Tom Cullen watched Jamie Dornan in The Fall 'over a hundred times' to master accent for Trespasses
Tom Cullen has The Fall actor Jamie Dornan and his dialect coach Judith McSpadden to thank for him mastering a Northern Irish accent for his role in new Channel 4 drama Trespasses.
Tom Cullen watched Jamie Dornan in The Fall "over a hundred times" to master his accent for Trespasses.
The 40-year-old Welsh actor plays barrister Michael Agnew in the Channel 4 drama series set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. It is based on the novel of the same name by Louise Kennedy.
In the series, Tom's Protestant alter ego falls in love with younger Catholic school teacher Cushla Lavery, played by Lola Petticrew.
Cullen admits he struggled to master the Northern Irish accent and relied on repeat viewings of Dornan - who was born in Holywood, County Down, and grew up in the suburbs of Belfast - in the 2010s crime series to perfect his dialect and hours or practice.
And he also had dialect coach Judith McSpadden, whom he has described as “an absolute godsend”, to help him.
Speaking as part of a panel to launch Trespasses, he said: "I looked back at my audition tape that I sent in - and it’s so utterly diabolical. I have no idea how I got the part!
"My first dialect session was so stressful ... Obviously, an accent isn’t everything for a character; you have to understand the soul of it, but it’s so important. It’s identity. It places you in the world. To me, that mattered deeply. So I knew I had to get it right. And it was just hours - hours and hours of work. My sister got married, one of my best friends got married, and I was sneaking off during the wedding weekend to do dialect sessions. I listened to Jamie Dornan’s The Fall over a hundred times. I could probably recite it word for word. Every waking moment, I was practicing. I’d be lying in bed, repeating lines. I was exhausted.
"I kept thinking, if Jamie Dornan were here, I’d be like, 'We’re best friends!” and he’d just look at me and go, 'Who the f*** are you?'"
Tom - who also stars in Trespasses with Gillian Anderson, who also acted in The Fall - was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, and another motivating factor in him mastering the Northern Irish accent is that he hates it when he watches a show and someone gets the Welsh tongue wrong.
He said: "I don’t sound Welsh, but I am Welsh. When I watch a show with a Welsh character who isn’t played by a Welsh actor, and they’re butchering the accent, it makes me so angry."
Trespasses is available to stream from Channel 4 now.
