By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)
Pakistan film industry is very small and at the moment going through a revival phase. We seldom get good movies and when we do they are a big deal. Recently we got Ali Zafar starrer marvel “Teefa in Trouble”, movie was really good, and everyone associated with the project really stood out. We noticed Tom Coulston an actor from London playing the role of Andy in “Teefa in Trouble”, so decided to contact him for our Social Connect segment and to know about his experience working in Pakistan film industry.
How does Social Connect works? We try to get in touch with Celebs on their official social media pages and ask them for a 5 questions quick interview. If we get a positive reply, then we ask for an official email address to make sure we are in touch with the right person. Rest of the interview and correspondence is purely on email to stay true to the theme of the segment. We did exactly the same with Tom and here is our usual 5 questions interview.
Q1: Who is Tom Coulston? We know you as Andy from the movie but who is the real person behind. Tell us a little bit about your journey from being a Fitness trainer to ending up as Andy in “Teefa in Trouble”.
Tom: Hi guys, Tom here or should I say Andy from Teefa in trouble! A bit about me...I studied sports science in Sheffield for 3 years and from the age of 16 I was already working within a gym in my home town. When I turned 20 I started modelling with a few agencies in the north of England, which lead to some nice campaign shoots for various clients and I also really enjoyed the catwalk modelling. I actually walked the runway for Pakistan fashion week in London 2012 and it was there I met a good friend director/photographer Adnan Qazi. It was Adnan who kindly passed my details on to Ali Zafar and the director Ahsan Rahim. I spoke with Ahsan on the phone about the role and it sounded like a superb opportunity. I did a self-tape and thankfully the guys liked it and they must have been able to visualize me playing this character in the film. Some may say unfortunately but I say Fortunately, that in 2014 I was made redundant from my full-time gym job and that’s when I decided to throw everything I had into acting and I was introduced to my amazing acting coach Michael John Gonzales who I still train with today!
Q2: How was your experience working in a Pakistani Film? I know media doesn’t portray Pakistan brightly so did you have any reservations before coming to Pakistan?
Tom: My experience of Lollywood was truly incredible, and it was an honor to work with such amazing and talented actors and a passionate crew. It was such a pleasure to be directed by Ahsan too, I really love his attention to detail and his vision. There’s nothing better as an actor than collaborating with your director to create the best visual content possible. I was ever so slightly apprehensive about traveling to Pakistan, purely because of how the media portrays the country. I was told by my friend Adnan though that there’s absolutely nothing to worry about as I would be well looked after by Ali in Lahore and that was definitely the case. In fact, I enjoyed my time and the hospitality so much that I could have quite easily stayed a lot longer, but my visa was only for one week.
Q3: As an actor, how hard is it to keep, your true self intact while performing different characters?
Tom: This is a very good question! You just have to learn how to detach yourself from the character and remind yourself that’s all it is...just a character. I must admit though one of my biggest roles when I first started acting did take me on a huge rollercoaster of a journey as my character Rick lived a debaucherous lifestyle and it was an intense 3 days filming. I admire some of the method actors and having done some method acting training when I first started I would use elements of that to create the character.
Q4: When selecting a project what are the key things that you look for? Any specific role/project that you would like to do?
Tom: I love something that is a challenge or fun to play! I’ve just filmed with the Oscar winning actress Ana Paquin on a show called flack due out 2019 in which I played a flamboyant reality tv star called Jay! I just really let myself go and enjoyed playing somebody who was so over the top and such an attention seeker! It was only a small part to play but Ana praised me on my character performance which was quite an overwhelming achievement. This will sound really corny, but I would love to play a James Bond type role which would involve some action and lots of charisma.
Q5: Any future projects? Where can we see more of you? Any offers from Pakistan as the film is a huge success now.
Tom: Please feel free to check out my IMDb profile online and I always keep people up to date on my Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/TomCoulstonOfficial my instagram is tom_coulston_official and my twitter in thomasandrew84. So far, I haven’t had any calls yet from Pakistan regarding any more projects but I would love the opportunity to work in Pakistan again and visit my wonderful friends.
Thank you for your time and participation in Social Connect. We wish you best of luck for future and hope to see more of you in near future
Tom: Thank you so much for all your love and support so far for my role of Andy in Teefa in Trouble!
How does Social Connect works? We try to get in touch with Celebs on their official social media pages and ask them for a 5 questions quick interview. If we get a positive reply, then we ask for an official email address to make sure we are in touch with the right person. Rest of the interview and correspondence is purely on email to stay true to the theme of the segment. We did exactly the same with Tom and here is our usual 5 questions interview.
Q1: Who is Tom Coulston? We know you as Andy from the movie but who is the real person behind. Tell us a little bit about your journey from being a Fitness trainer to ending up as Andy in “Teefa in Trouble”.
Tom: Hi guys, Tom here or should I say Andy from Teefa in trouble! A bit about me...I studied sports science in Sheffield for 3 years and from the age of 16 I was already working within a gym in my home town. When I turned 20 I started modelling with a few agencies in the north of England, which lead to some nice campaign shoots for various clients and I also really enjoyed the catwalk modelling. I actually walked the runway for Pakistan fashion week in London 2012 and it was there I met a good friend director/photographer Adnan Qazi. It was Adnan who kindly passed my details on to Ali Zafar and the director Ahsan Rahim. I spoke with Ahsan on the phone about the role and it sounded like a superb opportunity. I did a self-tape and thankfully the guys liked it and they must have been able to visualize me playing this character in the film. Some may say unfortunately but I say Fortunately, that in 2014 I was made redundant from my full-time gym job and that’s when I decided to throw everything I had into acting and I was introduced to my amazing acting coach Michael John Gonzales who I still train with today!
Q2: How was your experience working in a Pakistani Film? I know media doesn’t portray Pakistan brightly so did you have any reservations before coming to Pakistan?
Tom: My experience of Lollywood was truly incredible, and it was an honor to work with such amazing and talented actors and a passionate crew. It was such a pleasure to be directed by Ahsan too, I really love his attention to detail and his vision. There’s nothing better as an actor than collaborating with your director to create the best visual content possible. I was ever so slightly apprehensive about traveling to Pakistan, purely because of how the media portrays the country. I was told by my friend Adnan though that there’s absolutely nothing to worry about as I would be well looked after by Ali in Lahore and that was definitely the case. In fact, I enjoyed my time and the hospitality so much that I could have quite easily stayed a lot longer, but my visa was only for one week.
Q3: As an actor, how hard is it to keep, your true self intact while performing different characters?
Tom: This is a very good question! You just have to learn how to detach yourself from the character and remind yourself that’s all it is...just a character. I must admit though one of my biggest roles when I first started acting did take me on a huge rollercoaster of a journey as my character Rick lived a debaucherous lifestyle and it was an intense 3 days filming. I admire some of the method actors and having done some method acting training when I first started I would use elements of that to create the character.
Q4: When selecting a project what are the key things that you look for? Any specific role/project that you would like to do?
Tom: I love something that is a challenge or fun to play! I’ve just filmed with the Oscar winning actress Ana Paquin on a show called flack due out 2019 in which I played a flamboyant reality tv star called Jay! I just really let myself go and enjoyed playing somebody who was so over the top and such an attention seeker! It was only a small part to play but Ana praised me on my character performance which was quite an overwhelming achievement. This will sound really corny, but I would love to play a James Bond type role which would involve some action and lots of charisma.
Q5: Any future projects? Where can we see more of you? Any offers from Pakistan as the film is a huge success now.
Tom: Please feel free to check out my IMDb profile online and I always keep people up to date on my Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/TomCoulstonOfficial my instagram is tom_coulston_official and my twitter in thomasandrew84. So far, I haven’t had any calls yet from Pakistan regarding any more projects but I would love the opportunity to work in Pakistan again and visit my wonderful friends.
Thank you for your time and participation in Social Connect. We wish you best of luck for future and hope to see more of you in near future
Tom: Thank you so much for all your love and support so far for my role of Andy in Teefa in Trouble!
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