Brendan Gleeson in Studs
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To an Irish cinema audience, actor Brendan Gleeson needs very little introduction. In addition to being one of our top international exports; with roles in ‘Cold Mountain’; ‘Gangs of New York’; ‘Troy’; ‘Kingdom of Heaven’; ‘The Village’; ‘Artificial Intelligence AI’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ among his list of
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credits; Gleeson has also established himself as a local favourite strengthening his popularity with acclaimed parts in indigenous films like; ‘The General’; ‘I Went Down’; ‘Sweety Barrett’; ‘A Further Gesture’; ‘Breakfast On Pluto’ and his latest release, the football feature ‘Studs’.
In Paul Mercier’s directorial debut, ‘Studs’ sees Gleeson returning to his roots. Portraying Walter Keegan he reprises the part he played in the 1986 stage production, as the mysterious and sometimes brutal manager who turns around the fortunes of a downtrodden local soccer team.
With hopes high for ‘Studs’ becoming another of his home commercial triumphs, Gleeson’s good fortune looks set to continue. Bolstered further by the news that another of his Irish credits, the short film ‘Six Shooter’ in which he had a starring role, has picked up the Best Live Action Short Oscar at the recent Academy Awards ceremony in LA.
“I was delighted, because it gives a kick to everybody,” he says of the Oscar win. “It’s not going to change everybody’s life, it might change Martin’s [McDonagh], but it’s great to see a small little project just grow and grow like that. It’s one of those bizarre features of this world; one day we’re on the train between Dublin and Waterford and the next thing we’re in LA.”
 Gleeson in Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire |
At the age of 40, following a breakthrough performance in Mel Gibson’s ‘Braveheart’, Gleeson left Ireland to pursue his career internationally. Strong character parts continued to come his way and he shared scenes with co-stars like Bridget Fonda, Tom Cruise, Andie McDowell, Adrien Brody, Renée
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Zellweger and Nicole Kidman to name but a few. However, Gleeson’s Irishness remains important to him during his time abroad and he has peppered his international credits with performances in a number of Irish productions.
“I love Irish stories but it’s always about the quality of the project. I don’t want to work here on projects that aren’t any good or ones that I’m afraid about or aren’t right,” explains Gleeson. “I mean, one of the reasons why I went away was to be in the shake up and casting for films in Ireland. When I started off, it became pretty clear that it would help because it was frustrating to see films coming in and there would be no Irish actors in the shakeup, in the main people cast. It’s not the only reason why I did it, but it was in the back of my head that to go away for a bit was not a bad idea, in order to be able to come home and work.”
With a budget of €1.1 million, ‘Studs’ is a far cry from the estimated €140 million spent on his recent Harry Potter film where he starred as the Hogwarts ' professor Mad Eye Moody. With Irish market opportunities exceptionally tight, Gleeson lending his weight to a low budget feature, made by first time producers and director, might be considered an incredible act of generosity. Producers Fiach and Cúán Mac Conghail concede that were it not for his involvement they could not have financed the film, but an unassuming Gleeson contends low budget is never a problem for him and working on ‘Studs’ was an opportunity simply too good to resist.
“There is something fascinating about the draw of football that is worthy of artistic exploration, apart from the fact that it’s good craic. So I think it’s great that we’ve been able to get it together and I was chuffed to be offered a part of this nature. For me, there’s no charity involved there,” and Gleeson heaps additional praise on his director Paul Mercier; “He’s an immensely talented person and I’ve been waiting ages for him to get behind the camera. I did a short film with him, ‘ Before I Sleep’, and it’s one of the things I’ve done that I’m most fondest of, whatever about it being the best or whatever, it’s one of the things that I hold dear. It was a privilege for me to do that. In terms of doing smaller films it really does depend on the project. I did a film in Boston last year called ‘Black Irish’, now I was only a couple of weeks away and it was a tiny budget and had lots of compromises, with regards to the normal stuff that goes on, but the material was great and the writing was just so good. Low budget doesn’t faze me because it’s always just about the work.”
With some lead actors judged on their bankability for opening feature films, Gleeson has the weight of ‘Studs’ to carry on his shoulders. It’s not a heavy burden for the star who relishes the prospects of a lead role, whatever the pressures that might come with it.
“I have to say I love it,“ he says. “It’s one of the things I miss about doing plays in that you get to plot a performance right the way through, the rise and fall. If you’ve got a small character part you can go in and make a big bust with something, you can make a little impact in a very small place but it’s a different challenge to be able to carry something through, to carry the story in some way.” However, Gleeson believes this film impact is down to the combined efforts of the ensemble cast (featuring David Wilmot, Eamonn Owens, Emmet Scanlan, David Herlihy and Brendan’s Son, Domhnall Gleeson ) making up the football team in ‘Studs’. “ I don’t think I was the only person carrying this thing, just the whole notion of that group was really what people were following and then Walter’s story was the core running through it. I love that and, I have to say, the more of that I can do the better. Especially when you get good work, it’s a real challenge to find out or to try and offset when things go slightly differently to what you would have imagined. The challenge is really what it’s all about.” |
 Gleeson alongside his Studs co-stars
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There can be little doubt that Gleeson’s involvement in ‘Studs’ is a huge draw for fans of his work, which has been consistently solid for over 15 years now. The key for Brendan in choosing his parts is to focus on the quality of work, rather than the dollar bills or kudos a project might bring to his career. He believes he has a “respect for the person in the |
seat” and his popularity with the Irish audience exists through that commitment to producing good product. Gleeson says:
“I’ve always aimed not to throw rubbish at that person in the seat and I do really feel privileged to be in the position where I can do that. I went for a long time when that wasn’t what I thought I’d be able to do with my life, so in a sense I do value the people in the seats and hopefully I try to work with people who have the same feeling for it.”
Next on the agenda for Gleeson is another Irish flick entitled ‘The Tigers Tale’ which reunites him with ‘The General’ director John Boorman, production due to start at the end of this month. He has another big summer project on the boil, which he cannot talk about right now, and some possible work on the next Harry Potter film coming up in the Autumn. A busy year ahead for the Dubliner who says he’s a “flippidyjibbet” when it comes to choosing which genre to work in next. Making his home in Dublin, the actor also has his eye fastened on any Irish projects that might crop up and believes the industry in Ireland can only benefit from the continued support for low budget films like ‘Studs’.
“If you make something that has a legitimate financial base within a country, if you can actually break even and do well, then you have a start,” he says. “You don’t have directors getting to make one film that is really great but because of its nature can’t make its money back here. Then you get bounced, nobody wants to go near him even though they’ve made a good film but the finances don’t add up. I think that’s a really dangerous thing to have happen…I do think that we have to stop making films that are too big for ourselves. That being said, there is a time when the film has to be that big so you go with it, and that’s okay, but I think in general terms in order to get a kinda French style industry here we need to take cognisance of what we can actually recoup. Therefore, with films like ‘Studs’, nobody is going to ‘Studs’ expecting to see King Kong jumping on top of the pitch, and I think if we can cut our cloth that way, we can use the creativity that we have and get away from the money deal as much as possible. Try and offset the money with creativity, inventiveness, fresh ideas, which is possible with digital now, and that would sustain it. Then every so often we’ll take whatever we can get from outside and we’d have bigger projects coming in where it’s worth taking the risk. That’s how I see it going.”
And finally, what advice can he offer other Irish actors who look to him for advice and inspiration on making it big.
“You learn a bit,” he suggests. ”It’s easier to get better when you’re working and some of that of itself is luck. Being at the right place and the right time. ‘Braveheart’ was very lucky for me in the sense that I happened to be working in Dublin at the time when that opportunity came in. It won’t always be coming in and the guy who did the production before me could have gotten the part instead of me, so there’s always luck involved. Basically if I go into daddy mode here in terms of giving advice, I really, really, really solidly believe that you make your own work. The only way an actor can keep going is to do that. If you can’t write, then get somebody to write something and get a local hall and put it on or whatever. You need to work, it’s the only way to learn your craft. The people who come in and get the big finger pointed at them and get lifted off the street are miniscule, whereas if you want to actually enjoy your career, you’ve got to enjoy doing it, so just go and do it and don’t wait for the phone. That’s my advice to anybody.”
‘Studs’ is released across Ireland from the 16th of March 2005
