The Tiger's Tail - Brendan Gleeson interview
Interview by Rob Carnevale
BRENDAN Gleeson talks about some of the controversy surrounding The Tiger’s Tail in Ireland and why it was so much fun playing twins…
He also reflects on swapping teaching for acting at the age of 34, appearing in the new Harry Potter movie and working with the likes of Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese…
I understand there was a bit of a backlash to The Tiger’s Tail in Ireland?
Brendan Gleeson: There was! We kind of expected it up to a point but some people were really quite committed in their rejection of it. They didn’t even reject what it said so much as dismiss it. There was quite a big reaction to it – and not in a good way. I don’t think they were asking themselves the question. I think they’ve since begun to ask themselves questions in broad terms. But when it came out, no. As my son, Briain, said: “Well, it’s done what it set out to do then, hasn’t it?” It did actually pose the question at least, even if they took a while to address it.
Q. It does paint a bleak picture of modern Ireland, though. So perhaps people were a little over sensitive?
Brendan Gleeson: The truth of the matter is it’s not all that bad – it’s not all people puking outside The Temple Bar, or getting carted out of A&E in body bags. It’s just that it is there and people really didn’t want to confront it.
Q. How easy was it playing two characters?
Brendan Gleeson: It wasn’t a big deal because they were properly written. It was more about trying to figure out at the different stages where each character would be before their paths cross. I think they move towards each other in a really cool way but we had to make sure you could tell the difference – can you, or even should you? All that kind of stuff was great fun.
Q. Did you use your brother [as a stand-in] for the scenes you appeared on-screen with your twin?
Brendan Gleeson: Absolutely and it was really fun. He’s the same build as me. He lives in Galway, so I got to see him for six weeks on and off. I hadn’t spent that much time with him ever, I think. He was really up for it. You have to be careful sometimes, because I could have got a clip in the ear for asking the question. But he’s one of those guys who was really up for it. He came in and really gave it some welly. He was giving it back to me as much as I was giving it to him. There was also an unspoken thing between us – stuff we did that might not have happened if it had been someone else standing there, just reading the lines off the page.
Q. In that sense, it was a bit of a family affair because your real-life son, Briain, also plays Liam’s son in the film…
Brendan Gleeson: I know. He was doing his exams [A-levels] so I kind of felt guilty about it. The picture got moved back, so whereas it was going to be fine at the beginning of the year, his A-levels then started to loom large. But he was completely laidback about it. Having him there meant there were also unspoken things that happened in the scenes between us.
I remember the scene where he ends up in the A&E department and it’s like mayhem in there… the script contained quite an emotional speech from Liam about how he [his son] had to keep going, keep the faith and start saving the planet if that’s what he believed in. It was an emotional pinnacle in their story. But the weird thing was once we did it – and I don’t know if it was just because it was Briain or not – all that stuff went out the window. I needed to keep him alive, full stop. I knew precisely then as a father what was right – it wasn’t the time for an emotional speech where he exorcised demons or told him what a great guy he thought he was, it was about keeping him alive, slapping him around the face and keeping him awake. There were cool things like that which came about and took us by surprise a wee bit.
Q. Does Briain intend to follow in your footsteps? Has he caught the acting bug?
Brendan Gleeson: Ay, he’s got the bug. I think he always had it in a way. I didn’t want to hear anything about them [my sons] being actors when they were growing up because there’s enough time for all that stuff. I wouldn’t have particularly wanted them to be involved in it [acting] at a younger age. One or two things nearly happened where they were in films before but I just didn’t like it because it’s so easy to drag people out of shape and all.
So, by the time he came round to the age where he could decide what he wanted to do, it was a case of supporting whatever he wanted to do. My eldest son, Domhnall, has done a couple of things now – in New York and he’s in the West End now. And Briain has taken it up now – but I’m not surprised. It’s tough as a dad because you know there’s going to be stuff chucked at him – sometimes nasty stuff – that will be tough to deal but I guess that happens in every walk of life and you hope that he’s strong enough to put up with it.
Q. This is your fourth film with John Boorman. What makes him so special as a filmmaker in your opinion?
Brendan Gleeson: He’s just amazing. He’s just brave. He’s intent on turning over rocks and seeing what’s underneath and being uncompromising about what he tackles. He doesn’t come at it from a cynical point of view even though he has a very unforgiving eye. He attacks it with this hard, cold eye and he insists on getting down and dirty but at the centre of it he has this acute kind of yearning for the magic of humanity. He has an acute belief in the goodness, fundamentally, of people and kind of insists in an odd way that this really isn’t good enough – we’re better than that. It’s that kind of tough love that makes him so special.
Q. In terms of your own career you must be delighted with the way things have worked out since going full-time at the age of 34?
Brendan Gleeson: Yeah, I am. I got a new life – a second life. I was quite prepared to live my life without it, to be honest. The things I was doing were quite fulfilling, teaching in schools and all that. I thought I was doing something worthwhile. But when it came down to it I couldn’t keep up the pace I was working at. I was putting on stuff at school and then writing, directing and acting, so something had to give…
Number one I thought I’d never write again unless I gave up teaching for a bit. And secondly, that if I was waiting for the phone to ring, I could actually write. I saw two things that came to fruition at that stage, which meant I wasn’t going to go to seed and put a bullet in my head. That doesn’t mean I’m suicidal but I am a slob if left and I could see myself getting down on myself. So that’s the reason I made the jump. And it’s been pretty cool since then and a real surprise. I was so suspicious of the business because you hear a lot of bad stories about it but for the most part people are pretty idealistic and pretty cool. You have to deal with your own personal frustrations but there’s a lot of generosity out there, so that was a turn up. I also started to get pretty good work. I was really lucky.
Q. It must be tremendously flattering to find yourself on the shortlist of people like Steven Spielberg [AI: Artificial Intelligence] and Martin Scorsese [Gangs of New York]?
Brendan Gleeson: It’s pretty amazing [gasps]. I couldn’t quite believe it. I remember thinking when I was talking to Martin Scorsese that I couldn’t believe I was there. I kept stepping outside of myself like some out of body experience. It was daft. I’d actually gone in and met Steven Spielberg’s people from Dreamworks’ on a general visit about a year before. They’d shown me Steven’s office because he wasn’t there [laughs]. And then about a year later I’m in there again and Steven’s looking over me and said: “I’m thinking about offering you this one.” I said: “Well, I suppose I might accept it then [laughs]!” I’d love to do it again but that was slightly too good to be true.
Q. I guess it’s an actor’s dream to be able to mix small independent personal projects with blockbusters and you seem to be making a pretty good job of it? Even looking ahead your schedule is pretty full…
Brendan Gleeson: Yeah and the Churchill thing [Churchill At War] is pretty scary. I’m also trying to get a movie going that I’ve adapted myself, which will be another big leap. But in terms of mixing up stuff, it’s odd because they are kind of co-dependent in a way. If you can get into the bigger films, it’s much easier to get cast in a substantial role at home. Obviously, I would love to be doing massive leading parts in these big, big blockbuster movies if they were any good but it kind of suits me… I love doing the fun stuff but I also insist on doing good artistic work. I try not to let a year go by unless I’m involved in something that has definite artistic worth, that’s a bit of a risk or about anything other than the work – otherwise I don’t feel as though I have a right to be on the planet, that I’m wasting myself on fluff.
But once I get that thing under my belt and it’s nearing the end of the year I don’t want to be grim and just sit around insisting that everything has to be about misery. It’s been fun going out and doing character roles in big movies because you can be much more aggressive and go out and splash it all over there. Sometimes you can’t afford to do that with the leading roles.
Q. How much fun was reprising your role in Harry Potter for The Order of The Phoenix?
Brendan Gleeson: It was fun even though I don’t have a huge amount to do. When I signed up for the first one I didn’t really know what the experience would be – but it was fantastic. It’s such fun doing all that stuff, particularly because there’s such a good feeling around the whole thing. There is a lot of goodness emanating from that phenomenon; a child-like goodness. It’s unusual as an adult to be part of something that’s throwing all that really cool stuff out.
When it came to signing for the rest of them after The Goblet of Fire I knew there wasn’t a whole lot to do for my character in The Order of the Phoenix or the next one. It wasn’t a big commitment for me to be a hostage to fortune. And yet at the same time, nobody knows what the last one’s going to be about and I would hate that boat to sail without me. I had such a good time with such good people that who knows what the last one’s going to turn up. If it turns up nothing, I don’t mind, but if it turns up something really cool I want to be in there!
Q. I understand you have quite a cool scene with a broom in this one?
Brendan Gleeson: Ah yes, I have the Harley Davison of brooms. You don’t see too much of it but it was really cool.
Q. And then there’s Beowulf with Robert Zemeckis?
Brendan Gleeson: Yeah, that’s motion capture, which is a huge step for me. It’s The Polar Express thing again but it just gets better and better. It’s quite extraordinary. It’s a whole new way of filmmaking. The cast in that was extraordinary and that was like theatre because you acted out on almost a back-lot theatre with dodgy props and things like that. They get what they want – close-ups, etc – and then they do anything they want with it afterwards. They can make you into anybody but your performance is there and it’s been captured in a complete scene all the way from the beginning to the end.
You’ve got to be very careful who you work with on that kind of thing. You really do give them yourself on a plate because they can do anything. So to work with someone like Zemeckis, who is so specific about what the performance is and who can attract the people who can deliver – such as Ray Winstone and Anthony Hopkins – is amazing. To be working with them on a stage is both surreal – because you’re working with these dots on your face – and also like getting back to basics in a very odd way. It was a fascinating experience. I’ve seen a snippet from it and it looks extraordinary.
Read our review of The Tiger’s Tail
Read our interview with John Boorman