TOM PRIOR

Actor Tom Prior’s first lead role in upcoming gay romance Firebird will see him star as Sergey, a young Russian private who falls for a handsome fighter pilot during the Cold War. Here he talks to Attitude about juggling acting, writing and producing for the movie and his take on queer representation on screen

Words Alastair James

Tom wears tank top, by BOSS, jeans, by Calvin Klein, denim jacket, by Fiorucci

Photography Pip Styling Sacha Dance

Arriving at our photographer’s house freshly trimmed after a trip to the barber’s, Tom Prior grins warmly as I usher him inside.

I introduce him to the rest of the team before he’s walked through the clothes we’ve called in for his Attitude cover. The star of the Cold War-era gay romance Firebird picks out a few pieces before going into makeup. “This is one of the first days where I’ve felt a little bit better,” Tom tells us as he tries on the first outfit (a retro faded double-denim ensemble with bright red trainers providing a pop of colour).

Tom hasn’t been very well for a couple of weeks, and mentions that he hasn’t been able to work out much as a result. Unanimously, we all agree that he looks incredible, the closely fitting vest underneath his denim jacket drawing attention to his honed physique.

When the Dorset-born, RADA-trained thesp steps in front of the camera, he takes direction well (he is an actor, after all) and after a few shots begins to ease into it. Occasionally, his cheeky smile breaks through, lighting up his handsome, angular face. He oozes charisma. Peering at the photographs as they appear on a laptop, I ask if this is his first magazine photoshoot. Tom asks if it’s obvious. The answer is a resounding no.

During a break, Tom tunes into the background music and wonders if he’s heard it in a film before discussing working as a music supervisor on his latest film, Firebird, which he not only stars in, but also co-wrote and co-produced. “Too many!” he laughs in response to my disbelief at the number of hats he wore for the production, on which he first started work back in 2014.

Firebird is a LGBTQ+ love story set during the height of the Cold War in Soviet-occupied Estonia. In it, Sergey, a young Russian private (Tom), meets the dashing and daring fighter pilot, Roman (Oleg Zagorodnii) and quickly a romance blooms. However, things are complicated by Luisa, Sergey’s friend, and secretary to the air base’s commander, with the three entering a love triangle that leaves no one unscathed.