SPOTLIGHT: Mr Tom Brittney
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Photography - Nicholas Andrews
Interview - Tajinder Hayer
Styling - Sarah Rose Harrison
Grooming - Paul Rodgers at David Artists using American Crew
This week, actor Tom Brittney reprises his role in the next season of Grantchester on ITV. Those that have been watching from season one will have seen how the show depicted Anglican vicar Sidney Chambers (played by James Norton) and subsequent vicar William Davenport (played by Tom) who develops a sideline in sleuthing with the help of Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (played by Robson Green). Tom can also be seen staring as Billy in BBC’s drama Make Me Famous, written by Reggie Yates. The film explores the impact and consequences of fast fame on reality TV participants. He also played the role of Lieutenant Jeremy Foster in Starz’ historical fantasy Outlander.
As well as leading the hit ITV show, Brittney has also been working on big plans with his production company Wild Nest Pictures, who in 2023 secured the screen rights to Jon Ransom’s debut novel The Whale Tattoo, an award winning LGBTQ+ book.
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Tell us about the character that you play in Grantchester
In Grantchester I play the character, Reverend Will Davenport, an idealistic, passionate vicar, who wants to change the world while escaping his own Demons - oh and solving some crimes on the side.
Is there anything at all you can tell us about the next season?
At the beginning of this series, Will is finally happy. He's married. He has a child on the way. Life just seems great. But when Will has a motorbike accident and accidentally kills a man, it threatens to derail his entire life and everything he has worked so hard to build.
What do you like about working as part of an ensemble cast?
Being part of an ensemble cast is being part of a family. Being on set can sometimes be quite lonely and isolated at times, despite being around so many people in the crew and cast. But with Grantchester, I get to go to work every day with my best friends, and that’s in the crew as well.
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Make Me Famous touched on some interesting and topical issues. Did you have to do any research for your part in that?
I'm really proud of that show, and yeah I researched a lot when I got the role. I watched countless series of Love Island, a lot of interviews with people like Mike Thalassitis, Sophie Gradon, people who lost their lives to that show in a way. I wanted to make sure I understood how drastically their lives changed, and how the public treated them in real life after being on reality tv. It was heartbreaking.
How did you pursue a career as an actor? Was it through going to acting school?
My mum was my drama teacher in primary school, and she encouraged me to take acting seriously after college and go to drama school. I embarrassingly didn’t realise it was a full career until quite late in my teen years!
Blazer - Reiss, Vest - Sunspel, Trousers - All Saints
Why did you decide to set up your own production company?
It was during the first covid lockdown when I started it. I knew I always wanted to be behind the camera in some way as well, to try and tell stories through whatever medium I could. And when I couldn’t be on set during Covid, it kicked me into gear to go “Right, how do I find a way to make stuff when I can’t be in front of a camera?” And from there I started building projects on our slate, getting rights to books, and finding real life stories that I thought could be built into great films and TV series.
What are the benefits of doing that?
I have to wait for someone to tell me I can act in order to do it - for someone to call up and say you got the job! Until then, I’m sat waiting for the phone to ring. With producing, I can work every day and have sense of creative control over things. I can be proactive in trying to make something with other people in a way I can’t with acting. And I get a much bigger sense of achievement creating with people that way.
Knitwear - MR P at MR PORTER, Jacket - Tommy Hilfiger
Are there any differences between working in film and on a TV series?
The biggest difference from the films I’ve done to TV series is budget. The last two films I was in were huge budget things, $90-100 million dollar type things, and those sets are crazy. You shoot a lot. Long, long days shooting very little dialogue, mainly because you can I think. Whereas in TV, you tend to work faster and for less budget. I love both, but films take a different kind of mental stamina to be in, I think. They do have the most incredible catering on films though, that’s for sure…
What are you working on now and next?
Well, I left Grantchester a few months ago after 6 happy years of doing the show. I wanted to see what else was out there and play different people for a while! So currently on the hunt for that exciting next thing. In the meantime, I’m, also prepping to direct a feature film adaptation of The Whale Tattoo, a novel that just won the Polari Prize. It’s a beautiful, gritty book that I think will make an equally beautiful and gritty film. Watch this space!
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