Domhnall Gleeson on Harry Potter, Star Wars, About Time and The Paper | For the Record | Esquire - video Dailymotion

Esquire

Domhnall Gleeson has been bringing characters to life for more than two decades. In this episode of “For the Record,” the Irish actor opens up about what it was really like on the 'Harry Potter' set, stepping into the role of General Hux in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' and enduring the brutal conditions of 'The Revenant' alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. Plus, he reminisces on working opposite Bill Nighy in 'About Time,' starring in 'Black Mirror' and leading Greg Daniels's new show 'The Paper.'  Check out Domhnall’s digital feature here: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a69279493/domhnall-gleeson-the-paper-interview-2025/  Stream 'The Paper' on Peacock.  #DomhnallGleeson #ThePaper #HarryPotter #StarWars

Transcript

00:00I got to keep nothing from set and I got to keep nothing from the set of Harry Potter

00:03and that's what happens when you're like you know number seven on the call sheet and not number one

00:08this is for the record okay this is where I decide where I'm going cross later or not

00:14let me know if this looks cool does it look cool it's all I care about do I look super cool

00:19hello Harry Bill Weasley oh pleasure to meet you this is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part

00:27one that is me with a room full of amazing actors and I'm very proud to have been a Weasley

00:33it was a really really big job for me there's a really special amount of time after you shoot

00:39something that's big and before it comes out before people know that you're hardly in the thing

00:45and in that time people get excited about you because they think you might be a big thing in

00:49the big thing not like a little thing in the big thing and I got loads of really good jobs

00:54before people realized I was barely in this movie it was by far the biggest set I'd ever been on there

01:00was like 300 people on set it was just ginormous you're this small part of it there was an amazing

01:06moment my first time doing a big red carpet where I said I don't want to go up on that red carpet

01:10and they don't know who I am and my agent was like yeah they're you know whoever it was is like

01:14they do of course go up and I went up and I stood in the red carpet and there were banks of photographers

01:19and nobody took a picture and then one guy went hey and I said yeah and he said do you know when

01:26Emma Watson's getting here I just walked off without having my photograph taken I don't think there's

01:33any photographs of me in the red carpet when I went that's how I remembered anyway maybe the truth

01:36was different but it was devastating wow that's Black Mirror seriously don't do it I'm not going to

01:45Hayley Atwell she was brilliant in this oh god this is a hard scene to shoot I had to play two

01:51different characters in Black Mirror one is a guy who's in love and a bit of an eejit and then the

01:57other person is this sort of version of him based on his social media interactions which has now come

02:03frighteningly close to being real I will say when they put that makeup on me to make me look slightly

02:07more like a sort of a clone they had to do this spray thing where they spray you to try and make it

02:13look really matte and uniform when they tried to take it off it took the skin off my eyelids

02:17so that was that was gross but I was so lucky I got to work on this oh I haven't watched this in

02:25ages this is it then this is it this is a really important scene in about time and it's with Bill

02:35Nighy who I absolutely adore he's sick in this part of the film and I had to imagine what it would be

02:40like uh if somebody you know got sick and it was the last time you were seeing them and I remember

02:45after we shot it being like finding it very uh difficult to shake off and I think it was because

02:51Bill was so generous as an actor he was like really incredible I remember reading it not understanding

02:57how big a deal the father and son thing was I think it's because I knew Richard's other work so I thought

03:02it was a vehicle to cast more light on the romance at the heart of it with Rachel McAdams one of the great

03:07actors working today and then as I started doing the work on the script after that I realized that

03:12the father and something was central to it also I think in this scene it starts really happy

03:16and then it takes a turn that's hard to do because you've got to get there and so you just have to

03:22listen and Bill's very easy to listen to because he's because he's excellent my son

03:27my dad I remember walking away afterwards and uh Richard had to come and find me and I was like

03:38crying someplace for ages afterwards it was really pathetic

03:41from the sublime to the ridiculous great star wars wars awakens

03:50this fierce machine which you have built upon which we stand will bring an end to the senate

03:58man I'm going for it okay that's tough to watch so so JJ wrote this great script and wrote this

04:04great scene in particular for this character which sort of like was the in for me where you really

04:08see the darkness in the character the rest of the time he's like there's somebody more powerful than

04:12him in the room so he's a bit sniveling the rest of the time because he's a bully and bullies hate

04:17people who are more powerful than them so he's like not able to express himself this is a time

04:22when everybody in front of him is beneath him you see what a bully is and he's sort of maniacal and

04:26all the rest of it and I thought it was a good description of what people like that can do in the

04:30world but you know it's part of a really fun movie as part of star wars and I was very very happy to be

04:36in it it was amazing because they built the sets and they had the robots and they had bb-8 rolling

04:42around and they would walk you around the workshop and show you everything in the same way as they had on

04:45harry potter and I just thought it was super cool that they were still doing it that way

04:48was there anything you got to keep from set no I got to keep nothing from set and I got to keep

04:53nothing from the set of harry potter and that's what happens when you're like you know number seven

04:58on the call sheet and not number one I mean it's such a privilege to be in it complaining about not

05:02getting anything else is probably stupid so I won't moan too much oh janey mac the safe thing to do

05:11is tracking new course back up online yeah this is the heart is the revenant it was known as a rough

05:17shoot and it was but I'm very very proud of the film so it was worth it it was incredible to work

05:22with leo because he is a wonderful actor and he led from the front but just purely by example he just

05:28never seemed to be complaining he never was looking for attention he never was demanding that it was his

05:34set because he knew that it was the relentlessness of the shoot was what was difficult and in a way what I

05:39found incredible about him was his spirit maintaining throughout and he's a super actor

05:45so yeah I'm very very happy I got to work with him somebody I think it might have been Tom called it

05:49the forevenant and that is how it felt it felt like it was never going to end but as I say it was worth

05:55it he's he's superb yeah here we go but this is the paper an incredible ensemble of actors which I'm very

06:02proud of the door seems to be locked yeah because I locked it she locked it so Greg Daniels is the

06:08creator of this show he was also the creator of the US office along with Mike Schur so you're

06:13stepping in with somebody who knows what they're doing that's the important thing and you're

06:17stepping into something which is not trying to do the same thing it's trying to do something

06:19different so as long as you know that what you're trying to do is not do the same as the last guys

06:24because they did it so well then it's fun so it was really really good fun I think the great thing

06:29about these sorts of shows is the ensemble so actually what's special about the office is that across the

06:36board they have these fantastic characters who you can relate to or find funny in loads of different

06:41ways it's the they're only as strong as the weakest link and I think the same will be is true of our

06:45show it's everything coming together is what makes it special at the office let me put this in the

06:53record I did some press the other day and I said that I liked the episode where Michael knocks over

06:58Phyllis with his car and I was like afterwards it felt weird and I was like it was Meredith he knocked over

07:05Meredith and I know that the office stands are going to come for me and I just want to apologize

07:09officially and on the record and then I love the stuff with the with the bird where Michael's old

07:15boss dies let me get that slightly wrong and then I can apologize for it in a different interview

07:19that's probably the best way to do it thank you for watching you can watch the paper on peacock

07:23you were great

07:24cool thank you very much

07:24you

Domhnall Gleeson on Harry Potter, Star Wars, About Time and The Paper | For the Record | Esquire

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