant barrister defending Republicans who asks her to give him and his artsy friends Irish lessons.

The two roles call for great nuance and get it courtesy of the Belfast born and bred Lola Petticrew and Tom Cullen, a Welsh actor with lots of Irish blood.

“Yes, just over 50%,” he smiles. “My grandfather’s from Dublin and my grandmother’s father is from Belfast. As a kid, there were lots of visits to Dublin and camping holidays in Connemara, which I instantly knew was my favourite place on earth.”

What he didn’t acquire from regularly coming over was any semblance of an Irish accent.

“I worked my fucking ass off to get my Belfast accent right for the show,” he winces. “I spent hours and hours and hours on it with my amazing dialect coach Jude McSpadden. When we started, my accent was so bad I could feel the sweat dribbling down my legs.”

Salvation eventually arrived in the form of Holywood, Co. Down actor Jamie Dornan.

“I must have listened to Jamie’s Desert Island Discs all the way through at least a hundred times,” Tom reveals. “Jogging, going to the shops, on the school run – I’ve daughters aged two and four – I’d put it on to the point where I could quote it verbatim. I don’t know Jamie but I messaged him on Instagram to say, ‘A. Thank you for your unwitting help and B. Your interview was beautiful and I really love your work.’ He sent me a lovely message back saying he was a big fan of the book and is really looking forward to the series. It would’ve been a lot simpler for all concerned if they’d just cast Jamie Dornan as Michael!”

Growing up in tranquil Llandrindod in south Wales, was Tom aware of what was happening on the other side of the Irish Sea?

“Ours was a very political household where after dinner we religiously watched The Six O’Clock News; it was non-negotiable. My dad having very strong connections to Ireland, it was part of our everyday conversation.

“I’ve always found Irish history and culture interesting,” he continues. “I love Roddy Doyle and remember reading Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha when I was ten or eleven. Another book of his I was obsessed with was A Star Called Henry, which really opened me up to the history of the Irish Revolt.”

Trespasses

More recently, Tom devoured Say Nothing, the controversial Disney+ series about the disappearance of Jean McConville and subsequent events, which features Lola Petticrew’s stunning turn as Dolours Price.

“I thought the show was absolutely extraordinary,” he resumes. “The trailer for it was out when Lola and I were working together. From talking to her, I knew how much they’d all poured into it. Anthony Boyle, who plays Brendan Hughes in Say Nothing, is one of the UK’s most exciting actors. How can a human being have that much charisma? It’s outrageous.

“The three of us all went to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, albeit I graduated years and years before them, so I also know Lola and Anthony through that.”

Did he get to see the aforementioned Kneecap biopic, which offers another snapshot of Belfast?

“Absolutely loved it!” he enthuses. “Our Director of Photography also did their movie, which was out and having its amazing moment whilst we were shooting Trespasses. It’s such an exciting film and, as a Welsh person, made me jealous that we don’t have something like that of our own.”

Having watched both of those, Tom was prepared for the “Fuck off back to Taig-land!”-style insults which pepper the Trespasses dialogue.

“It’s a part of that history,” he acknowledges. “It’s really important that you shine a light on it warts and all. What Say Nothing does very well is ask its audience questions. It doesn’t spoon-feed you or give a specific viewpoint. You can empathise and be horrified in equal measure. And that’s what really good television does.”

I’m guessing where Tom and Trespasses are concerned, it was love at first script read?

“It absolutely was,” he nods. “It blew me away and, at the same time, terrified the living crap out of me because it’s the most difficult part I’ve ever played. I was like, ‘Am I good enough to do this?’ Luckily, they were stupid enough to cast me and I’m just so proud of it.”

Tom Cullen by Pip

Cushla’s alcoholic mother is played by an almost unrecognisable Gillian Anderson who can also be currently spied in Tron: Ares.

“I’ve been a massive fan of Gillian’s for years. I loved The X-Files and everything she’s done in fact; she never misses and is an incredibly brave performer. She approaches her work with so little ego. You can really see that in Trespasses – it’s such an amazing transformative performance. I was excited and nervous to work with Gillian but she’s just a really nice, normal person.

“Trespasses feels so inherently female,” he continues. “Louise’s book is beautifully written and its POV specifically feminine. The screenplay has really stayed true to that. Dawn, our director, and the producers are female. Lola’s nonbinary but Cushla, as a character, is such a strong female protagonist. That’s something which also really excited me when I read it.”

Downton Abbey devotees will recognise Cullen as Lady Mary Crawley’s Season 4 love interest, Viscount Gillingham.

Was he first in the queue at his local picture house to see Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, which I don’t mind admitting had me bawling like a baby.

“I have two children, so I don’t get to watch fucking anything at the moment! I watched half-an-hour of the new Traitors episode last night and fell asleep. Not because it wasn’t good but I can’t last through anything at the moment.

“One of the many joys of doing Downton was working with Maggie Smith who was an extraordinary actor and so willing to help and answer the nerdy questions I had. There’s a picture of us talking in a window, which I cherish and posted on to my Instagram. It was this really big scene where she’s being reunited with one of her first loves who’s come over from Russia. It was a tricky Steadicam shot through this sea of people. She wasn’t quite getting it, so the director was like, ‘Do you want to go again?’ She said, ‘Yeah’, went away, came back and did what she always did, which is just elevate the scene. If it was me, I’d have been over the moon with the previous versions but she was such a perfectionist.

“Afterwards I asked her, ‘What was it you did in that moment you went away?’ And she turned to me and said, ‘Darling, I’d just been holding in a fart!’ Maggie did not take herself seriously at all. The truth, of course, is that she hadn’t been holding in a fart. What happened in that moment is that she drew on years and years of perfecting her craft. So much work went into that ease.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tom Cullen (@tom_cullen)

Tom renewed acquaintances with the Earl of Grantham, AKA Hugh Bonneville, in the latest instalment of Brink’s-Mat heist drama, The Gold.

“He’s one of the warmest, kindest guys,” Cullen smiles. “On my first day at Downton, I had a set visit and was so, so nervous. I’d just come in to say 'Hello' while they were shooting a big dinner scene. Hugh got up, came over to me, shook my hand and went, ‘Welcome.’ He’s a terrific human.”

It also turns out that Tom has impeccable post-punk credentials, having appeared in the 2018 video for New York trio Son Lux’s angular ‘All Directions’ single.

“It came about because I’m friends with the amazing writer, composer and director Nathan Johnson who in turn is best friends with the singer of Son Lux,” he recalls. “I’ve been a fan of theirs for ages and gone to see them a few times in London. Nathan asked me and my former partner Tatiana Maslany if we wanted to be in this video together and, well, what a dream come true!

“Talking of music, David Holmes’ score for Trespasses is the best one I’ve ever been involved in. It’s so beautiful.”

One of Cullen’s first big TV gigs was in 2011 when he played Jonas in the third 'The Entire History Of You' episode of Black Mirror. Did he sense the cultural impact it was subsequently going to have?

“To be honest, yes, I did because I was such a humongous Charlie Brooker fan before Black Mirror came out,” he shoots back. “As soon as I read it, I thought, ‘This is going to be really, really great.’ Chris Morris’ work is important to me too.”

While contractually-bound not to reveal any plot details, Tom had a blast playing Ser Luthor Largent in the upcoming third series of House Of The Dragon, which will be with us sometime in 2026. The one thing we do know is that his costume is one of the heaviest ever created for a Game Of Thrones universe show.

“I’ve been on some big productions before but House Of The Dragon is something else,” he says with a palpable sense of awe. “The sets are mind-bogglingly extraordinary. They’ve literally built castles; it’s bonkers.

“The costume was definitely one of the more challenging aspects, especially as I have a herniated disc in my neck. I lost all strength on the right-hand side of my body but was still like, ‘Yeah, I’m happy, I’m good!’ I wasn’t going to complain about it because I was so grateful to be there. To be honest, I’d have worn an elephant to have been on that set!”

Next up for Tom is Black Church Bay, which centres around the disappearance of a gay sixth-form student in a remote Welsh village.

“We just wrapped that in Anglesey,” he concludes. “It’s dark, challenging and, again, asks a lot of questions of its audience. It was a very intense, hard project for me on a personal level because my character is in such a difficult place and spiralling downwards. I had to go in every day and put myself in the headspace of this complex, morally ambiguous man. There’s an element of Ripley to him but less in control. It’s by a very talented first-time feature director, Rhys Mark Jones. We shot 170 scenes in five-and-a-half weeks. It was relentless. I have no idea what’ve we made but I can’t wait to see it!”

• Trespasses premieres on Channel 4 tomorrow, November 9, at 9pm.