Tom Cullen

British actor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Cullen is a Welsh actor and director. He had roles in the independent film Weekend (2011), as Anthony Foyle, Viscount Gillingham in the television series Downton Abbey, and as Sir Landry in the historical drama series Knightfall. He also played Thomas Seymour in Becoming Elizabeth.

Born
Thomas Cullen

Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • director
Yearsactive2006–present
Quick facts Born, Alma mater ...
Tom Cullen
Cullen in 2017
Born
Thomas Cullen

Alma materRoyal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • director
Years active2006–present
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Early life and education

Thomas Cullen was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, the son of two writers. His father is Irish and his mother English.[1] He has two siblings.[2] He spent his early years in Llandrindod Wells and moved to Cardiff at age 12,[3] where he attended Llanishen High School.[4]

Before pursuing an acting career, Cullen was involved in music.[5] He graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2009 with a First Class Honours degree in acting, after spending a year at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.[6]

Career

Acting

Whilst still in training, Cullen was taken out of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama to appear in Daddy's Girl, which won the BAFTA Cymru for Best Film,[7] and to star in Watch Me, which won the BAFTA Cymru for Best Short.[8] His stage roles include Gorgio at the Bristol Old Vic, Assembly and A Good Night Out in the Valleys at National Theatre Wales, and The Sanger at Sherman Cymru.[9] In 2011, he was named on the Screen International Stars of Tomorrow list.[10]

Cullen starred in the 2011 film Weekend as Russell, a Nottingham lifeguard. Weekend collected numerous awards including the Grand Jury award at the Nashville Film Festival and Best Achievement in Production at the British Independent Film Awards. Cullen won Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards and Best Actor at the Nashville Film Festival in 2011 for his role as Russell.[11] His television roles include Jonas in Black Mirror. He starred as Wulfric in the 2012 miniseries World Without End.[12] He had a recurring role as Mary Crawley's suitor Anthony Foyle (the Viscount Gillingham) in Downton Abbey.[13][14]

He appeared in the films Desert Dancer, the story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who risked his life to become a dancer despite a nationwide dancing ban, and the science fiction The Last Days on Mars, based around the first crewed mission to Mars.[9][15]

Cullen played Joe Rose in the three-part ITV drama The Trials of Jimmy Rose, that aired in September 2015.[16] He starred in a Canadian indie from production company Motel Pictures, The Other Half.[17] He played the lead role of Mark in Harlan Coben's 2015 series The Five, a ten-part Sky 1 mystery series.[18] He also starred as Landry in the History series Knightfall,[19] which started in December 2017.[20] Cullen played Guy Fawkes alongside Kit Harington and Liv Tyler in Gunpowder on BBC One.[citation needed]

Cullen's editorial work includes L'Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, and 10 Magazine.[citation needed]

Writing

In 2008, Cullen wrote and produced the short film Naughties with Alexander Vlahos. In 2009, he and Vlahos co-founded the Welsh company Undeb Theatre.[21] He wrote and directed his full-length play, Kingfisher, about a man returning from prison, in 2010, as well as other short plays performed by Undeb.[22]

Directing

Cullen made his directorial debut with the 2019 film Pink Wall starring Tatiana Maslany and Jay Duplass. The film is described by Screen Daily as "the story of a couple’s struggles with the pressures of gender expectations and the conflict between life and ambition".[23]

Filmography

Film

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Daddy's Girl Boy (Jason) U.S. title: Cravings
2008 Watch Me Tom Short film
Nominated for BAFTA Cymru Best Short Film
2009 Twenty Questions Adam Short film
2010 Balance Nico Short film
2011 Weekend Russell British Independent Film Award for Best Newcomer
2012 Henry Henry Short film
2013 Room 8 Ives Short film
BAFTA Award for Best British Short Film
The Last Days on Mars Richard Harrington
2014 Desert Dancer Ardavan
2015 Black Mountain Poets Richard
The Batsman and the Ballerina Simon Short film
2016 The Other Half Nickie Also executive producer
Happily Ever After Colin
100 Streets Jake
Mine Tommy Madison
Trial Ryan / New Aaron Short film
2018 Souls of Totality Guy 3 Short film
2019 Pink Wall Chris Also writer, director and co-producer
Castle in the Ground Jimmy
2021 Zebra Girl Dan
My Son Frank
Barbarians Lucas
2023 My Happy Ending Dr. Hanson
TBA Walk the Blue Fields TBA Filming
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2010 Pen Talar Richard Episodes 7 & 8
Banged Up Abroad Yoram Series 5; 1 episode
2011 Black Mirror Jonas Series 1; episode 3: "The Entire History of You"
2012 World Without End Wulfric Mini-series; episodes 1–8
2013–2014 Downton Abbey Anthony Gillingham Series 4 & 5; 12 episodes
2015 The Trials of Jimmy Rose Joe Rose Mini-series; episodes 1–3
2016 The Five Mark Wells Mini-series; episodes 1–10
2017 Orphan Black Leonard Sipp Season 5; episode 6: "Manacled Slim Wrists"
Gunpowder Guy Fawkes Mini-series; episodes 1–3
2017–2019 Knightfall Landry du Lauzon Lead role. Seasons 1 & 2; 18 episodes
2018 Genius Luc Simon Season 2; episodes 6 & 10: "Picasso: Chapters Six and Ten"
2021 Invasion Mr. Edwards Season 1; episodes 2–4
2022 Becoming Elizabeth Thomas Seymour Episodes 1–6 & 8
2023–2025 The Gold John Palmer Series 1 & 2; 12 episodes[24]
2024 The Way Jack Price MP Episode 1: "The War"[25]
Insomnia Robert Averill Episodes 1–6[26]
2025 Mudtown Peter Burton Main cast[27]
Trespasses Michael Agnew Main cast[28]
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Awards and nominations

More information Year, Award ...
Year Award Category Work Result
2011 London Film Critics Circle Awards British Actor of the Year Weekend Nominated
BFI London Film Festival Best British Newcomer Nominated
Nashville Film Festival Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Won
British Independent Film Award Most Promising Newcomer Won
2016 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Downton Abbey Won
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References

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