TOM PAYNE
“For me it was actually quite daunting because I didn’t know if I could hold a movie…”
There’s a certain charm and talent that only comes from the kind of rising star that Britain can churn out and it’s clear to see we’ve got another bright addition to our constellation with the THE PHYSICIAN lead, Tom Payne.
With past roles in the likes of WATERLOO ROAD, WUTHERING HEIGHTS and LUCK, Payne’s no stranger to the small screen, but it’s within his standout role in Philipp Stölzl‘s epic historical adventure THE PHYSICIAN that his genuine and endearing talent for dramatic performance truly shines.
I reviewed THE PHYSICIAN just last week and was amazed by its awe-inspiring visuals, the stunning cinematography and its ambitious narrative. The film was no doubt a glorious visual feast, but it’s within its characters that the real mystery of the human mind and body were hidden and I was desperate to know more.
A quick call across the pond later and I had leading man Payne to shed some light on his character and from the outset it was clear just how much he had enjoyed the project.
Payne plays Rob, an orphaned young apprentice of travelling healer Barber (Stellan Skarsgård) whose curiosity for the workings of the human body is ignited by his supernatural power to feel when the release of death is about to wash over the sick. In an glorious quest for knowledge, Rob travels to Persia to seek the guidance of Ibn Sina (Ben Kingsley) where he must tackle the restrictions of religious controversy in order to open up the world of ancient medicine and save as many lives as he can.
Through the crackle of our overseas connection, Payne’s memories of the project are nothing but glowing as he recalls the feelings of excitement and curiosity when first reading the script: “I was always interesting in the role from the very beginning and before we even started filming we all spent a lot of time together, talking about the film and how we wanted it to turn out. Also, you know, the time frame of it all, I spent three and a half months of my life travelling around, but you just have to trust your director and Phillip had this vision that I had to trust.” He continued, “That’s the great thing about being the lead also and being in practically every scene, you have the continuity to really know if something is working or not working”.
There’s no doubt that the film lives up to those incredible promises and Stolzl does a brilliant job of making it so visually compelling: “…it’s such an epic style film. There’s all these amazing frames and visuals that even the shots that are meant to be of dingy England are fantastic.”
Filming in Morocco and Berlin, Tom talked about the importance of set design and costume; noting how that all helped him settle into his character: “I’m so proud that we didn’t use a huge amount of CGI. Obviously it’s in there, but mostly we just worked on these amazing sets which was a very visceral, real experience.”
Payne continues to joke about the costume and some of the more uncomfortable medieval underwear, but stresses how it all helped for the experience: “The costume actually went on show in Berlin which is great, they’re all so beautiful and handmade, so they had an exhibition to show it off.”
Throughout the narrative, Rob’s genuine sense of wonderment feels powerfully authentic and it’s clear to see this mirrors the way Payne felt while researching the project. With medical methods like leeches, bone saws and all round barbarity, Tom mentions his new found medical discoveries: “I knew nothing about it before, I didn’t know that the far East had such a range of knowledge before the rest of the world and that’s what’s so brilliant about the film, it looks into that.”
Referring to a key moment in the film, Tom recalls his amazement at the level of knowledge some healers had in medieval times: “That whole cataracts scene was amazing to me. I didn’t realise that that kind of thing could even be done then.”
Tom’s likeliness to his character doesn’t stop there as it becomes clear that his passion for his work and the effort he puts in matches that of Rob’s: “He (Rob) is always learning something. It’s such a lovely character to play because everything he does is always so honest and true. Also, (regarding the aspects of religion in the narrative) what’s great about Rob is that he never really has an opinion on it (religion). The film is great in that way, it never makes any judgement on what’s right or wrong, it shows everyone’s side within different points in the movie. Rob just travels through all of that, he’s all about what he should be doing for the people so that’s really nice to play.”
Every world spoken from Tom is dripping with pleasurable sincerity and it’s not difficult to imagine what a joyous filming experience the team had. It seems a younger cast member left quite the impression on Payne as he gushes about the talents of Rob’s younger self, played by Adam Wright; “It was such great casting, actually I had a picture of me when I was younger and we look exactly alike. Also, he’s just a tremendous young actor.”
It’s so clear just how much fondness Tom has for his time with the cast and crew as he discusses what it was like to work with both Stellan Skarsgård and Ben Kingsley. “It was really nice how the shooting worked out actually, for the first four weeks we filmed everything set in the England countryside and so Stellan and I travelled together around Germany which was wonderful.” Payne continued, “For me it was actually quite daunting because I didn’t know if I could hold a movie; it’s not something you immediately know about yourself and it was really nice to be around Stellan when you feel like that because he works very impulsively and in the moment. At first I didn’t know if that would work for me, but it turned out so well and it was so lovely, we had great fun.”
In regards to working with the great Ben Kingsley Payne remarks; “…we all moved on and left Stellan behind for the second half of the film in Morocco where Ben joined us and the relationship between us was similar to that with Stellan. We found ourselves in the Sahara Desert together which was just such great fun.”
Payne went on to joke about the heat, but with every laugh comes another sincere compliment about his time on the film, a wonderful attribute of his nature that only fuels one’s own excitement to hear about his experience.
It’s no secret that Tom is set to star in the sixth season of the massively popular THE WALKING DEAD and I couldn’t let him go without attempting to squeeze a little information about the part out of him: “I mean, I auditioned for what I thought would be just this guest part. I really wasn’t given any information at all and still they don’t give too much away, it’s all very secretive so I can’t even tell you anything too exciting.” Likely story, Payne! Still, we’re happy to wait and see.
All we know so far is that he’s set to join the likes of Andrew Lincoln, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus and Lauren Cohan in the shows sixth season as original comic book character Paul ‘Jesus’ Monroe. Payne seemed hilariously unprepared for the madness of THE WALKING DEAD’s loyal fandom as it seemed he couldn’t quite wrap his head around the unmeasurable popularity that surrounds it: “I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into, no idea at all. Now, I’ve had so much attention out of nowhere! It has just this huge fan base that I had no idea about! Still, it’s a character I’m very excited to play.”
It’s clear that Tom has confidence in his own abilities but I’m not sure he realises just how popular he’s about to come. THE WALKING DEAD fandom are going to love him, those steely blue eyes will catch their attention, but it’s that unmistakable talent that’s going to keep them hooked.
There’s nothing better than listening to somebody that loves what they do and Tom’s passion for his job echoes with his every word in a way that feel completely natural. With that natural likability, genuine talent and an incredible platform like THE WALKING DEAD, I’m sure we’re going to see a lot more from this charming Brit.
You can watch Tom in action in THE PHYSICIAN which is out October 5th, 2015 on DVD and keep up-to-date with his news via twitter here.
