Tom Hughes: The Quiet Force Behind TV’s Most Compelling Men
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In Malpractice and The Gold, Tom Hughes delivers two blisteringly sharp performances — exploring morality, identity, and the complex characters who carry more than they ever show.
Words - Tajinder Hayer
Photography - Liam Young
Photography Assistance - Lucy Phillip
Styling & Creative Direction - Peter Bevan
Grooming - Paul Donovan
Location - William IV, 7 Shepherdess Walk, London
Special thanks to: Tapestry London
Tom Hughes is an actor who seems to carry the past with him in everything he does, he’s built a career on characters who are haunted, complex, and never quite what they first appear. His latest roles confirm that instinct for these enigmatic roles is still sharp as ever. As Dr. James Ford in ITV’s critically acclaimed Malpractice, Hughes returns to a world defined by moral ambiguity, human fallibility, and the immense pressure of saving lives. And in The Gold, now in its second series on BBC One, he steps into an entirely different arena: the murky underworld of organised crime, with a performance that’s at once ruthless and oddly fragile.
Vintage jacket - Fred Perry at Beyond Retro, Jeans - Wax London, Shirt - Studio Nicholson
Vintage jacket - Fred Perry at Beyond Retro, Jeans - Wax London, Shirt - Studio Nicholson
For Hughes, it was the powerful writing that pulled him into Malpractice. “I was sent the scripts while I was shooting The Gold,” he says. “I sat down with a coffee and twenty pages in, I was calling my agent saying, ‘I want in.’ Grace Ofori-Attah’s writing is just exceptional. The drama, the emotional complexity, the technical detail—it ticked every box for me.”
The show opens its second season with a shattering double trauma: a postnatal check-up gone awry and the sectioning of a psychotic patient. At the centre of the storm is Dr. Ford, a man caught between ethical duty and personal crisis. “What drew me to him,” Hughes reflects, “was his contradiction. He’s sharp, sometimes cold, and yet he’s carrying so much. People working in those environments—real medics—have to desensitise to survive. There’s an emotional cost to that.”
Realism was a driving force behind Hughes’ performance. With consultants constantly on set and Ofori-Attah’s own background as a psychiatrist shaping every beat of the script, the world of Malpractice feels urgent and authentic. “Grace became my everything,” he says with a smile. “She understood the rhythm of that world, the pressures, the silences. That made all the difference.”
If Malpractice demanded precision, The Gold gave Hughes space to explore psychological unravelling. His character, Logan Campbell, is loosely inspired by real events surrounding the Brink’s-Mat robbery—the notorious 1983 heist that saw £26 million in gold bullion vanish and re-emerge through webs of laundering and violence. Series two imagines what happened to the missing gold, as the police investigation expands into an international operation.
“Logan is very much a product of the establishment,” Hughes says carefully. “There’s a vulnerability to him, but also a kind of wounded-animal ruthlessness. He’s layered, contradictory. That always excites me as an actor. I think people will be surprised as his story unfolds.”
It’s a recurring theme in Hughes’ work—characters with weathered pasts, whose calm exterior conceals something damaged, volatile, or tender. From Thomas Trafford in The English to Kit in A Discovery of Witches and even his earlier roles in Victoria and The Game, Hughes gravitates to men with something to hide. “I think I’m drawn to complexity,” he says. “Characters who’ve lived through a lot by the time we meet them. There’s often a mistrust there. They’re suppressing something.” He pauses. “Weather-worn, I suppose, is the word.”
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If Hughes is known for quiet intensity on screen, off screen he’s a study in effortless style. Routinely cited as one of Britain’s most stylish actors, his approach to dressing—like his acting—leans toward understatement, texture, and subtle self-expression. “There was one look I wore in a shoot once,” he admits, “a cream suit from the late ’90s. It looked terrible. Cream suits and gilets—definitely not me.”
But beyond the wardrobe, Hughes lives by a set of unspoken rituals that ground him. “Movement, for one. Even a long walk makes a difference. And staying connected—with people, with quiet. A good seat. A strong coffee.”
Coat - Ami Paris, T-shirt - Wax London, Jeans - Agolde, Belt - Elliot Rhodes
Coat - Ami Paris, T-shirt - Wax London, Jeans - Agolde, Belt - Elliot Rhodes
He credits RADA for giving him the technical toolkit to navigate this ever-shifting landscape of roles. “It gave me the foundations. Voice work, for instance. Malpractice was the first time I’ve used my own voice in a role.” He admits that training was a necessary path. “I didn’t know anyone in the acting world. My way in was working at a cinema I loved. The smell, the pews, the bistro—I begged them to let me work there. I knew I needed something vocational.”
That blend of cinematic romanticism and rigorous discipline continues to define him. His current project, Legends, filming now for Netflix, stars Steve Coogan and Tom Burke and tells the story of undercover British Customs agents infiltrating criminal drug gangs. It promises more high-stakes drama, more hidden identities.
Still, for all his gravitas, Hughes is quietly playful about the craft. Asked if there’s a dream role or genre he still wants to tackle, he sidesteps fantasy with thoughtful pragmatism. “I don’t really think in those terms. It’s about the person, not the period. If the character is different, I’m in.”
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What, then, should audiences expect from Malpractice season two? “It’s rich, authentic storytelling,” he says without hesitation. “Grace’s own experience brings a precision and humanity that elevates everything. It’s entertaining, yes, but it also shines a light on the machinery of a system that touches all of us.”
And The Gold? Expect suspense, expect detail, but also expect the unexpected. Because with Tom Hughes, nothing is ever quite what it seems. It’s why, at this point in his career, Tom Hughes remains one of the most captivating—and unpredictable—actors working today.
See Tom Hughes on Malpractice on ITV and The Gold on BBC.