Set to hit our screens as Father Vincent in RTÉ’s comedy-drama series ‘These Sacred Vows’, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor shares why he could relate to the character, his midlife anxieties and what keeps him grounded
“Acting is also an artform and because the profession is so mad, you have got to protect your calling against the madness of the profession. That is a job in itself – not have the weight of the madness of the profession overwhelm you. You have to think about your mental health” – Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. Photo: Ruth Medjber
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor married Claire Cox in September 2010 in London. At the wedding, his younger sister Sadbh said in her speech: “His only friends growing up were books.” It is not still the case. “My wife brought me out of myself,” he says. “Claire is very, very kind. She just coaxes me out. My inclination is to be at home reading. She is charismatic and she lures me out to, well, socialise. I join her in that, sometimes.”
The stage and screen actor admits that he finds it quite difficult to go to screenings and other public parts of ‘the job’. “It is that duality of standing on stage or standing in front of the camera and then at the same time when you are in your own privacy you are with yourself and that is a different reality.”