Brendan Gleeson
The “Calvary” Interview
with Kam Williams
Headline: It’s Gleeson Season!
Dublin-born
Brendan Gleeson is
a former teacher who left the profession to pursue a career in acting, his
first love. His rise to fame began when he appeared in Jim Sheridan's THE
FIELD, followed by a number of small roles in such films as FAR AND AWAY and
INTO THE WEST.
He
landed his first starring role in I WENT DOWN, which was followed by an
acclaimed outing in THE GENERAL. But it was his role as Hamish in BRAVEHEART
that brought him to the attention of Hollywood.
In
2009 Brendan was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for his work in
Martin McDonagh's IN BRUGES opposite Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes. That same
year, he won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the HBO
movie "Into the Storm."
His
screen credits also include PERRIER'S BOUNTY, GREEN ZONE, THE GUARD, SAFE HOUSE,
ALBERT NOBBS, THE VILLAGE, COLD MOUNTAIN, KINGDOM
OF HEAVEN, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO, TROY, BLACK IRISH, THE TIGER'S TAIL, BEOWULF, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2,
TAILOR OF PANAMA, COUNTRY OF MY SKULL, 28 DAYS LATER, GANGS OF NEW YORK and
several installments of the HARRY POTTER franchise. In just the last year, he’s
appeared in EDGE OF TOMORROW, THE GRAND SEDUCTION, and THE SMURFS 2.
Here,
he talks about his latest out as Father James Lavelle in Calvary,
a modern morality play written and directed by John Michael McDonagh.
Kam
Williams: Hi Brendan, thanks for the interview.
Brendan Gleeson: Not at
all, Kam. How are you?
KW:
Fine, thanks. I’ll be mixing in questions from fans with my
own. Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I have visited
the South of Ireland and loved it, including the capital, Dublin. What does it mean to you to advocate
for the Irish language, Gaelic?
BG:
Yeah, people often ask, why are you interested in the Irish
language when it’s dying? If your momma’s dying you wouldn’t want her to die
alone. So, I think the Irish language is a great gift, and it’s still hanging
in there, if people want it. It’s a connection to a long, rich, deep culture.
There’s 2,000 years of it. And when it’s lost, it’ll be gone for good. Those
doors are not going to be open anymore. I value it, and it’s up to everybody to
wise up about it. It’s not something I necessarily want to revive as the spoken
first language of the country. I just think it’s fantastic, and a great
cultural gift to have.
KW:
Patricia also asks: What message do you want people to take
away from the movie?
BG:
I don’t know. I think everybody has their own relationship
with this movie, which is the triumph of it, really. Different elements of it
access different people in different ways. From my point of view, I would hope
there’s a sense that the struggle is being carried on to maintain some life in
the world in whatever way that manifests itself, whether religiously,
spiritually, or just philanthropically, and that people are worth it in the
end. But I don’t know. There’s an awful lot of pain. One of the achievements of
this film is to make clear that child abuse is a life sentence. That it’s not
something you can just get over and forget after receiving an apology.
KW:
What was the difference in being directed by John Michael
McDonagh, whom you also worked with in The Guard, as opposed to being directed
by his brother, Martin, who directed you in In Bruges?
BG:
Not a whole lot, to be quite honest. They’re both very calm,
very assured, very prepared, and very cinematic in their thinking. They’re also
very actor-friendly and collaborative. So, I love working with either of them,
frankly. That’s not to say that they’re simply two sides of the same coin.
While they have similarities in their working style, their worlds are very
different.
KW:
Larry Greenberg asks: Brendan how hard was it to perfect that County
Sligo accent?
BG:
[LOL] I didn’t have to, because my character wasn’t from
there.
KW:
Patricia also asks: How would you describe your character in
Calvary, Father James Lavelle?
BG:
As somebody who believes the best, in spite of all the
evidence. [Laughs heartily] I just came up with that one. He’s someone who’s
committed to optimism, despite all evidence to the contrary. He insists on it.
And I think people need to know that that kind of struggle, and that kind of beauty,
and that kind of optimism is possible in the world, because we’ve got a lot of
cynicism confronting us everyday making it easy to feel that there’s nothing
worth believing in.
KW:
Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: Brendan, you have courageously tackled a controversial subject in Calvary. Are you concerned about any political blowback
you might receive from the Catholic Church as a consequence?
BG:
No, not at all.
KW:
Editor Lisa Loving says: This
movie looks incredibly heavy. Irish people have suffered a lot throughout world
history, have had front row seats to a lot of other peoples’ suffering – like
the Irish mariners ensnared in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade – not to mention
the Potato Famine, the Troubles, and the discrimination against Irish
immigrants in the United States in the 19th and part of the 20th
Century. There were also the horrible atrocities committed by Roman Catholic
nuns who ran the “homes” for unwed mothers and the orphanages in Ireland,
and the Church’s sex abuse silence. Do you feel that the Irish suffering serves
as a symbol of a universal aspect of the human experience in a way which resonates
with oppressed people of other cultures?
BG:
I would hope so. I would hope that while we made a movie
about faith, that it’s not necessarily only about Catholicism. And I’d also
hope that the notion of disillusionment wouldn’t be seen as the exclusive
province of the Irish. The context is the Irish landscape, and the Irish story
of the moment, with all of the treachery in terms of the spiritual, economic
and political leadership. There have been horrible shortcomings, with hurt and
pain being inflicted upon people. But I don’t think that’s exclusive to the
Irish. Many people find it difficult to believe in leadership anymore. What do
you replace it with, though? That’s kind of what the movie’s all about. The
idea of replacing flawed leadership with cynicism and despair isn’t a barrel of
laughs, either. So, I hope the film is thought-provoking in a generalized way
as opposed as to being read as simply specific to the Irish point-of-view.
KW:
Professor/Filmmaker/Author Hisani Dubose says: You have
played so many rich characters. Which one has been your favorite?
BG:
Comparisons are odious. So, I don’t really come out and put
one against the other. But this one might have been the most challenging. This
experience was certainly one of the top five in terms of recovery. It
definitely stayed with me and took a little while to get over this one. So, I
put Father Lavelle up there.
KW:
What actor did you admire
growing up?
BG:
I was very fond of Gene Hackman.
KW:
Kate Newell says: Brendan, I loved Calvary.
I hope you've written your
acceptance speech for the Oscars.
BG:
[Chuckles] No, I think we can leave that on the back burner.
Those expectations are awful because, if it doesn’t happen, then you suddenly
feel like a loser. By the same token, when you do happen to win something, I never
question it. I just take it at face value. But I hate the notion that there
would be losers associated with any production where great performances have
been recognized. I’d be honored if it happened, but I ain’t looking that far
down the road.
KW: Kate was also wondering whether you’ve been back to Belgium
since playing a hit man in In Bruges?
BG:
Back to Belgium,
yes, but not to Bruges.
I think I might find it difficult to walk through Bruges without having to stop quite often. At
some stage, I might like to go back since I had a great time there. But I think
I have to let it sit for a little bit.
KW:
Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Brendan, you’ve played
extraordinary fantasy roles and amazing biographical roles—thank you for
Mad-Eye Moody and Winston Churchill.
BG:
Cheers! Thank you, Harriet!
KW:
She asks: What’s the difference in preparing to inhabit a
role that doesn’t exist except in the fantasy world versus portraying an icon
that is already so clear in everyone’s mind?
BG:
Well, there’s a certain freedom in both that doesn’t accrue
to the other. The freedom in playing an historical figure is that you don’t
have to suspend disbelief. This stuff happened. As they say, “Truth is stranger
than fiction.” Otherwise, a lot of the time, you would have to work very hard
to convince people. For instance, who would think that after the Battle of Dunkirk
there could ever be a resurrection of the fortunes of the British in the Second
World War? But the fact that it did happen releases you from having to prove
it. It happened. And it can be incredibly interesting exploring how life can be
so extraordinarily surprising in that way, turning expectations on their head,
and trying to figure some version of how that might have happened, and how
people may have responded in the face of overwhelming odds like that. With a
fictional character, by contrast, you start with a blank canvas, you have the
truth of the imagination to guide you. And you can bring it anywhere you want.
They’re just different challenges, but they each have their own freedoms, as
well as their own limitations, if you like. I try to find the freedom possible
in each type of role, but in different ways.
KW:
Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake
you'd like to star in?
BG:
Does she mean a remake of one of my own films, or of other
films? I generally don’t like to do remakes. I don’t really want to second
guess any film that’s achieved what it set out to do. You need to have a
legitimate reason beyond just wanting to make money from a remake, like a
desire to bring a story to a broader audience. Regrettably, so many of them are
ill-advised. I just did a remake of The Grand Seduction, which was a whimsical
story set in Newfoundland.
I made an exception for this one even though it was, beat for beat, the same
story, because it was set in a different place where I’d never been, and I
wanted to find out more about Newfoundland.
KW:
Professor Dubose would like to know whether getting an independently-produced
Irish film like Calvary wide distribution in the U.S.
is dependent on having a prior connection to the Hollywood
film industry.
BG:
No, I don’t think there was any American money in this film
to begin with. What happens is you make your film, and then take it somewhere
like Sundance, where the distributors can discover it. Sometimes, it’s nicer to
have money from the very beginning, because that makes things easier. But the
path most independent films take is that they’re made first, and then they’re
sold.
KW:
The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book
you read?
BG:
An autobiography of boxer named Joe Egan that somebody sent
me. I read it very quickly because it was given to me.
Another one was “In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the
Whaleship Essex,” which I read as part of my research for the upcoming Ron
Howard film based on it.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what
do you see?
BG:
It depends on who I’m playing. [Laughs heartily again]
KW:
What is your favorite dish to cook?
BG:
Oh, I prefer not to cook anything.
KW:
What do you like to eat?
BG:
Almost anything you can imagine.
KW:
The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest
childhood memory?
BG:
Reading a little book that went, ”Mommy horse and daddy
horse are proud as they can be, because they have a baby horse and baby horse
makes three.” I remember saying, “That’s me!” I know I was three at the time.
KW:
The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?
BG:
Good roles, like this one in Calvary,
and making important films with people who know more than I do. That’s what
interests me now. I’ve done a lot of projects that need development where
there’s been inexperience involved, which I loved, but at this point in my
career, I want to work with people who allow me to learn.
KW: What advice do you have for
anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
BG:
Do it!
KW:
Thanks again for the time, Brendan, and best of luck with the
film.
BG:
Okay, Kam. Cheers! Thanks a lot.
