Domhnall Gleeson has had a busy few months. The actor-cum-writer and director has been jetting back and forth to film sets dotted across the globe. He had finished up work last week on the set of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ just in time to attend the Irish premiere of his latest short film, ‘Noreen’ when IFTN caught up with him to talk about shooting scenes with Jeff Bridges, his father’s occasionally questionable choice in facial hair and keeping secrets from Keira Knightley.
‘Noreen’, Domhnall Gleeson’s second foray into short film writing and directing premieres on Friday, June 11th in the Tullamore Omniplex. The film which has also been chosen to screen at the Palm Springs film festival proved to be quite the family affair with Domhnall directing both his father and brother - Brendan and Briain Gleeson. Conflicting timetables and freak weather made for quite a frantic shoot, as Domhnall explains: “Noreen was a lot of pressure, especially trying to fit in into the schedule we had. We worked around my dad’s schedule but in the end I was the one who had to leave the set early on the fourth day to fly out for ‘Harry Potter’. It was absolute madness - it ended up that though we were due to shoot for four full days it was snowing when we got down and we were shooting out on the roads so we were faced with that and on top of that on the last day I had to take the half day.”
Brendan became involved with the short after Domhnall gave him a copy of the script for notes. Brother Briain had originally been cast as a dead man on the floor but, as Domhnall puts it “I felt that would be a bit of a waste so we made him the copper.” His father’s huge acting status is something that almost stopped Domhnall from pursuing the same career. “I was slightly hesitant about getting into acting,” he tells us. “This was when I was a kid, when you’re trying to find your identity and see who you want to be in life. I did worry about being the ‘little Gleeson’ – I’m sure if my dad was a carpenter and I wanted to go down that route too it would be the same thing. But I’m well over that now though.”
One question that had to come up is that off Brendan’s choice of facial decoration in ‘Noreen’ a cultivated moustache (pictured above) that immediately catches the eye. “Yeah, that was my Dad.” Domhnall affirms. “He had an idea that he wanted a moustache, and also to have the Offaly accent. So between the moustache and the accent it’s unlike anything my Dad has ever done before. It was funny actually because it was filmed just before Christmas so Dad has this awful moustache in all the family photos. Also, I think himself and Brian can look similar sometimes so it helped to distinguish them.”
As mentioned above the premiere of ‘Noreen’ comes at the end of a whirlwind of travelling for Domhnall. He had his last day on the set of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Halllows’ last week which, he tells us, saw him suffer for his craft: “To be honest, the last day on set I was basically running around - it was more an exercise then acting. It was a battle scene so there wasn’t a huge amount of character work. It was good though, exercise is important!”
Domhnall also recently wrapped work on the set of ‘True Grit’, a Western feature form Ethan and Joel Coen – the brothers behind films such as ‘No Country for Old Men’. In the re-make of ‘True Grit’ Domhnall plays the part of Moon, a role first brought to life by the late Denis Hopper – something he describes as a huge honour. A further honour was the chance to act alongside Oscar winner Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) and the Coen Brothers themselves: “It was great on the ‘True Grit’ set because it was really intense. The Coen brothers are amazing, they’re special. They’re my absolute favourite so it was an experience of a lifetime. I worked with Jeff and another American actor called Paul Rae and Hailee Steinfeld. But I worked with Jeff before so it was kind of exciting to go back.”
Domhnall Gleeson |
Crossing the seas and leaving several time zones in his wake Domhnall also recently worked on ‘Never Let Me Go’ opposite Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. A project, he tells us, that he happily would have worked on for free: “When I read the script for ‘Never Let Me Go’ it was the strongest I’d ever felt about a script in years,” he explains. “I just wanted to do anything in it. It was one of those where I would have been an extra in it absolutely no bother and I would have paid to be in it.” In the film Domhnall plays Rodney. Asked to describe his charctaer’s role he tells us: “I interact with the lead three characters who are played by Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew. They’re a little bit lost and they meet myself and my girlfriend character, Andrea Riseborough (who’s fantastic) - they want something from us but we want something from them too and it’s just not clear what that is.”
The rush of projects have moved to allow for some breathing space for Domhnall, who is unsure of his next move “There’s talk of something happening shortly but I’m not sure if it will happen or not,” he tells us. “It’s funny really. I’m kind of back to unemployment so I’ll start writing again, that’s how it goes! ‘Sensation’ will be screening in Galway and there’ll be a few things like that. But I’m not sure what the next job will be, I’ll have to wait and see. As they say, you can’t hire yourself as an actor – so that’s why I write, that way if things get really bad I’ll be able to cast myself!”
‘Noreen’ will, as previously mentioned, premiere tonight at the Tullamore Omniplex. IFTA nominee, Ruairí O’Brien (Five Minutes of Heaven) was the project’s art director of photography and Nicola Moroney (Best: His Mother’s Son) was the short’s art director. Post production will commence immediately in NOHO and will be carried out by Niall Campion (on-line editor, Red Wire Blue Wire). The short was fuded by Film Offaly and produced by El Zerrero Films’ David Clarke (Visiting Day), Juliet Bonass and Ciarán Deeney. The short will also screen at the Palm Springs film festival which runs from Tuesday, June 22nd to Monday, June 28th.
