{"id":9109,"date":"2025-09-09T04:31:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T04:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/9109\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T04:31:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T04:31:06","slug":"living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/9109\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Living in Ireland helps with everything. Everyone feels like they\u2019ve known you forever\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cFame only becomes real through how people react to you,\u201d Robert Sheehan<\/a> says. \u201cI remember, during the pandemic, I was outside a pub in south Dublin<\/a> and a guy said, \u2018You\u2019re as big as Cillian Murphy<\/a> now.\u2019 And I thought, oh wow, wasn\u2019t expecting that \u2013 this is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see how that might have happened. Sheehan, still lean and charismatic in his mid-30s, has had a helter-skelter career. In Britain the Laois man gained early attention for his turn as a rent boy in Red Riding, the 2009 adaptation of David Peace\u2019s hard-boiled crime tetralogy, before scoring a Bafta nomination with his turn as the irreverent Nathan in the science-fiction romp Misfits.<\/p>\n

His performance as a hitman in Love\/Hate<\/a>, RT\u00c9\u2019s<\/a> hugely popular gangster epic, solidified his reputation in Ireland. His role as Klaus, a queer, drug-addicted clairvoyant, in Netflix<\/a>\u2019s The Umbrella Academy<\/a> was, however, another level up.<\/p>\n

Across four seasons the superhero show was watched by an estimated 45 million households. At conventions he\u2019s frequently approached by viewers who found Klaus\u2019s journey affirming and personally significant. It was a phenomenon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a strange one,\u201d Sheehan says. \u201cLove\/Hate made me very famous in Ireland \u2013 a microcosm of fame. But Umbrella Academy was global.\u201d<\/p>\n

We talk as he reacquaints himself with the art of malign kingship. Having previously played Richard III in Trevor Nunn\u2019s epic daylong production of War of the Roses \u2013 crafted from Shakespeare\u2019s Henry VI and Richard III \u2013 the actor and writer can currently be found terrorising the peoples of Hyrkania in the latest big-screen outing for Marvel Comics\u2019 Red Sonja.<\/p>\n

Sheehan has a ball playing the ruthless Emperor Dragan opposite Matilda Lutz\u2019s bikini-clad, sword-wielding heroine. <\/p>\n

\u201cI loved the idea of playing this kind of villain,\u201d Sheehan says. \u201cJust chewing up the sets and scenery, really having fun with it. The baddie is always a fun one to play. You can really add colour, abandon the moral compass, and go big.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was also interesting to be this supervillain who\u2019s cutting down swathes of fantastical forest, especially since I\u2019m always banging on about the environment online. That had a certain irony I liked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RobertRobert Sheehan as Klaus Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy. Photograph: Netflix <\/p>\n

Red Sonja\u2019s journey from page to screen has been fraught. First appearing in Marvel Comics in 1973 (inspired by the pulp characters of Robert E Howard, the Conan the Barbarian creator), she debuted on film in 1985, in an eponymous movie starring Brigitte Nielsen<\/a> and Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite a cult following, the film was a critical and commercial failure, stalling plans for sequels. Over subsequent decades, multiple reboot attempts faltered. In the 2000s Robert Rodriguez announced a version starring Rose McGowan, but it was scrapped after McGowan suffered nerve damage. <\/p>\n

Various directors, including The Expendables\u2019 Simon West and Bryan Singer, were later attached, but they left amid controversies, copyright tussles or production setbacks. Both Amber Heard and Hannah John-Kamen were linked with the title role before the British director MJ Bassett cast Lutz, the breakout star of Revenge, Coralie Fargeat\u2019s film from 2017, in this 2025 reboot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great fun,\u201d Sheehan says of the long-delayed action film. \u201cThe sets were beautifully built. Nu Boyana Film Studios, in Bulgaria, is great at that. We had smelly-looking peasants, full-size villages. There was even a whole set that didn\u2019t make it into the final film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red\u202fSonja, as scripted by Tasha Huo, the showrunner on Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, follows the titular gladiatrix from childhood, when her Hyrkanian village is destroyed, leaving the orphaned girl to climb trees and worship the forest goddess Ashera. <\/p>\n

Years later she encounters brutal mercenaries who butcher and capture animals for Dragan\u2019s gory spectacles. Attacking the interlopers in defence of the forest, she\u2019s captured and forced into the arena as a slave warrior, and well placed to lead a rebellion against the tyrannical ruler.<\/p>\n

Acting is spiritual in a way. It\u2019s about facing fear, letting go and seeing what emerges<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big muscular thing,\u201d Sheehan says. \u201cI had definitely heard of the 1985 movie through the cultural hive mind. I hadn\u2019t seen it. But I read the script, and I thought it was a really compelling example of a good-versus-evil, swords-and-sorcery movie. Fair play to MJ Bassett. She gave the film some class and a big emotional ending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though no great age, Sheehan can call himself a veteran, with film credits dating back to Song for a Raggy Boy, from 2003. He was born in Portlaoise to, unsurprisingly, a family supportive of creativity: his father was a Garda with a passion for literature; his brother Brendan is a builder and former Mr Ireland. <\/p>\n

Robert\u2019s mother played a key role in nurturing his early interest in acting, ferrying him to auditions in Dublin, Belfast and Waterford. His early exposure to music and performance included trips to Fleadhanna Cheoil and even a town-twinning visit to France at the age of 10 as part of a musical group. These formative experiences sparked his passion for performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a child it gave me this almost religious joy, making people laugh, getting a reaction. It was addictive,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s different now. Now I realise that seeking approval can\u2019t be the reason you act. It has to be about something deeper \u2013 discovery, surrender, exploration.<\/p>\n

\u201cActing is spiritual in a way. It\u2019s about facing fear, letting go and seeing what emerges. And when something genuine pops out unexpectedly, God, there\u2019s no better feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheehan has a complicated relationship with fame. While grateful for his opportunities, he has expressed discomfort with the lack of control celebrity brings, particularly the expectation to \u201cbe on\u201d in public spaces.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Robert Sheehan: \u2018I was a contrarian f**ker. I thought it made me seem more edgy\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI went through a period of rejecting that,\u201d he says. \u201cFame felt final and kind of scary. People were looking at me with a different energy: \u2018Quick, let\u2019s get a photo, he\u2019s current.\u2019 I had to remind myself: I\u2019ve worked for this all my adult life. Why am I suddenly afraid of it?<\/p>\n

\u201cMeditation really helped. Just sitting, letting those thoughts rise, helped me figure out why I was pushing it away. Now I\u2019ve found a balance. Fame doesn\u2019t feel like a social handicap any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheehan\u2019s move towards reflective contemplation has dovetailed with his diversifying into writing. His first book, Disappearing Act, was a collection of darkly comic stories showcasing, among other things, the imagined sex life of Medusa and the inner monologue of a garda with irreverent wit. <\/p>\n

His second book, Playing Dead: How Meditation Brought Me Back to Life, offers a disarming personal journey into meditation, a process that began during a difficult period while filming the 2018 thriller Bad Samaritan in Oregon. <\/p>\n

The memoir is a candid exploration of a destructive cycle that took in casual sex and excessive drinking. It also includes recollections of crying during a silent retreat in Bali and inner turmoil at a six-day retreat in Spain. <\/p>\n

In recent years Sheehan has traded his former addresses in London and Los Angeles for west Co Cork. It\u2019s a sort of homecoming. His mother is from the area, which was a long-standing holiday refuge for him before he relocated to Ballydehob.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving in Ireland helps with everything,\u201d he says. \u201cEveryone feels like they\u2019ve known you forever. I love that. I prefer when people just come up and say, \u201cAll right, Robert?\u201d instead of pretending not to notice you. That suits me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red Sonja is available on DVD and Blu-ray<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cFame only becomes real through how people react to you,\u201d Robert Sheehan says. \u201cI remember, during the pandemic,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,9570],"class_list":["post-9109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-red-sonja"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9109","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=9109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}