All those actors who worry that being open about their sexuality means they’ll never be offered straight roles can take heart from Tom Cullen, the gay star of Weekend, who’ll be heading to Downton Abbey for its fourth series.
Cullen tweeted the news himself, saying ‘I can announce that I’m in the new season four of Downton Abbey. So excited. My heart is beating a little too fast…’ adding ‘Thank you for all the amazing messages. Really touched.’
According to Metro, he’ll play Lord Gillingham, who is rumoured to be the new love interest of the widowed Lady Mary. He’s described as ‘an old family friend of the Crawleys who visits the family as a guest for a house party’. He may have a rival though in the form of dashing aristocrat Charles Blake, played by Julian Ovenden.
Filming on Series 4 of Downton Abbey has just kicked off.
Although the BAFTAs completely ignored it in favour of more commercial but often far less worthy fare, thankfully gay Brit-flick hit Weekend has been getting its dues at the likes of the British Independent Film Awards and the London Critics Circle Film Awards. The latest to honour the movie is the Evening Standard British Film Awards, which last night gave Weekend writer/director Andrew Haigh the Best Screenplay gong.
Although BAFTA should be hanging its head in shame for not even including Weekend on the longlist for any of its awards, the movie can take some solace from the fact the London Film Critics Circle has better taste, giving the film’s director, Andrew Haigh, the Breakthough British Film-maker award at its ceremony.
The British Independent Film Awards were held last night, celebrating the best of the UK indie scene. This year in particular they really were a showcase of the strengths of British film and what an immense amount of talent there is out there.
In the last few weeks Tom Cullen and Chris New have been getting major plaudits for their acting in the wonderful Weekend. However, we here at BGPS are horribly shallow people, so rather than following in the foosteps of the London Film Festival and nominating them for a Best Actor award, we just want to say they’re both pretty hot!
Weekend is undoubtedly one of the best reviewed films of the year, but due to the fact it’s a low-budget, somewhat arty movie about a burgeoning gay relationship, it’s not exactly been warmly embraced by mainstream cinemas.