{"id":754469,"date":"2026-08-30T10:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T10:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/754469\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T10:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T10:34:18","slug":"domhnall-gleeson-my-life-in-ireland-means-too-much-to-me-its-no-sacrifice-to-live-here-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/754469\/","title":{"rendered":"Domhnall Gleeson: \u2018My life in Ireland means too much to me. It\u2019s no sacrifice to live here\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Domhnall Gleeson<\/a> is a natural at this. It\u2019s hard not to think of him as a shiny-faced newcomer, but it is, astonishingly, 20 years since he received a Tony nomination for his performance on Broadway in Martin McDonagh<\/a>\u2019s play The Lieutenant of Inishmore. <\/p>\n

Five or six years later he had achieved the enviable status of front-rank unavoidability. Bill Weasley in Harry Potter. General Hux in Star Wars<\/a>. Prominent roles in Brooklyn, The Revenant and Richard Curtis\u2019s About Time. You couldn\u2019t move for Gleesonia.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s he doing right now?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in London, at the Langham hotel, doing a day of press for The Incomer,\u201d he says in his amiable way. \u201cAnd I was on The One Show last night. So that was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was indeed on the BBC\u2019s easy-going early-evening magazine. With the Countdown boffin Susie Dent, no less. Now that\u2019s class.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have that in Ireland as well, don\u2019t we? Just those mad mixes of shows. But that was good fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have noted that Gleeson \u2013 son of Brendan<\/a>, of course \u2013 works a lot, but what matters more is that the material remains interesting. Louis Paxton\u2019s The Incomer is a case in point. This debut Scottish feature casts our star as a mid-level government official tasked with removing two demented siblings from an isolated island north of the much-feared \u201cmainland\u201d. <\/p>\n

There is a lot of gentle comedy in the piece. An icy seam of folk horror also runs through it.<\/p>\n

It turns out that Gleeson was at Dublin Institute of Technology with the producer.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Incomer: Domhnall Gleeson in his new film. Photograph: Anthony Dickenson <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really media arts,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd loads of people from my class went on to have really, really great careers in film and broadcasting and TV and all the rest of it. And one of those people is the producer of this film, Shirley O\u2019Connor. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to hang out in college all the time. We used to have fun Fridays \u2013 and she was just the best person ever. It\u2019s that mad thing where somebody says, \u2018Will you read this script?\u2019 And you never know how that\u2019s going to go. And this was just super.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Domhnall Gleeson on nepo babies: \u2018I\u2019ve been so lucky. It\u2019s important you can acknowledge it. Otherwise you\u2019re lying to yourself\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

There are obvious parallels with Ireland. We also have our misused isolated communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, for sure. You recognise the mythology,\u201d he says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like a message movie in any way, which I think is a good thing. But it felt full of good heart \u2013 a truly good heart, not fake good heart. It felt like you really cared about what he was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

You couldn\u2019t find a better salesman for your movie than Gleeson. He speaks in structured paragraphs that are much at home to self-deprecatory humorous asides. There is no sense that years working in Los Angeles have rubbed off any of his laconic Dublin humour. <\/p>\n

Of course, he has never moved too far from the old manor. That must have been a temptation. Every second young Irish actor I meet seems to be on the point of relocating to north London. But Gleeson, who married the producer Juliette Bonass in 2023, does not seem to have been tempted to leave dear old Dublin. That loyalty deserves celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought that networking was actually a thing,\u201d he says. \u201cI always just thought: everyone auditions, and the best person will get the job. And it\u2019s funny. Over the last couple of years, spending more time in Los Angeles, I realise being around people and reminding people that you exist \u2013 and are not a bad person, actually \u2013 is not a bad thing for work at all. You know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what every Hollywood memoir tells us. That is a strand in all satire of the entertainment industry. It is quaint that he only now seems to be figuring that out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does have an effect,\u201d Gleeson says. \u201cBut my life in Ireland just means too much to me. So it\u2019s no sacrifice to choose to live in Ireland. And I think I\u2019ve been very lucky with the work. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can understand why somebody would go away to chase it or to get better opportunities. It would make total sense to me to do that. But I feel in a place where I feel secure enough that it doesn\u2019t seem necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, that strategy does mean he\u2019s away from home a great deal. He shoots television and movies in the United States. He does the same in Britain. It can\u2019t be all that easy to get back and maintain those links with loved ones. The actor\u2019s life is a peripatetic one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a constant balance in terms of everything,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it has always been that way. I don\u2019t like being away from the people I love \u2013 from my family and my friends. I don\u2019t like that. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Brendan Gleeson: \u2018I can\u2019t go into a pub any more. I really miss it\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t know. If you\u2019re in my line of work, to complain about being away from home to work on a film doesn\u2019t hold water. It\u2019s a privilege to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, he will have picked up some hints on how to handle himself from his dad. Gleeson was born in 1983 to Brendan, then still a teacher, and his indomitable wife, Mary. <\/p>\n

The eldest of four boys \u2013 Brian<\/a>, five years his junior, is also a busy actor \u2013 Gleeson spent most of his childhood in Malahide, in north Co Dublin. It\u2019s easy to forget that proper fame came to Brendan relatively late in life. <\/p>\n

Indeed, Gleeson is probably just about old enough to remember his father taking up the acting life full-time. That must have changed things in all kinds of ways. His dad was now on the telly (a bit).<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I was maybe six or seven when he went professional from being a teacher,\u201d Gleeson says. \u201cHilariously, probably my best friend is someone I knew when I was six. I had my friends made by the time I was six years old. I never had to question anyone. By the time he was well known in any way, I would have been into my teens \u2013 or maybe late primary school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although his father is among the best-loved actors in the country, it was not, I suppose, like going to school as the son of Bono or Roy Keane.<\/p>\n

\"DomhnallDomhnall Gleeson. Photograph: Lloyd Bishop\/NBC\/Getty <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny. There are different types of fame,\u201d Gleeson says. \u201cThere is the being-in-a-big-film fame. That\u2019s one sort of fame. And then just being-in-Glenroe fame. That kind of takes over more.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friends who were in Love\/Hate are much more famous than some of the other people I know who mostly do massive films. You know what I mean? So it\u2019s all just differing levels of that, and certainly the same is true with Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gleeson did not take the drama-college route. When he went to Dublin Institute of Technology \u2013 now Technological University Dublin<\/a> \u2013 it was with a mind to work behind the camera. He then had a role in the series Rebel Heart, from 2001, and, three years later, appeared opposite his dad in Six Shooter, Martin McDonagh\u2019s Oscar-winning short. <\/p>\n

Looking back, it feels as if he was destined to be in front of the camera. He has those reedy good looks. He has comic timing. His work never feels forced. But there was originally another plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to write and direct,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was what I was interested in. That was where I felt my strengths lay. That\u2019s where my passion was. Based mostly on the Coen brothers<\/a>. I was a fanatic about their films and Todd Solondz<\/a> and all those people. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the aim. You learn from anybody who\u2019s good at what they do. But the way it all happened was so unexpected that it was a learning-on-the-job type of situation, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, by 2010 Gleeson had a major role in a film by his heroes. In the Coens\u2019<\/a> adaptation of Charles Portis\u2019s novel True Grit, he played the part originated by Dennis Hopper in the 1969 version. That year he was also seen in Lenny Abrahamson<\/a>\u2019s Frank and Angelina Jolie<\/a>\u2019s Unbroken.<\/p>\n

That is how you arrive. <\/p>\n

Actors who have been through drama school often bring a formal process to the work. Is that the same for him?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely evolves,\u201d Gleeson says. \u201cSometimes you are trying to find a way to work on every job until you find a place where you feel like that work is done. You know what I mean? And then you can walk on set confident in some way. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Domhnall Gleeson: \u2018I live in Dublin because it\u2019s home\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it does change all the time. Sometimes it comes relatively easily. I always think there\u2019s no point driving yourself mad for no reason if you already have it in you and you feel good to go. I wouldn\u2019t question that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t always come naturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther times you\u2019re two weeks out from the shoot, or you\u2019re one week out from the shoot, and you\u2019re still searching, searching, searching, searching. Sometimes you\u2019re into the first week or two and you\u2019re still finding your feet. That\u2019s when you just hope that you still have a few more weeks to shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Paper: Domhnall Gleeson in the spinoff from the American version of The Office. Photograph: John P Fleenor\/Peacock <\/p>\n

We are currently in the Season of Domhnall. Or maybe that now lasts all year round. The Incomer is on the way. As he and I speak, the second season of The Paper, an adorable spin-off<\/a> from the US version of The Office, is about to land on TV, and Werner Herzog<\/a>\u2019s Bucking Fastard, a largely Irish production from the renowned German director, is set to premiere at Venice International Film Festival. Gleeson has the lead role in the former and a supporting part in the latter.<\/p>\n

Everyone is in a flurry about Bucking Fastard. What is this thing? We know that Rooney Mara<\/a> and Kate Mara<\/a> play twins. We know it is roughly based on real characters. We know it was filmed in Naas and Dublin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t in a lot, but it was an opportunity to see Werner work,\u201d he says. \u201cI loved the script. It was such an unusual thing, and it was a chance to work with Rooney and Kate, both of whom I\u2019d met before, and I think had kindly suggested me maybe to Werner. I\u2019m not sure about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He ponders his own role in Bucking Fastard.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good man in a film where there\u2019s lots of people who are maybe not out for the greater good. I really enjoyed it. It was an incredible thing to be a part of. I can\u2019t wait to see the film. Yeah, I\u2019m looking forward to it. It could go any way, as all his films can.\u201d<\/p>\n

In The Paper, Gleeson stars as the new editor-in-chief of the Toledo Truth Teller, a local newspaper. The series has the same gentle, off-centre humour as The Office, but it also has something to say about the significance of old-school journalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI obviously I feel that\u2019s super important,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things we often talk about, front and centre. It can\u2019t always be \u2018journalism is important\u2019. That can\u2019t be the point of the show. But I like that, fizzing along in the background, is both the struggle of trying to do good journalism and the importance of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StarStar Wars: The Force Awakens – Domhnall Gleeson in JJ Abrams’s 2015 film <\/p>\n

One can hardly imagine a more satisfactory accidental career. Gleeson has carved out a place at the centre of the industry. As long ago as the 2016 Oscars it was much noted that he starred in four major nominated films: The Revenant, Brooklyn, Ex Machina and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If his cog slips out of the Hollywood machinery, the entire structure might come grinding to a halt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get good work it really makes you feel alive,\u201d he says with a smile. \u201cIt makes you feel connected. When the work is good it makes it hard to imagine doing anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Incomer is in cinemas from Friday, September 4th<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Domhnall Gleeson is a natural at this. It\u2019s hard not to think of him as a shiny-faced newcomer,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[8078,192377,248958,6491,54887,96,228621,228622,73198,237870,193258,153660,178227,248959,56,54,55,49629],"class_list":["post-754469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-angelina-jolie","tag-brendan-gleeson","tag-brian-gleeson","tag-celebrities","tag-domhnall-gleeson","tag-entertainment","tag-ethan-coen","tag-joel-coen","tag-kate-mara","tag-lenny-abrahamson","tag-martin-mcdonagh","tag-rooney-mara","tag-technological-university-dublin","tag-todd-solondz","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-werner-herzog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}