Thomas Coombes was literally born to be a West Ham fan. From Essex, his family roots are firmly planted in the East End. He caught the acting bug from an early age with a scholarship to drama school, and simply never recovered.
Starting out in the theatre, he soon started to build an impressive on-screen CV, with appearances in big shows such as ‘Save Me’, ‘Boiling Point’, ‘Luther: The Fallen Sun’. ‘Small Axe’ and, most recently, the international hit ‘Baby Reindeer’, in which he really caught the eye as the ‘pretty useless’ Officer Daniels.
Most recently, Tom was on stage at the superb new Soho Place theatre in the highly acclaimed West End production of east London-born Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ ‘Death of England’. Tom started out by telling writer, broadcaster and fellow Hammer Mark Webster about that role…
TC: Rafe Spall played the part before it transferred from The National Theatre and I make no bones about it, like he said to me, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. This theatre is the only one with air con in the West End, apparently, but you’d never notice with the amount I sweat! Clint (who also directs) said to me ‘Hamlet’s got nothing on this’. The amount of words, and I’m on stage on my own, I’m chatting to the audience, it’s a bit like doing stand-up, different every night. Roy said when he wrote it, he pictured Micky Flanagan. I have to say, it’s a beast!
MW: ‘Death of England’ is a trilogy of plays. Tell me a bit about your character.
TC: I play Michael, he’s an east Londoner, and it’s not a spoiler as you find out early on, his Dad is dying and it’s about him dealing with that. Because he discovers his Dad wasn’t what he thought he was. He sells flowers, he’s got his own stall, and he was, well, a man of his time, and frankly racist. So when Michael meets his best mate from school, Delroy, and the families get together and it’s great, his life then gets blown apart as Michael starts to discover the truth. But as Clint says – and he’s from Barking, knows the area well. Got mates, family – we’re not painting villains here. Let’s have a conversation. Let’s have it out with the audience. Oh, and Michael’s Orient. So not a massive stretch to West Ham!
MW: So your origins then, Tom. We hit the water!
TC: Yeah, I grew up in Southend-on-Sea, but as a lot of people do, the family had moved out from east London. My Dad and Grandad grew up right outside Upton Park. That’s why we all support them. Because the ball used to land in his back garden! So, we were born into it, as they say. You’ve got no choice! And I remember as a kid, with the other kids, you do see the glory of other clubs, but there was never any doubt in my mind – friends, family – you wouldn’t even think about going elsewhere. There might have been a bit of envy, and stuff. But like they say, when we do have a good time, it means that much more.
MW: So you’re going to have favourites. Who are yours?
TC: Well, that team with all the youth players coming through. Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard. And amongst that, Di Canio, Trevor Sinclair. Oh and of course, Rio, before he left!! (laughs).
MW: Work must conflict a lot with you getting to, or even just watching games. How do you get around that?
TC: I want to know what’s happening all the time. I’m not avoiding! We share Season Tickets, actually, a couple of mates and my brother, so we dig out the fixture list and work out who's going when, swapping about. So we all get a few games each during the season. We sit over in the East side. I even manage to get Dad up from Southend for the odd game. And you know what, we’ve had some great times there now, haven’t we? I remember the night against Sevilla – that felt electric. It’s great that we’re now having some amazing games there. Players like Kudus and Paquetá coming in, it’s magic. Gets people off their seats. And then with all the new players arriving. The manager’s bedding them in, I guess, so it’s going to take time for him to get his message across. But he really sounds passionate about this opportunity. I think he’s got a point to prove.
MW: So what’s next after ‘Death of England?’ More ‘pretty useless’ policemen?
TC: Ha, you know (fellow actor) Danny Mays said to me – I’m in a thing with him that comes out later this year called ‘Moonflower Murders’ which we filmed in Ireland – you've got to go some to catch up with the amount of coppers I’ve played! But I’m getting there! That, or the other side of the law. That’s me!
*Follow Thomas Coombes on Instagram @thommycoombes
