Tim McMullan says a supervisor at Rada told him he would never be cast as anything because of his eyes. The remark landed early, but it did not stop him building nearly four decades of stage work and landing his first lead TV role as Atticus Pünd in Marble Hall Murders.
“One of the supervisors happened to be next to me on the Tube. She said, ‘A piece of advice – you’ve got a nice voice, so maybe think about radio? I don’t think acting is for you. You’ll never be cast as anything, because of your eyes’.” McMullan said his eyes appear semi-closed because of a genetic condition, a detail that makes the old advice look less like criticism than a failed forecast.
Marble Hall Murders and Atticus Pünd
Marble Hall Murders is McMullan’s third outing as Atticus Pünd in Anthony Horowitz’s mystery-within-a-mystery series. The run began in 2022 with Magpie Murders and was followed two years later by Moonflower Murders, with Lesley Manville playing Susan Ryeland. In business terms, three outings is the point where a role stops being an experiment and becomes part of the franchise’s identity.
McMullan said the casting came after Tim Spall was originally Atticus Pünd but left because of scheduling issues. He had already worked on Foyle’s War with Anthony Horowitz and Jill Green, and then received seven missed calls from his agent before being asked how soon he could get to Ireland for the role.
Nearly four decades on stage
Nearly four decades of stage work and more than a dozen appearances at the National Theatre give the old Rada comment an especially narrow shelf life. McMullan did not fade into the margins; he kept working, and the industry eventually found a place where his face, voice and timing mattered more than the note that once tried to close the door.
That contrast is sharpened by the character itself. Atticus Pünd is a creation of Alan Conway, and McMullan said, “What I love about him is how he comes to life in Susan’s imagination, but he has a wonderful self-knowledge; he knows he’s only going to last as long as there’s someone to write him.” The role has become the clearest proof that the early verdict was wrong.
After the third series
“I don’t know, but I hope not,” McMullan said when asked whether Pünd will sign off after this third series. “It’s not my call. That’s an actor’s life.” That is the immediate open question for viewers and for the series itself: whether Marble Hall Murders is the final appearance of Atticus Pünd, or simply the latest chapter in a run that has already outlived a damaging bit of advice.
