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Home , Domhnall Gleeson

Sunday Business Post-Magazine Circulation: 34322 Sunday, 4 May 2014 Area of Clip: 258900mm² Page: 1,24,25 Page 1 of 3

Ireland'scultural a !@ magazinewith full 7-day TV listings Sunday Business Post-Magazine Circulation: 34322 Sunday, 4 May 2014 Area of Clip: 258900mm² Page: 1,24,25 Page 2 of 3

ARTSInterview

DomhnallGleeson long ago emerged from his fatherBrendan's shadow, and having just landeda rolein the next Starrises Wars movie, the worldis now the -born actor's oyster Words:Nadine O'Regan Pictures:Brendan Duffy Domhnall Gleesonis a likeable sort.As he bouncesinto theroom wearing studenty Ata glance jeansand jumper, tattered DomhnallGleeson on ... Converse,a readysmile and an oddbowl haircut straight ... his time as BillWeaseley in Harry fromthe 1950s,he easilystrides past the Potter giantposter of his famousfather Brendan I lovedall the peoplein that - It was a good Gleesonin TheGuard, hanging on one groupof people.There'snot anyof them that wall,before he settleshimself into a chair, I'dbe textingback and forth,but as soon as checksthat his phone is off,cheerfully admits youread about anybody, or see something to a hangoverfrom the weekend ("I that anyoneis in, it makesyou feel good. don'tknow how those pictures went," he laughs,alluding to the posinghe's just done ... his schooldays in thegarden for ourphotographer), and I had toughtimes at school,the same as politelyasks if I'd likesome coffee. anybody.1was self-conscious. It's difficult We'reat theheadquarters of Element to expressyourself as a teenager.But I had Pictures,just besidethe banks of the leafy goodfriends all the waythrough. canalin Dublin4, andGleeson's here to discussFrank, his new Element Pictures ... his newfilm Frank filmwith and Maggie I'mincredibly proud of the workwe did on Gyllenhaal,and directed by LennyAbrahamson. it. I understandthat it won'tbe foreveryone, Well,that's the thinking anyway, becauseit's strange,but I wouldreally like butthese days you could conceivably interview peopleto see it Gleesonabout four or fivenew movies, ... his charitywork for FrancisHospice suchis his increasinglyglitzy schedule. in , Althoughhe lookscompletely relaxed, Wewere hoping to raise€10,000 and we Gleesonhas just comeoff the Enniscorthy raised€70,000 forthe hospice.But that's setof ,the forthcomingadaptation onlya weekof the hospicebeing run. I think of thehit ColmToibin novel. (He'll we'lldo somethingagain to raisemoney spendthe interviewswatting back the unflattering early next year. The hospice was the one that "Whattime is Zaraopen until?" at homeposing for pictures with fans. After 1950shaircut they've given him.) I sawdeliver a sliceof pureheaven, at a Later,he'll mentionin passingthat he thefilm, Fassbender and Gleeson josh He'sabout to announcethat he has been timewhen life was absolutelyshit for people neversees Google alerts directing him to good-naturedlyas Dave Fanning asks them castin thenew : Episode VII that I loved.Ifs a goodidea to get in when internetcommentary about himself or his questionsfor a publicinterview - Gleeson film,which begins shooting in a matterof youcan makea difference.They rely on the films,because he doesn'tuse Gmail. "I'm in a freshpair of Conversewith a skinny weeks,which means he'll be arrivingwith community,and theyneed to openmore a fortunateman," he grins.Does he really blacktie, lookingart-school cool, while HarrisonFord and Carrie Fisher onto our hospices.It mattersa lot. wantto knowwhat people are saying? Fassbenderin his leatherjacket is more screens,a featcausing Irish Star Wars fans I wonder."What are people saying?!" he thana littlereminiscent of TomCruise in to fairlyburst with pride on his behalf. saysin mock-alarm,before laughing. "Oh his TopGun days. If thatweren't enough, Gleeson also recently God!" Bothstay for the after-partyat the Light finishedfilming Unbroken, the directorialthe international stage. Althoughhe mightbe self-deprecating, Housecinema, mingling happily with a studiodebut of . How Mindyou, he makesfor an unconventional underestimate Gleeson at yourperil. He has bevyof Irishmusicians, including Villagers, wasshe to workwith? "Angelinawas .. moviestar. Pale-skinned with a strongpresence as wellas a subtle,waggish HamSandwich and Lisa Hannigan. If ." Gleesonpauses. Unnerving? I proffer, thinnishframe, small eyes and carrot-red intelligencewhich comes as a reliefto any thehipster count is offthe chart- theratio thinkingof heralien-like good looks. "No!" hair,he doesn'thave the typical rugged interviewerwho's sat through tedious engagements of beards to non-beardsis so extremeone he laughs."She was amazing. She makes Hollywood-friendlylook of Irishactors withdim-wattaged Hollywood observercompares it to anAmish convention everyoneat homereally quickly." suchas ColinFarrell or LiamNeeson. thoroughbreds. - it's perfectlyappropriate to thefilm's It's a measureof Gleeson'srapid ascent Amiableand down to earth,in many He canblend easily into the background themes. andcomparative ease in the spotlightthat wayshe's stillthe self-consciousyoung of filmswhen required, but if the spotlight Writtenby JonRonson, Frank - inspired theseare the kinds of majorleague roles studentwho studied media arts in DIT and shineson him for a leadrole - as it didwith by thereal story of Englishpunk-rocker he'snow capable of commanding.Yes, he's plannedto go intofull-time writing and editing Tom Hall's Sensation or About Time - he FrankSidebottom, who died in 2010- offers stillmost commonly tagged as Brendan forfilm. He livesquietly in Dublin, hasan understatedmagnetism and charisma. an intimatelook at lifein an alternative Gleeson'sson, but having already had his hangsout with his girlfriend,and doesn't art-rockband fronted by mentallyill fingerscut off in the CoenBrothers' True takehimself or hisjob too seriously."I'm Threedays after this interview, Gleeson outsiderFrank (Fassbender), who insists Grit,and dallied with Rachel McAdams for goingto needto buya fuckingsuit!" he willstand on thered carpet at thepremiere on wearing a plasterhead at alltimes, even a starringrole in RichardCurtis's About callsto thepublicist when she asks him of Frankwith Michael Fassbender in the shower(he puts a plasticbag on it). Time,Gleeson has very much made it onto aboutpick-up times for the Frank premiere. anddirector , perfectly Wemeet the band,unpronounceably named

24 MagazineMay 4 2014 TheSunday Business Post Sunday Business Post-Magazine Circulation: 34322 Sunday, 4 May 2014 Area of Clip: 258900mm² Page: 1,24,25 Page 3 of 3

ARTSINTERVIEW I DomhnallGleeson: 'You want to I continueto grow and challenge 1 yourself' XTRACT andhe's written as unpredictable.But in \ theroom you want to stepit up a notch. n Michaelwas like, 'I wantit to be okayif I giveyou a smack.We don't call cut, you gowith it'. Youdo all thispreparation, so whenyou're ready, you go apeshit.Everybody hasdifferent energies, you're all bouncingoff each other." It's thekind of unpredictableenvironment Gleesonappears to relish.Growing up in Malahide,he camefrom a familyof filmnerds - fromhis grandparentsdown, whowould spend much of theirtime assessing whatmade a filmwork. "Thecinema was a massivetreat," he DirectedFrankby Lenny Abrahamson says."Those days were brilliant, and you couldfeel an angerif a filmwasn't good. I remember,in the car cominghome, there Jon[Domhnall Gleeson] wasa realsense of frustrationwhen a film didn'tdo it." to camera:Prank wants Gleesonand his siblingswould make us to start everything filmsin their bedrooms - "You'ddestroy fromscratch. He's theroom trying to makeyour tiny little film,"he laughs. createdan entiretynew At 19,he gothis breakin theMartin McDonagh musical notation playThe Lieutenantof Inishmore system.We've designed in 'sWest End. Roles in Perrier's Bounty,Harry Potter (as Bill Weaseley) and ourown instruments. He NeverLet Me Go followed,even as he continued has initiatedthe strict to workon his ownwriting material regimeof physical - he hassince made the shortfilms Noreen andWhat Will Survive of Us.Still, he retains exercise- fortunately a slightair of wonderabout the path wehave a safeword for his lifehas taken. WhenGleeson won the Rising Star whenthings get too awardat theIFTAs a fewyears back, his Intense;'chinchilla*. it's fathercollected the gongfor him and wryly incredible- Frank finds commentedthat he toowas a littlesurprised bythe award, considering how difficult Inspirationin it wasto persuadeDomhnall out of everything*How does he bedin the mornings."Yeah, thanks, Dad!" dothis? §f I'm to grow Gleesonlaughs when I mentionit now. There'sa lotthat Gleeson avoids discussing: as an artist,i mustsee he'sthe kind of guywho delivers as he sees, I dedicate morein asidesthan he doesin straightahead myselfto learninghis comments.But he hasbecome more comfortabledescribing his fatherover the secret,And i willnot let years,even as his ownstar has continued anybodyget inmy way, , to rise."Dad wasn't full-time acting until he wasthree years older than I amnow," he howeverdesperately says,"and as far as I'm concerned,he's doing theymay try., I mmmore his bestwork now, in his 50s." convincedthan ever i Recently,the pair worked together on i | : Calvary,helmed by TheGuard director thatthis band,whether f J JohnMichael McDonagh, in whichGleeson theyrealise it or not, I"' seniorgives a mesmerisingperformance couldachieve as a priestwho is informedthat he willsoon be murderedby oneof hisparishioners. greatness, and I will Theyounger Gleeson makes a short workto takemy place appearancein the filmas convictedserial at its veryheart, I wili Soronprfbs,when their keyboardist is desperatelyand a gigat the SouthBy SouthWest festival killerprisoner Freddie, sharing screen tryingto drownhimself off the to makeit big. timewith his father. "It wasone day, but I showthem what I am pier. Themovie isn't entirely successful — wasincredibly excited to be in thefilm," capableof, I willshow Thehapless, talentless office drone Jon thereare some awkward tonal shifts between he says. them. (playedby Gleeson)is recruitedto join comedyand pathos - butit feels Didhe andhis fatherdiscuss the parts thegang as a replacementon synths, even originaland fresh, with strong performances much? thoughFrank is theonly one who appears throughout. "Westarted having conversations about to likehim - sullenpercussionist Nana "Thefirst time I readthe script,I was thepart a fewweeks beforehand, and then isn't"- andhe's at hismost engaged when (CarlaAzar), volatile theramin-player Clara like:'Get me an audition',"says Gleeson. it becameclear that our ideaswere slightly chattingabout the artof acting. (MaggieGyllenhaal) and French-speaking "It wasso funny.But I wasalmost worried different,about what the scenewas about, Havingplayed the romantic lead in bassplayer Baraque (Francois Civil) - becauseof thehumour of thepage but,for the first time, rather than just followingAbout Time by - theman areuniformly suspicious of him."Maggie's - whenI readit, I waslike, this is funny myfather's advice, we kindof said: responsiblefor Four Weddings And A Funeral characterhates me, everybody hates me," as hell,but I've no ideahow to sayit and 'I'll seeyou on the day'. - therewas a lotof mediachatter that Gleesonsays. makeit work." "Wedidn't talk for a coupleof weeksbeforehand, Gleeson might be thenext . Soon,they're off on a weekendto record Wasplaying opposite Fassbender a problem, whichwould be veryunusual -1 "ButI've onlydone that once," he quickly theiralbum - a weekendthat turns consideringthat Gleeson could only talkto myfather all the time.It wasa very protests.In an idealworld, he adds,he intomonths as they sequester themselves seehis plastic, expression-less head? "No. strangeatmosphere. I'd beenfilling my wouldcontinue to workas a chameleonic in a remotecabin, recording bird and plant Michaelreally inhabited the thing. It wasn't headwith awfiil things, challenging myself, kindof actor,never being pigeon-holed, noises. likehe stoppedexpressing himself. He can andthen we didthe scene,and I wastrying evenif it meantsacrificing movie star ideals. WhileFassbender plays the lead, it's giveaway a lotwith his voice, and with to manipulatehim, and it waslike a fight.It Gleesonwho acts as ourguide, offering a physicalactivity. As much as hewanted to wasan amazing day." "Notto beknown as theguy who does friendlyhand-holding presence as he introducesgive away, he gaveaway." Gleesonmight be a jovialtype, but he's thatone thing, that for me would be great. us to thestrange world of the band, Abrahamsonallowed the cast a remarkablevery serious about his acting.He watches Youwant to continueto growand challenge andexplains - in a drylywritten commentary amountof freedomin theirinterpretation himself back to learnhow to betterhimself yourself.You aspire to do goodwork whichachingly illustrates why he of theroles. "When it cameto the - "OftenI'll seedifferent cuts, different continually.And I don'tknow how it's shouldbe in marketingrather than music film,there was an elementof chaos,"Gleeson iterationsof a film.Seeing it withan audiencegoing to go.I haven'ta breeze.But that's whyhe thinks they need Twitter, YouTube says."Frank has to be unpredictable, youknow what's working and what whatyou aspire to."

The Sunday BusinessPost May4 2014 Magazine25