Tom Cullen says he does not take the privilege of playing a gay character lightly. Speaking at the screening of mystery-thriller Black Church Bay at the Iris Prize Festival, the Downton Abbey and House of the Dragon actor said representation mattered. In the film, Cullen, from Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, plays a closeted man who finds he will go to any lengths to keep up appearances in his insular community.
It is not the first time Cullen has played a gay character, taking on his first ever role in 2011 British romantic drama Weekend. He said: "What is wonderful is I feel like people can often pigeonhole queer cinema, and those two films show the spectrum and diversity that can be found." The Cardiff-based Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival celebrates stories from across the world. The annual festival, which works in partnership with BAFTA Cymru, is a seven-day event and this year celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Cullen said he approached the role of Barry "exactly the same" as he would a straight character. "They are characters that you have to empathise with and understand. And fundamentally my job is empathy," he said.
"I remember doing Weekend and a big part of my research was interviewing and talking to my gay friends, talking about their experiences and trying to fully understand - but that's just research, which you should do for any character." The 41-year-old said the script was "really challenging" and that was why he went for the role. "The script was extraordinary and something that isn't usually made in the UK," he said. "It's so dark." Black Church Bay was filmed in Anglesey and written and directed by Welsh-Irish filmmaker Rhys Marc Jones, who said he was inspired by the "real locations".
"The whole film was written with those locations in mind. I always wanted my debut film in Wales," he said. His partner Paix Robinson, who said he was a Welshman by marriage, added that Wales held a special place in their hearts as somewhere they got married and spent holidays, "so it was only right that the first film was in Wales".
Describing the film as a "fantasy that becomes a nightmare", Jones said: "I needed a location that could be beautifully idyllic and hopeful and then turn and become brutally unforgiving". He added that Anglesey fitted the brief: "It can be absolutely stunning but has a foreboding quality." Cullen said he had never filmed on Anglesey before but had holidayed a lot in north Wales, adding it was great that Black Church Bay was "showcasing Wales". As he was filming House of the Dragon at the same time, he would have to drive down to London once filming in Wales had wrapped for the week and spend the weekend shooting for that.
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