New Downton Abbey star Tom Cullen learns how to live like a lord Tom Cullen makes his debut in Downton Abbey on Sunday night, as Lord Gillingham, a suitor for the widowed Lady Mary. The dashing actor says Julian Fellowes, a Conservative member of the Lords, has been giving him a taste of life as a peer. "When I got the part, Julian took me to the House of Lords for lunch and he was the loveliest guy," Cullen tells Mandrake. We talked about my character Lord Gillingham and the history and politics, and we talked about life and everything. I think he wanted me to see the world in which my character would have been involved in. Cullen, 28, who was named in 2011 on the Screen International Stars of Tomorrow list alongside Alexandra Roach and Douglas Booth, adds: "It was really great for me, because I am just a kid from Cardiff in Wales. I am not from a posh background, and it was wonderful for me to see how the other world operates. I was very intimidated being at the House of Lords. I was very aware of what I was doing and who might have been watching us.