Tom Cullen on The Gold, John Palmer & Playing Crime’s Most Complex Characters

As John Palmer in The Gold, Tom Cullen delivers a performance steeped in danger, depth, and quiet devastation — a masterclass in restraint and raw charisma.

Words - Tajinder Hayer

Photography - Nick Andrews

Styling - Tanja Martin

Grooming - Travis Nunes

Styling Assistance - Ashley Hubbard

Shot on location at Pocketsquare London at Hyatt Place London City East

Tom Cullen is not a man who shies away from difficult roles. He never has been. Since his breakout turn in Andrew Haigh’s Weekend, Cullen has carved out a career defined by depth, intensity, and the quiet command of characters that live in the grey. His latest role in the BAFTA and RTS-nominated The Gold on BBC One is no exception. Cullen steps into the shoes of John Palmer, a figure who looms large in the mythology of British crime history. Notorious, manipulative, charming, dangerous — Palmer is at once a family man and a criminal kingpin. For Cullen, playing him meant diving headfirst into the shadowy corners of ambition, greed, and power.

“With any character you play, it’s important not to judge them,” Cullen says. “We’re all the heroes of our own stories, and John Palmer is no different.” Raised in Solihull, the real-life Palmer grew up next to a dump, the son of a father who vanished early in his life. One of seven children, Palmer was gifted a pair of council shoes as a boy. He never forgot the indignity. By the time he left school unable to read or write, he had already developed a sharp intelligence that would serve him well—first as a hustler, later as a mastermind. “He was driven by the desire to escape,” Cullen explains. “But that drive for betterment eventually turned into greed. That was his undoing. He could outmanoeuvre everyone—except himself.”

The Gold, a drama based on the infamous 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery, picks up in its second season with Palmer at the centre of the story. The police have only found half the stolen gold. The other half? That’s where Palmer comes in. As Cullen tells it, the sheer narrative weight of the role was daunting. “The first worry is, you don’t want to let anyone down,” he admits. “The scripts are brilliant, the cast is phenomenal. The fear is you’ll be the one to burst the balloon.” But fear, for Cullen, is fuel. “I tied up my laces and went for it. Palmer’s arc is the most satisfying I’ve ever played.”

Cullen took a deep dive into the real-life figure of Palmer, researching his rise, watching rare video footage, and reading everything he could get his hands on. But he also relied heavily on the scripts from Neil Forsyth, the show’s creator. “This is our version of John Palmer,” Cullen says. “I hope we kept his essence intact.” The weight of responsibility wasn’t lost on him, especially knowing that Palmer’s victims and family are still around. “That’s always in the back of your mind.”

His approach to acting is intuitive, deeply internal, and oddly self-effacing. “I’m not sure I know what my process is,” Cullen says with a laugh. “It’s different every time. The characters bubble up inside me during prep. Eventually they boil over, and I become them.” With Palmer, the transformation was quiet and instinctive. “I just try to step aside and let him come through. It’s not about forcing anything. It’s about rhythm, about energy.”

The show’s slick, cinematic style required a unique kind of precision. Shooting at speed, sometimes up to eighteen scenes a day, Cullen had to be instinctual. “There’s no time to second-guess. You prepare, but then you trust your gut.” He credits the crew with much of Palmer’s power. “In many ways, he belongs to them as much as to me.”

Cullen has always gravitated to characters who live in the morally ambiguous space between charm and danger. “Who wants to watch perfect people?” he shrugs. “It would be incredibly boring.” From Guy Fawkes in Gunpowder to the soft-edged romantic leads of indie cinema, Cullen refuses to be pigeonholed. His CV spans everything from HBO to Channel 4, Netflix to Starz, and he’s as comfortable behind the camera as he is in front of it. In 2019, Tom wrote and directed a feature, Pink Wall.

In the coming months, he’ll be seen in Mudtown, a crime drama set in Newport, and Trespasses, a Channel 4 adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s acclaimed novel. In Mudtown, he plays a crime boss again — this time in his native Wales. In Trespasses, he takes on one of his most challenging roles to date: a Protestant barrister in 1970s Belfast, caught in a politically and emotionally explosive romance. “It was the most challenging part I’ve had,” Cullen admits. “I woke up every morning wondering if I was good enough to do it.” He leaned on his co-stars, Lola Petticrew and Gillian Anderson, and director Dawn Shadforth. “I’ve seen bits of it. I’m so proud.”

Ask Cullen about streaming platforms versus traditional film and TV, and he gets philosophical. Early in his career, he tried to fit himself into a rigid definition of “good acting,” only to discover that it doesn’t work that way. “I remember watching Downton Abbey back and thinking, my God, I’m dull. Then I watched Maggie Smith and realised—there are no rules. She was electric. You just have to kill the ego, let the character take over, and trust the moment.”

So what’s next? More crime bosses? More star-crossed lovers? “If I could dream up a project,” he grins, “it would be a new Star Wars, directed by Scorsese, starring Danny DeVito, Arnie, and Daniel Day-Lewis. How weird would that be?”

Cullen laughs, but then returns to The Gold and the world that has consumed him for the past two seasons. “Why does it resonate?” he muses. “Because it’s escapism, but it’s also history. That robbery changed Britain—at the top and the bottom. And here’s a wild thing: if you bought a piece of gold jewellery after 1983, there’s a very real chance it has Brink’s-Mat gold in it. So while you’re watching the show, you might be wearing a piece of the story.”

Suit and shirt both - Edward Sexton, Watch - Montblanc

It’s that kind of insight — equal parts actorly, personal, and cultural — that makes Tom Cullen stand out. He’s not afraid of the darkness. He doesn’t chase the spotlight. But give him a character who can’t be summed up in a sentence, and he’ll deliver something you won’t soon forget. In the murky world of The Gold, Tom Cullen’s John Palmer doesn’t just steal the scene. He earns it.

The Gold is on BBC Iplayer now.

Follow Tom on Instagram.

Tom Cullen: In the Shadow of Gold