{"id":309527,"date":"2026-02-21T08:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/309527\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T08:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:48:09","slug":"when-i-go-through-passport-control-in-ireland-they-say-welcome-home-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/309527\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018When I go through passport control in Ireland they say welcome home\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Move over, Uncut Gems<\/a>: there\u2019s a hot new contender for the title of most stressful movie ever made. <\/p>\n

If I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You opens in a state of permanent anxiety. Beeps pierce the soundtrack. The camera crowds its central character. Mary Bronstein\u2019s film drops the audience not at the precipice of a breakdown but slap bang in the middle of a panic attack, subjecting viewers to the same sensory overload as its protagonist, played with queasy precision by Rose Byrne<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The movie kept this writer awake for two nights. No wonder the experience lingers for the woman at the centre of its maelstrom. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe film is still unravelling for me,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of never happened to me before. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so great to see it with an audience. I keep learning new things about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a remarkable second feature from Bronstein, the director of the critically acclaimed Yeast, a grungy comedy from 2008 featuring a young Greta Gerwig. (Bronstein is also half of this year\u2019s coolest Oscar couple: her husband, Ron Bronstein, is one of the writers of the Academy Award-nominated Marty Supreme<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Byrne is a fan. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe screenplay was incendiary,\u201d the Australian powerhouse says of If I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You. \u201cThe film really defies genre. It is extraordinary what you see on the screen: beautiful, with Lynchian ideas, the existential themes she\u2019s toying with, the horror tropes, and the comedy set pieces. The hamster in the film is described like Jack Nicholson from The Shining banging through the wall. It has purely dramatic sequences and comedy set pieces. It was a script of reveals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrne\u2019s Oscar<\/a>-nominated turn justifiably makes her Jessie Buckley<\/a>\u2019s nearest rival in the best-actress category. Both stars took home awards from the Golden Globes, Buckley for best actress in a drama, Byrne for best actress in a musical or comedy. One got a slight sense that the critics had forgotten how good Byrne could be.<\/p>\n

She has always had the aura of a proper movie star, but perhaps not everyone appreciated the full measure of her acting chops. She walked away from Berlin International Film Festival with the Silver Bear for best leading performance. Previous winners include Gena Rowlands, for Opening Night, and, jointly, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep, for The Hours.<\/p>\n

\"IfIf I Had Legs I’d Kick You: Rose Byrne in Mary Bronstein’s film <\/p>\n

\u201cI was so emotional about winning the Silver Bear,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cI honestly couldn\u2019t believe it. I\u2019m not very well versed in that world \u2013 it\u2019s not really my wheelhouse \u2013 so I felt very speechless when it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Byrne has form. A full 25 years ago she won the Volpi Cup for best actress at Venice International Film Festival, for her role in Clara Law\u2019s Aussie drama The Goddess of 1967. She has been playing the long game.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, Byrne was marked down as a very early contender for the best-actress Oscar. She edged out Buckley at the New York Film Critics Circle, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle, delivering funny, unpretentious speeches all the way. <\/p>\n

At the Golden Globes she was down to earth in characteristically Australian fashion. \u201cThanks to my mum and dad, who bought Paramount+ so they could watch the Golden Globes from Sydney,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I\u2019d like to thank my husband, Bobby Cannavale<\/a>, who couldn\u2019t be here because we are getting a bearded dragon, and he went to a reptile expo in New Jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

She certainly deserves a dragon. She exercises every acting muscle as Linda, a therapist and mother who is barely holding her life together. The intersection between existential dread and frantic school runs has never been so carefully articulated.<\/p>\n

\u201cMary has been saying to audiences, sometimes beforehand, \u2018Think about the worst thing that\u2019s ever happened to you in your life, like your worst trauma,\u2019\u201d Byrne says of Bronstein. \u201cAnd then think about the worst thing that\u2019s happened to you today. That could be you stubbing your toe or spilling your coffee. That\u2019s where this movie exists. It\u2019s the school run and work and all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IfIf I Had Legs I’d Kick You: Conan O’Brien and Rose Byrne in Mary Bronstein’s film <\/p>\n

Shot in just under a month, the production demanded constant emotional escalation. That pressure compelled an impeccable ensemble cast \u2013 including ASAP Rocky<\/a>, Christian Slater<\/a> and a revelatory Conan O\u2019Brien<\/a> \u2013 to connect with method-acting energies.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy adrenaline was so high doing the film,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cIt was very quick and it was a high-wire act, just finding the comedy, finding the nuance, finding the horror. Both horror and comedy are all about timing. I was constantly working with Mary to make sure the character wasn\u2019t one note \u2013 or just hysterical \u2013 because she starts deep, deep, deep in the crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The character\u2019s unspooling had to remain intelligible even as it intensified. That can make for a white-knuckle experience. Linda\u2019s daughter\u2019s name is never revealed, and her face isn\u2019t shown until the final scene. The ceiling of the family\u2019s home collapses, leaving a gushing and mysterious hole that necessitates relocation to a hotel, where Linda becomes increasingly dependent on wine. There\u2019s even a runaway hamster.<\/p>\n

Drawing on her own home life helped. She and Cannavale have been together since 2012 \u2013 she calls him her husband, but \u201cwe just haven\u2019t gone to the courthouse yet\u201d, she told the Washington Post a few months ago \u2013 and Byrne has been juggling acting with motherhood since 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe movie is the character,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m pretty grounded. I have two small kids, and they\u2019re very grounding. Taking care of them after a long day helps. But it was disorienting, to say the least, when we finished this movie. It was weirdly shocking. Like a car crash.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RoseRose Byrne in Savannah, Georgia. Photograph: Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Few actors could pull off the demands of If I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You. But few actors could match Byrne\u2019s effortless swerves from Hollywood franchises \u2013 Peter Rabbit, Star Wars: Insidious \u2013 to the forensic legal thrills of the TV series Damages and, on stage, the heavy lifting of Chekhov\u2019s Three Sisters and Euripides\u2019 Medea. <\/p>\n

Fewer still combine the top acting prizes at both the Berlin and Venice film festivals with the MTV Movie Award for WTF moment.<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Sydney, Byrne landed her first professional roles in her teens. <\/p>\n

\u201cI fell into it at a really young age, doing classes, and just really loved it,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I wasn\u2019t sure how to do it as a job. Even when that happened, I definitely went through a period of, Did I just want to do this because I started when I was young, or do I want to do this because I love it?\u201d<\/p>\n

She is convincing as an American. Just watch her bumbling with Seth Rogen<\/a> in the hit Apple TV comedy Platonic, but her sense of national identity remains unshakeable.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing Australian is a huge part of my identity,\u201d Byrne says.<\/p>\n

\"Platonic:Platonic: Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen <\/p>\n

Breakthrough came with a stirring turn opposite Brad Pitt in Wolfgang Petersen\u2019s epic Troy, from 2004. She arrived as part of the same Aussie wave that brought Kidman, Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett to Hollywood. Margot Robbie and Chris Hemsworth followed in her wake.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started there was much more of a stepladder process. You usually worked in Australia first, tried to establish yourself, and then hoped to move internationally,\u201d she says. \u201cNow people finish school and head straight to LA or London or wherever they\u2019re trying to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love discovering new Australian talent, and, of course, I love my countrymen. There\u2019s always a sense of intimacy with Australians, because it\u2019s such a small population, and an even smaller acting community. I definitely benefit from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sense of belonging extends to Ireland. \u201cI have such an Irish name in Ireland,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I go through passport control they say, \u2018Welcome home.\u2019 And, even better, I\u2019ve never had to spell my name there. That alone is such a joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrne\u2019s early American career was shaped by drama, particularly Damages, which established her in the United States as a formidable screen presence. She has a special reverence for Glenn Close<\/a>, her costar on that show.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was just such a diligent performer and so obsessed with the material and the character,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cYou don\u2019t see the homework, but you feel the lived-in nature of her performances.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was so lucky. Among my early mentors was Paul Feig, who just reveres women in comedy,<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Rose Byrne<\/p>\n

She found a wider audience and a particular knack for comedies under the tutelage of the director Paul Feig<\/a> and the producer Judd Apatow<\/a>. No one has worn a wig to more hysterical effect than Byrne channelling every Bond villain opposite Melissa McCarthy and Jason Statham in Spy, from 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a natural comedian, but I try,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019d longed to do comedy for a while. I\u2019d always been limited to being seen as a serious actor. The imaginative quality you have as a child, derived from joy and humour, doing comedy later returned me to that place. When the stakes are high it\u2019s such a great stage for something funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bridesmaids:Bridesmaids: Rose Byrne with Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kristen Wiig and Ellie Kemper in Paul Feig’s 2011 film. Photograph: Suzanne Hanover\/Universal <\/p>\n

The raucous hen-party romp Bridesmaids, a colossal hit in 2011, opened the door to a run of studio comedies \u2013 Get Him to the Greek, Bad Neighbours, Spy \u2013 that, helped by Byrne\u2019s sharp presence, came to define a particular era of Hollywood film-making. They are, alas, the sort of pictures Hollywood doesn\u2019t make any more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat space for the mid-range-budget comedy, with an ensemble, is gone,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was our thing. And it breaks my heart. The audience for those films is obvious. Women love going to those movies \u2013 and always have. That\u2019s a huge audience to be missing out on financially. I\u2019m still hoping that comedy can make a comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those productions offered, aside from fine entertainment, a great space for female performers to stretch out and hone their talents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so lucky. Among my early mentors was Paul Feig, who just reveres women in comedy,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I got to do Bridesmaids with him, and Spy. To be in creative conversations with the great Maya Rudolph<\/a> and Kristen Wiig<\/a> and Melissa McCarthy<\/a>? I can\u2019t believe I got to be in that group of women.\u201d<\/p>\n

As studio comedy has receded, Byrne\u2019s career has shifted towards prestige television and longer-form storytelling. She\u2019s compelling as a 1980s housewife finding herself through aerobics across three seasons of Physical (which she also produced), another Apple TV show. She\u2019s the best thing in Platonic. She\u2019s unflappable and complex as the groundbreaking feminist Gloria Steinem<\/a> in the miniseries Mrs America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to have a pint with Gloria Steinem,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cNot my version, but the real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She will soon return to a courtroom for The Good Daughter, a TV adaptation of the bestselling Karin Slaughter novel. In March she\u2019ll segue from a busy awards season to the Broadway revival<\/a> of No\u00ebl Coward\u2019s play Fallen Angels. <\/p>\n

\u201cActing has to be intuitive,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cWhen it becomes too cerebral, then it doesn\u2019t work. No matter what the role, it\u2019s all about the feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

If I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You is in cinemas from Friday, February 20th<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Move over, Uncut Gems: there\u2019s a hot new contender for the title of most stressful movie ever made.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6822,78384,145259,56380,93,631,5120,145261,61,60,312,62437,31014,128772,145260,21564,32353,6924],"class_list":{"0":"post-309527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-asap-rocky","9":"tag-bobby-cannavale","10":"tag-christian-slater","11":"tag-conan-o-brien","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-for-you","14":"tag-glenn-close","15":"tag-gloria-steinem","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-jessie-buckley","19":"tag-judd-apatow","20":"tag-kristen-wiig","21":"tag-maya-rudolph","22":"tag-melissa-mccarthy","23":"tag-paul-feig","24":"tag-rose-byrne","25":"tag-seth-rogen"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}