DOMHNALL GLEESON IN “AMERICAN MADE”

Press release

UNITED INTERNATIONAL PICTURES

DOMHNALL GLEESON, FROM “THE FORCE AWAKENS” TO “AMERICAN MADE”

Popularly known as General Hux in Star Wars: The Force Awakens – a character he will reprise in the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Domhnall Gleeson is an Irish actor proving to be one of Hollywood’s most versatile talents—working across a number of diverse roles.

Now, Domhnall (pronounced as Donal) Gleeson stars opposite Tom Cruise in Universal Pictures’ American Made (in Philippine cinemas September 13).

(Watch the new American Made spot at https://youtu.be/zT0jnrXD5t8.)

American Made is based on the outrageous (and real) exploits of Barry Seal (Cruise), a hustler and pilot unexpectedly recruited by the CIA to run one of the biggest covert operations in U.S. History. Much to the surprise of his wife, Lucy (Sara Wright Olsen), the charming entrepreneur has gone from a well-respected TWA pilot to a key figure in one of the greatest scandals in modern times. Little could they grasp that what started out as transporting contraband would lead to Barry’s help in building an army and funding a war.

Gleeson, who plays CIA operative Monty Schafer, shows another side of the acting gifts he’s displayed in films from Unbroken and About Time to Ex Machina. Schafer sees Seal as his possible ticket to promotion and beyond, and plays him for what he’s worth.

Director Doug Liman loved the idea of creating an entirely unexpected but powerful adversary for Seal, and found Gleeson was the perfect antagonist. “I didn’t want to do that in the cliché way, with a CIA handler-slash antagonist, surrounded by computer screens and an army of people,” the director offers.

“I thought, ‘What if your adversary in the CIA is just in a cubicle, will seize any opportunity and not let anything get in his way?’ Domhnall did an amazing job and, from a cubicle, is a force to be reckoned with.”

As Gleeson researched his role and prepared for production to begin, the actor read several autobiographical books by CIA operatives. “I found the script to be such an easy read. It had a playful tone, and the story was outrageous and suspenseful. There’s a dog-eat-dog feeling to this whole film, which I liked. I think it’s truer than we care to admit about the way that countries run, and the way that the world works.”

One of the most unexpected days of production was when Gleeson found himself way up in the skies. “Doug and Tom took me up in one of the small planes, and did a maneuver to zero gravity,” he reveals. “Then they swapped pilot seats, and Tom turned the plane upside down while Doug shot it on his iPad. It was incredibly fun. Tom is a force of nature and, paired with Doug, they have created their own way of working—a shorthand that, no matter how chaotic, works.”

Of his principal costar, Cruise raves: “Domhnall plays such an original character—the kind we see in all of Doug’s films—ones that have this authenticity on screen. With Bourne and Mr. and Mrs. Smith to Swingers, he’s so invested in the world that he creates and in these characters they have a unique humanity to them.”

American Made is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

IRISH ACTOR DOMHNALL GLEESON STARS IN “THE REVENANT’ AND “BROOKLYN”

Press release

IRISH ACTOR DOMHNALL GLEESON STARS IN TWO STRONG OSCAR CONTENDERS –

“THE REVENANT’ AND “BROOKLYN”

Rapidly rising Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson stars in “The Revenant” and “Brooklyn” – two of this year’s strong Oscar contenders.   Gleeson , who has been coming to the fore as one of the most versatile actors of a new generation with roles in  “About Time,” “Calvary,” “Unbroken,” “Ex Machina” and in “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” goes from unshaven in his role as Captain Henry in “The Revenant” to all-dapper in “Brooklyn.”

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

                In “The Revenant” by Oscar winner filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Leonardo DiCaprio takes on the title role,   plays the role of Captain Andrew Henry, a real-life historical figure who was one of the founders of the Rocky Mountain Trading Company and a leader of the expedition up the Missouri River.

                Inspired by true events, “The Revenant” is an epic story of survival and transformation on the American frontier.  While on an expedition into the uncharted wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally mauled by a bear, then abandoned by members of his own hunting team. Alone and near death, Glass refuses to succumb.  Driven by sheer will and his love for his Native American wife and son, he undertakes a 200-mile odyssey along with Henry’s (Gleeson) soldiers through the vast and untamed West on the trail of the man who betrayed him: John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy).  What begins as a relentless quest for revenge becomes a heroic saga against all odds towards home and redemption. 

                For Domhnall Gleeson, playing the role of Fitzgerald’s disappointed Captain, it was thrilling to go up against Hardy as Captain Henry realizes he has been duped.  “Tom has brought an edge to Fitzgerald where you never know which way he’s going to go,” Gleeson says.  “My character feels beaten down by Fitzgerald, but then he starts to hold his ground – and it was really exciting to go toe-to-toe with Tom.”

                Gleeson notes that the script gives Captain Henry a fictionalized arc beyond what history knows of him.  “The real Andrew Henry was respected, whereas in this story you see him as an uncertain man learning to be leader. He goes on a journey, growing into the man he was said to be,” he explains.  From the start, Gleeson understood the film was going to be a purposefully challenging experience.  “Before we even started shooting, Alejandro said he wanted it to be a tough experience for the actors – and he was true to his word.  We were put in unusual circumstances and challenging conditions but it was exciting because it was so different,” he comments.  “I certainly have never done anything like it before.  There’s an exhilaration to making a movie in a way that people just don’t make movies anymore.” 

                Gleeson says the roughness of the shoot enriched the performances.  “My character is meant to find his circumstances horribly difficult, he’s meant to feel out of place and so I poured everything I was experiencing into the performance,” he explains.  “You hope that ultimately the size of all that these men contended with --- the desperation, the madness and uncertainty -- will feel present in the movie theater.”

                From the cold and ruthless forest in “The Revenant,” Gleeson dons neatly pressed suits as Jim Farrell in “Brooklyn” where he plays opposite Saoirse Ronan who plays Eilis, an Irish immigrant in America who must choose between two countries, two men and two destinies.  

 

                Eilis’ Irish lover, Jim Farrell (Gleeson), had to be both an opposite attraction and a legitimate threat to Eilis’ New York lover, Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen).  Gleeson knew he, too, had to find a subtle but visceral chemistry with Saoirse Ronan, to put the question mark in the audience’s mind.  “Life in Brooklyn may offer Eilis more, but it was my job to make Jim seem worth staying in Ireland for,“ he says. “I really wanted to create a connection with Saoirse that you would feel is worth fighting for.”

                Like his castmates, Gleeson related to Eilis’ experience in his own way.  “I think everybody’s known a sense of displacement at one time or another, of not having a clear home,” he says.  “I’ve certainly been familiar with that at various times in my life -- and I thought it was captured brilliantly in this story. Then there’s a lot of romance and fun to the story, which is very appealing.” 

                “Brooklyn” director John Crowley says that Gleeson’s take on the character brought out the bittersweetness of the story.  “There’s a consummate intelligence to Domhnall,” says Crowley. “He thinks very deeply about all his roles and he brings an intensity and maturity to Jim that bounces beautifully off of Emory as Tony. It was so important that Jim and Tony occupy vastly different spaces, that they be totally opposite versions of men that Eilis could see herself with – and Emory and Domhnall brought completely different but equally compelling feelings that underline her choice.”