In Praise of Brendan Gleeson
Monday, April 11, 2016 at 12:45PM For our impromptu and informal Actors Month, members of Team Experience were free to choose any actor they wanted to discuss. Here's Chris Feil... on one of our most reliable character actors.
Though Brendan Gleeson's grounded and somewhat imposing presence have made him a staple of large budget period and genre pieces they've too often kept him on the sidelines as well. Perhaps his minor breakthrough in Braveheart (1995) is what created this typecasting bias of Gleeson as the hearty rascal. But note: it's not his aggressive frame that makes him such a valuable piece of each film, it's his ability to bring human reality to films that are focusing on the very big canvas. Martin Scorsese, Anthony Minghella, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Danny Boyle, just begin to scratch the surface of the director who have noticed though awards bodies have yet to truly awaken to his subtle and diverse gifts...
Any list of deserving and overdue actors without an Academy Award nomination that doesn't include Gleeson is simply incomplete. The biggest awards success in an Emmy win and Golden Globe nomination as Winston Churchill in HBO's Into the Storm. His other Globe nominations for In Bruges and The Guard are at least validation for his (often utilized but still underpraised) gifts with pitch black humor. Considering his frequent roles in large prestige ensembles, he shockingly doesn't even have a SAG Ensemble nomination on the books (death to the solo-screen-credit rule)!
Perhaps if Suffragette had been treated more kindly last year, this wouldn't be the case. You can imagine he's the type of actor whose awards chances would be skyrocketed by simply being cast in the right role in a film that clicks with critics and voters. Too bad they (and audiences) slept on his greatest performance in 2014's Calvary.
He stars in Calvary as an Irish priest whose life is anonymously threatened by a victim of another unnamed priest sexual abuse. The ensuing week confronted with the sins and complexities of his small parish is a spiritual and psychological journey that affords the actor with the kind of front-and-center showcase he's granted far too seldom. Gleeson has played muse to new writer/director John Michael McDonagh with this and The Guard, a relationship that will hopefully continue considering how well McDonagh understands and utilizes Gleeson's richest talents.
This rare star role for the actor stills finds him to be a fiercely connected performer, listening to and be affected by this great ensemble (which includes his son Domhnall) as much as one in which he was a supporting member. Even at the forefront, Gleeson's acting choices ensure that he is a part of the tapestry. When the current acting standard favors showier or more performative work, you can see how this kind of actor is consistently an ensemble highlight rather than given the opportunity to be its star player. His scenes with Kelly Reilly particularly show the actor as one who connects through chemistry, finding the truth of the piece intuitively.
But Calvary also pleads the case of why he's such a vital performer. Where a lesser actor would revert to cliched stoicism in the role, Gleeson loads every pointed silence with palpable shades of compassion and anger. The performance is alive in ways that ache down to the soul, a beating heart still pumping despite the scar tissue. It showcases the actor quietly at the top of his game and using every bit of his trademark dark wit and likeability for something contemplative and soulful.
Now if we could only convince more directors to give him a similar opportunity to break your heart.
What's your favorite Brendan Gleeson performance?
Reader Comments (14)
He's excellent in Calvary, but I'd say he's even better in In Bruges. Given the remarkable quality of the acting in In Bruges, by all 3 major actors, you'd think it would be discussed more often.
I know the Harry Potter films don't get a lot of love on this site but they should, particularly for their fantastic ensemble casts! Gleeson was great as Mad-Eye Moody. His lead performances in In Bruges, The Guard, and Calvary, are all outstanding. .
Great post! He's amazing in Calvary. Easily my favorite performance of his. Such a great movie, and he's a big part of why it works as well as it does.
In Bruges and The Guard are really great too. Looking forward to more lead performances!
The General 1997.
I thought "Calvary" was shockingly terrible, but it certainly wasn't Gleeson's fault. Full of cardboard characters, straw men, and false notes, but Gleeson does his best to anchor it.
In Bruges is what came to mind immediately.
For my money, one of the five best actors working today. I'm not sure I could pick a favorite performance, but In Bruges spring to mind.
Absolutely LOVED him in Calvary. That's exactly the kind of performance that SHOULD win Oscars but most times does not. It's a wonderful movie all the way around and his performance is exceptional - heartbreaking!
Brendan Gleeson is one of my all-time favorites, and I was thrilled to see this post about him! I don't know if there's ever been a more comforting screen presence for me in all of film history. Aside from his work with the McDonagh brothers (Six Shooter, In Bruges, The Guard, Calvary - unfortunately he doesn't seem to be featured in either of their new works), I'd say Frank in 28 Days Later... is my favorite role of his. Parental and charming, fierce and kind, he squeezes every juicy drop out of my first favorite Alex Garland character in that movie.
Definitely The Guard.
Suddenly I have a hankering to see a Western starring Gleeson and Stellan Skarsgård as immigrant antagonists, with all of their real-life offspring playing their sons.
Ditto what Devin said on my favorite performance, for all the same reasons.
His voice work is high quality as well; I enjoyed him in Secret of Kells.
Brendan Gleeson seems to be suffering from whatever afflicts Ewan McGregor. Both actors are so good and appear in a lot of films and genres. But they are generous scene partners and many times they get overlooked for their great but less flashy performances (Kidman in Moulin Rouge got Oscar attention and Farrell from In Bruges got the Golden Globe)
He was great in Calvary; but I can't remember seeing him in an other vehicle.
Gleeson was especially memorable in Six Shooter, Martin McDonough's Oscar winning precursor to In Bruges