How do you go about playing an iconic American outlaw and frontier horseback gunslinger? For Tom Blyth, the star of Epix series “Billy the Kid”, the first step was learning how to ride a horse. Since graduating from the prestigious Juilliard School, the 27 year-old British-born, New York based actor, has appeared in the 2021 film “Benediction”, HBO’s “The Gilded Age”, and is set to take on the role of young Coriolanus Snow, in the movie prequel to “The Hunger Games; The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”.

We called him via Zoom to ask about Wild West things, not expecting that the conversation would include beef-related injuries and end with a good old British cup of tea.

Were you a fan of Westerns growing up, and did you know much about Billy the Kid and the American West before taking this role?

I was aware that I was taking on an American legend, especially as a Brit, so I wanted to make sure I was doing justice to someone who was a folklore hero. I felt quite vindicated though, because I did have quite a big connection to Westerns when I was growing up, as I really loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and my Mum and I used to watch John Wayne movies when I was off sick from School! So I was connected to the genre, even though I grew up a long way away in both Yorkshire and Nottingham, it still felt like the genre still had a big place in my heart and my imagination.

He’s an enigmatic legend really, a fearless survivor - but it must have been quite challenging to get into character, as it’s not like you could disappear down a YouTube rabbit hole and watch hours of video footage of him, as there is none, or recordings of his voice. So how did you prepare for the role?

There’s a certain pressure when you portray someone who has lived, to correctly do them justice, but with Billy, who lived over 200 years-ago, there were lots of books with accounts of him which I read, but there was no footage or radio. I think that gives you more freedom to play a little more and find your own version of him, and for me that meant trying to understand his physicality - this is someone who rides horses and lassoes cows every other day, and can handle himself in a fight with a gun, and also, growing up on the trail out to the West, with dust blowing in your face and your horse and wagon capsizing in the water - how does that all affect the way you walk and talk?

So I took a road trip out to New Mexico for six days, to his old stomping ground, and went to all the frontier towns that he lived in, and fought and died in, and eventually ended up at his grave site. It was a pilgrimage to pay homage to Billy, but also to start feeling it in my body, and to get a feel for who he was and the landscape he grew up in.

Did you have to learn to ride horses and shoot empty bean cans, or did you have stunt-doubles?

I didn’t ride before going into the process, I’ve ridden twice in my life and both were not great experiences! I love animals but I’ve never really had a chance to be around horses that much. So I have a friend who taught me to ride in upstate New York, and then when we went to Calgary in Canada to shoot, which is a very cowboy-centric place, we had a two-week cowboy bootcamp where we were taught to handle and be safe with guns, and we rode every day with the local cowboys, and ranchers — it eventually became second nature to me, so I was able to do about 90 percent of my stunts, which was awesome.

So do you feel like a horse whisperer now?

I do! I was trained very well by actual horse whisperers who endowed me with their wisdom, and Billy rides four or five different horses in this first season, so halfway through filming, one wrangler told me that when most people first begin riding, they learn on one or two horses and get used to their style. I learned to ride six different horses, each with its own distinct personality, like in the way it cantors or gallops, so I felt really immersed in it, and I was living and breathing it for the whole Summer.

Did you have any other secrets for getting into character? For example, chewing tobacco or squinting into the sun, too perfect your inner outlaw?

Ha! I kept a picture of Billy on my fridge in my air bnb, and would stare at it every morning before my pick up time, because he’s so magnetic and almost an oddball, he’s like an every man but also completely unique, in his quirks. I used to look at it and try and absorb his aura. I did try chewing tobacco and almost threw up! I also thought about Billy growing up on the plains with dust blowing in his face all the time, and how that would affect his voice, and imagined it would make it quite tight and gravely, so I built that into my character work.

There’s also a scene where the gang is all sat around a table ripping pieces off this big leg of beef and chewing, and I ripped a piece off and took a big bite and started to deliver my line, and I felt my jaw pop out! So I had lockjaw for the last four weeks of production! It was actually the only real injury anyone sustained on the show throughout filming, and it was beef-related and not horse related!

What has been the biggest difference between shooting the first and last episodes, have you really come into your own now, and do you think the second season will be harder, if there is one?

In terms of coming into my own, I got to grow with Billy as he grew, I came into the show in episode two which is where I took over from the young Billy, and we get to see him expand and watch and learn as the season unfolds. So it felt like I found the character organically in those first few episodes, and then when we hit episode four and five into six, I really found my stride and you can see me grow in confidence as Billy does. I think Season Two might take a bit of a turn, as he’s now willing to do whatever it takes, to do what he thinks is right, and he’s going to be less unsure and take the lead more, even if his decision might not always be the right one.

As we approach the season finale, do you have a favourite memory or moment that stands out to you?

There are so many, and there was a real camaraderie within the whole cast and crew, and we all became really close like a big family making this show over five months in Canada. The one moment that really stands out though is the first big day of riding, when myself and Daniel Webber [who plays Jesse Evans], spent seven or eight hours on horseback, rounding up cows while the sun was coming up, and it just felt so authentic, with 200 longhorn cattle riding in a stampede, and we had to round them up, and we felt like real cowboys! We both looked at each other, and thought wow, we get to live out our childhood dreams and get paid for them, and being a fan of Westerns growing up, it just felt a bit like destiny manifesting itself in a little way.

Westerns are having a bit of a resurgence in Hollywood, why do you think that is?

I think it’s partly to do with nostalgia for old Hollywood, which began with Westerns and that original storytelling. I also think there’s a nostalgia for the freedom of the genre, with these people going out into the world looking for a better life, which speaks to a lot of people now post-Covid, after almost three years of having our personal freedoms restricted. Now that things are opening up again, there is a wanderlust for life, which is very present in the Western genre.

Next up for you is the role of Coriolanus Snow, in the prequel of 'The Hunger Games', ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ - that role is quite similar to Billy the Kid, in that it’s another multi-layered character. What do you look for when you’re picking a role?

I’m always looking for multi-layered characters to play, I’m not interested in playing someone who is one kind of cliché, I became an actor to get a flavour for all parts of life.

The character of Coriolanus doesn’t start off bad, he’s quite a well intentioned young man who then loses his way and does some incredibly evil and maleficent things towards the end of his life. I’m interested in looking at how people go wrong and the psychology behind it, so I’m always looking for parts that subvert your expectations and surprise you, because I want to be surprised when I’m watching something.

So who are you acting idols?

I’ve been a big fan of Michael Fassbender for a long time, and would love to work with him, he just works with extreme specificity and class, and also Daniel Day-Lewis, although sadly he’s now retired, but he would’ve been great to work with.

You’ve often credited your late father, Gavin, who was a TV producer, for inspiring your interest in acting…

My parents were divorced, so it was such a big part of my childhood, travelling up to Leeds where he lived to see him every weekend and we spent most of the time watching movies, like ‘The Great Escape’. My Dad passed away when I was 14 years-old, so we never got to work together, as I was not acting then, but it’s definitely a motivator that keeps me passionate about it, as it’s been such a big cornerstone in my life since I was very young. I think there’s an aspect of carrying the mantel a little bit, as he was so passionate about this form of storytelling and endowed me with that.

He also produced one of British culture’s television institutions, Coronation Street! Did you get to go on set and meet Corrie’s acting legends?

I did yes! He introduced me to the cast and they were all great, and it’s funny when I think back, because the soap world is very different to the kind of TV I’m making now like Billy the Kid, so it’s interesting how the path diverged — but ultimately being on those sets was where I saw it was possible to do the thing you love for work.

Talking of all things British, let’s discuss tea. You played Archie Baldwin in The Gilded Age, and from what I’ve seen of it, they share a lot of secrets over tea. Now you’re based in NYC, do you miss a good old cuppa?

I do! I actually have a friend visiting at the moment and I asked them to bring me some tea, so I’ve just stocked up on a big batch of Yorkshire Tea, and I’m talking to you with a cup of it in front of me right now.

Let's have a proper brew as they say in Yorkshire. Where everything's done proper!

Keepin’ it real!

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Interview by Kate Lawson

Photography by Julian Ungano

Fashion by Dolly Pratt

Grooming by Joanna Ford