After getting his start playing the son of Captain Hook, Thomas Doherty has mastered the ever-expanding TV thriller genre. You last saw the Scottish heartthrob giving off-Broadway a spin as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors and sharing the screen with Sterling K. Brown in the Hulu post-apocalyptic political drama Paradise.
Name an influence of yours that might surprise people.
Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now. I would love to meet him and thank him for getting me through tough times, and I aspire to possess even a fraction of his peace and contentment. I highly recommend everyone YouTube him and listen to his teachings.
What’s your greatest virtue?
I’ve never been asked this about myself, so I had to really sit for a second in quiet and try to let the answer reveal itself. It didn’t. So I asked my nearest and dearest, and the common thread with them all was “my desire to see and uplift people,” which felt really special because the people I hold dear in my heart are people I truly can’t believe are in my life. I have such respect, love, and tremendous admiration for them. It meant a lot knowing that I too seemed to be contributing something positive in their lives.
Where do you feel most at home?
New York is home. I’ve been so fortunate to have lived in a bunch of wonderful countries and cities. But there’s no place quite like New York, and I am truly blessed to have some of the most beautiful friends here.
What question do you ask yourself most often while you’re making work?
Am I being truthful or acting?
What do you think is your biggest contribution to culture?
I hope I can say I contribute culturally with kindness. I love acting. It’s always felt inseparable from me, and I pray I get to continue this journey of creativity and expression. But ultimately the “mark” I wish to leave is to be an example of understanding and compassion. Without love, we’re doomed as a culture, and that is priority number one.
What’s been the hardest part of your career so far?
For me, it’s uprooting everything and leaving for months at a time. But I also love that part. So I don’t have an answer it seems.
To read more from the 2026 CULT100 honorees, see the full list here.
in your life?
