Gabriel Byrne plays Tom, the central figure in Miller's Crossing. Tom is something of an enigma, at once a hero and a villain, a cold and calculating politician who can suddenly follow his heart.

The Irish-born actor began his acting career with Dublin's Abbey Theatre. He made his film debut in John Boorman's Excalibur and has continued to work in theatre while acting in films. Since Miller's Crossing, American audiences have seen him in such films as Cool World, Usual Suspects, and The Man in the Iron Mask.

Quotes from Gabriel Byrne on Miller's Crossing:

• "When I read the script out loud to myself, I said, 'My God, this could have been written by somebody from Dublin!'" When Byrne met the Coen brothers, he proposed playing the character with his accent.
  "We were skeptical," recalls Joel, "but we said, 'Fine, go ahead, try it.' He did it and we liked the way it sounded."

• "All through the picture, Tom is battling with the idea of love and the idea of giving himself to another person. The turning point for Tom is at Miller's Crossing - Bernie gets through to his heart and he lets go. From then on everything goes haywire, and he determines never again to be ruled by his heart."

• "The language is really beautiful. It's a joy to listen to-like going to a really great play."

• Joel Coen on the character Tom, "He's the quintessential Hammett guy. You're not let in on how much he knows and what esactly he's up to. He tests the other characters to see what they want and uses that to his advantage."
  Ethan Coen adds, "He's got principles and interest, and I don't think he's a pure man."

• Unit manager Ron Neter on Tom's hat, "The hat really becomes a big symbol in the film. Every time Tom gets knocked down, the hat falls off, and people are always handing it back to him." Five identical hats were made for Byrne to wear during the filming, but another "generic" one was used for the opening shot of the credits: a hat blowing away from the camera across a field, which was filmed at high speed using a special lightwieght hat that could be controlled with a fishing line. This shot, the last to be filmed, "was one of the first images we wrote," according to Ethan. "The idea of the hat blowing away in the woods, without really knowing how it was supposed to fit in." Unlike the other image of thugs in the woods, this one was left unexplained and floating free of any plot connection, except for a dream Tom describes at one point to Verna.