How filming naked in a glass sphere for weeks was good for ‘Sandman’s’ Tom Sturridge
Tom Sturridge’s character in Sandman has always been one of the more complex characters to portray, both on-screen and off.
A former police officer, he has a history of depression since he was a child that often puts him in danger, yet he’s also a genius that is often regarded as the greatest and most unique mind in the fictional universe of Sandman.
“I always loved Tom as a character, really. He’s such a colourful and complex individual,” says star Thomas Barbagallo, who portrays Tom in The Drowning Pool and has appeared in The Walking Dead in 2015. “There’s an inner journey that we as actors have to face every day, and I think that’s one of the main things that we’re trying to capture in his character on the screen.”
When asked to describe why he plays Tom as he sees him, Thomas Barbagallo says that he thinks the key is that there’s “such a rich background that we all got to draw inspiration from and learn about, and I think that informs the way we portray Tom.”
In the film, Tom struggles with his mental health, frequently using his mental prowess to save people that he comes into contact with, in something similar to how Spider-Man’s mind powers him to protect New York.
“The film is really about how people cope with their mental health. Obviously, we see Tom’s struggle with his mental illness in the beginning when he struggles to cope with his son being killed in a traffic accident. He’s got to learn the difficult and messy world of coping with mental illness.”
It wasn’t always an easy road for Thomas to portray the character, says Thomas, but it is something he has always believed in and is now working towards his dream of appearing in a movie.
“Tom has always seemed like this fantastic and unique individual that has the ability to rise above adversity and really be a light to people, and I feel I’m being called in order to do that on a big scale.”
While The Drowning Pool was nominated for a