TOM CULLEN Returns Home
—and Opens the Door to Something Wilder
interview + written ALBAN E. SMAJLI
Tom Cullen carries a certain voltage—quiet, direct, and sharper than he lets on.
In Trespasses, he steps into a story simmering with political heat and impossible desire, playing Michael, a Protestant barrister who keeps choosing love in a world that keeps telling him not to. Cullen treats the role less like a performance and more like a possession, letting the character seep in through dialect, costume, and the rugged Northern Irish landscape that became its own scene partner.
Off-screen, he’s in a different chapter: new fatherhood, a move back to Wales, a creative instinct shifting toward the messy, human corners of storytelling. He talks about vulnerability like it’s a craft, about giving editors “colors to paint with,” and about the artists who shaped his eye. We caught up with him to talk Trespasses, tenderness, and the strange freedom that arrives when life rearranges you.
Tom Cullen wears a total look by PAUL SMITH
Tom Cullen wears JOHNLAWRENCESULLIVAN
Tom Cullen wears a jumper by JOHNSTONS OF ELGIN, a coat by WAX LONDON, trousers by 8ON8, and shoes by G.H. BASS
Alban E. Smajli
Trespasses explores intimacy and fracture within political tension. What drew you most to this story, and how did it live inside you while filming?
Tom Cullen
I was drawn to the powerful messaging that I derived from it. My character Michael, a controversial Protestant barrister, who defends young catholic boys against police brutality, says “We must have the bravery to choose freedom over fear”. It’s a message that is so simple, but when you dig into it, it’s surprisingly profound. Cushla and Michael are two people that choose to not be swept up in the narratives that surround them and they choose love instead, even at the risk of their lives. It’s very easy to get lost in these narratives and so it’s so important for us to take stock and not allow hate to win. It sounds altruistic and pious, but it’s true. Just look at the narratives today that are being pushed down our throats by those in power just to divide us. And it’s working. But we must choose freedom over fear.
How did you approach creating space for tenderness within a narrative so marked by conflict?
My partner, Alison Sudol, reads everything I do. She is a wise sage. She read Trespasses and said that Michael and Cushla were like two dandelions growing out of the smallest crack in a slab of concrete. I really attached myself to that image.
There is a lot on the page working against Michael. He is the hardest part I’ve ever had to play for that reason. You have to love him but there is also something unreachable about him. So the love and tenderness between Michael and Cushla was integral for the show to work. I just tried to lean into Michael’s vulnerability as much as possible. But it is his passion for life is that really opened the door to Michael and Cushla’s relationship. They find in each other a passion for life and that chemistry was very much found in my working relationship with Lola. Lola is mesmeric. They are fiercely intelligent, talented and compassionate human being. I just loved working with Lola and all the things that Michael loved in Cushla are the same things I loved in Lola. Lola’s passion for life is thrilling to be around.
When you play a character shaped by history and division, where do you begin—voice, silence, or memory?
Obviously it’s a historical context which these characters exist in but the story itself is fictional and the characters are too. So while rooted in a history that I have quite a good understanding of - the majority of my work was character work - and thankfully I had an amazing resource to pull from with Louise Kennedy’s novel.
A big part of my process as an actor - and I’ve got to be careful not to sound too pretentious here - is to just let the character flow through me. I have to step out of the way and just let who it is flow through. This is a slow, gentle process that comes through prep. Starting with dialect, costume, makeup…all these things help build the character from the source material and I just have to get the hell out of the way.
I can’t watch any playback when I’m working because in my head, I look like a totally different person. But when if I watch playback, I just see myself in the shot, it’s so weird and it can shatter the illusion in my head. It’s like one big episode of quantum leap!
What did the landscape of Northern Ireland give you that the script couldn’t?
It’s beautiful. And so is Belfast. The landscape itself is a character in the show.
Reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Wales. Something so calming about the rugged permanence of that landscape. It’s humbling in the best way. A reminder of your insignificance.
Tom Cullen wears cardigan by IODELE
Tom Cullen wears jumpers by JOHNSTONS OF ELGIN
In Trespasses, love feels both sacred and dangerous. How did you hold that balance?
Isn’t all love sacred and dangerous? Love is inherently dangerous. To love someone is a choice, but it’s a choice of pain, because all love will end one way or another. That’s what makes it the most beautiful, intoxicating and human choice to make; to make oneself vulnerable, to give yourself to another, is the single most profoundly brave action a human can make. We choose to love despite the pain. We choose to love in the face of grief. To love, is to accept death, right?
As an actor who also directs, how does awareness of framing and rhythm shift your process in front of the camera?
Directing and editing specifically, was the single most liberating lesson I’ve had when it comes to acting. I was lucky enough to have two brilliant actors in my first feature, Tatiana Maslany and Jay Duplass. The spectrum of performance I had to play with in the edit made my job as a director so easy. Since then I’ve enjoyed the freedom of delivering colours for the editor to paint with. It’s freeing and allows the best, most exciting work to happen. Where you’re not quite sure what will happen next. My favourite artists all exist between the lines of brilliance and disaster. I’m trying to exist there as much as possible. Let go of the control and the ego. Let it flow!
What does this period of your career feel like—what’s anchoring you creatively right now?
Becoming a father has shattered any semblance of who I thought I was and in the vacuum left behind by sleepless nights, worry, nappy changes and the most powerful love. I have begun to reform myself as someone I like a lot more. It’s liberating to not give a toss about anything other than the very singular purpose of being a parent. Being a Dad is something I have always wanted but it’s changed me in a way that I didn’t expect.
You recently moved back to Wales—how does it feel being back in the place where your artistic instincts begin?
What a lovely question. I’d never thought about it like that. I’m reframing my move back home through the prism of this question and it’s making me quite emotional. We’re all on a journey, aren’t we? I’m not someone who really makes any plans. I turned 40 this year and that is something I never imagined happening, but having turned 40, I’m reflecting a lot. Reflecting on the journey.
If I’d have told that little boy who grew up in the middle of nowhere Wales, making little plays for his mates on my council estate, that I'd be working as an actor one day…wow. What an incredible thing.
And to move back to the place I had to leave to chase that dream? It’s immensely moving.
What do you find yourself searching for in the stories you choose now?
I’m interested in complexity. I want human stories, warts and all. Art should be an interrogation of the human experience. I’m inspired by filmmakers who capture the extraordinary in the quietest corners of life; Cassavetes, Joachim Trier, Chloe Zhao, Celine Sciamma, the Dardenne brothers. These are the filmmakers and the work I aspire to be a part of.
Quick fire, no commas:
A book that steadies you _____
Tom Cullen: Great Expectations
A scene that keeps echoing _____
Tom Cullen: The dinner scene in A Woman Under influence
A word you’re holding onto _____
Tom Cullen: Hiraeth
Tom Cullen wears a suit by JOHN LAWRENCE SULLIVAN, a T-shirt by A DAYS MARCH, and shoes by G.H. BASS
seen WILL ALDERSLEY
styled JACK MILLS via WERTHERS REPRESENTS
grooming TRAVIS NUNES
talent TOM CULLEN via TELESCOPE AGENCY
copyright LE MILE Magazine / Will Aldersley 2025