Calvin Evans in Lessons in Chemistry

A brilliant, prickly chemist who falls in love with a woman the world refuses to take seriously — Pullman's most acclaimed television role.

In Apple TV+'s Lessons in Chemistry (2023), Pullman plays Calvin Evans, a celebrated chemist at Hastings Research Institute whose romance with Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) is the series' emotional spine. Calvin is difficult in the way real brilliant people are difficult — exacting, private, uninterested in social games — and Pullman plays him without sanding the edges off. The role earned the series some of its warmest notices and put Pullman in the awards conversation alongside Larson.

Why it stands out in his filmography

Most of Pullman's screen work before this was film. Lessons in Chemistry proved he could carry a prestige limited series as a co-lead, across a full emotional arc rather than a single scene-stealing turn. It is also the role that best shows his range to audiences who only know him from blockbusters: no uniform, no superpowers, just a person.