‘It shook me’: Burke with Honor Swinton Byrne in The Souvenir. I knew it was about an abusive relationship, about lies and trust, but it took me a while to not feel defensive. But when we got to Sundance and people were saying words like “abusive relationship”, I remember feeling incredibly protective about the character. There was stuff coming out and I was going: “Oh, OK, that’s in me as well.” Joanna was great and never made me feel as if I was being judged. He’s a dark character and it was probably what Jung calls the shadow, the unconscious personality. We were improvising and you end up using so much of yourself. It’s an effortful thing to talk about in terms of “Ooh, get him!” but it shook me a bit. On The Souvenir, did you find your character, Anthony, hard to shake off? It always happens a bit but never to that degree. Your character rides a horse called Barry, which is a great name for an animal… Originally, it had a female name but I said to Sebastián: “If you film from certain angles, it’s very clearly a male horse.” So it became Barry. The sex scene comes out of a sudden moment of loneliness – which is why we kept our clothes on You want something that’s not just salacious but has some kind of shape to it. It not only makes people feel safer but means you talk about the scene in a different way, in terms of the story that you’re telling. It’s great now to have this person on set called an intimacy coordinator. Sebastián said that sex scene comes out of a sudden moment of loneliness and deep need, which is partly why we kept our clothes on, rather than throwing garments off. Was it a relief to keep your clothes on for the sex scene? Yeah. Halfway through the shoot, I thought: “Why?” I had to go to Venice film festival and carry off these huge sideburns with a suit. Sebastián wanted me to grow a beard but I put my heels in about having sideburns instead. You sport an impressive pair of period sideburns. ‘When we did the read through, Kíla blew me away’: Burke with Kíla Lord Cassidy and Florence Pugh in The Wonder. The word rots in my mouth as I say it but it all felt very organic (laughs). In the book, it’s very much a romance between mine and Florence’s characters but Sebastián wanted more of a slow-building bond that grows out of them both being outsiders. I knew Florence was such a great actor and when we did the Zoom read-through Kíla blew me away. What attracted you to the role? If I’m honest, at first I just thought the two female leads were brilliant. You play journalist Will Byrne in The Wonder. He now stars alongside Florence Pugh in Sebastián Lelio’s new film The Wonder, adapted from Emma Donoghue’s novel about an English nurse travelling to Ireland in 1862 to investigate a girl who has survived for months without eating. His film roles include The Souvenir and Orson Welles in Mank. On TV he has played Athos in The Musketeers, Dolokhov in War & Peace and the eponymous detective in Strike, the BBC series based on JK Rowling’s novels. He trained at Rada and has worked extensively on stage, including at the RSC and the National. Actor Tom Burke, 41, was raised in Kent by actor parents.
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