I think every character actor at some stage likes to carry a film. It can be extremely liberating to just come in for a scene or two and do your thing. But I find it frustrating if I’m just doing little bits here and there for too long. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote
Look at the Coen brothers. All their minor characters are as interesting as their protagonists. If the smaller characters are well-written, the whole world of the film becomes enriched. It’s not the size of the thing, but the detail. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote
It’s interesting going between small parts and then bigger roles where you carry the film. If the writing is good, and if the people involved have integrity, then you’ll do it, even if it’s only five minutes on screen. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote
I don’t plan in terms of career ambitions. The only career ambition I have is to work with people who are going to bring you up and elevate your performance. They’ll let you know things that you didn’t know already and bring you places that you might not have gotten to otherwise. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote
My grandfather played a mandolin, so I got my hands on that. Then on down to a banjo, and I found I couldn’t play any kind of soft or mournful music with that so I took up the fiddle in my late 20s or early 30s – and that was far too late. But it keeps me off the streets. It has been a love of mine since I was 17 maybe. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote
I hope I’m worthy in my dying. I hope I can maintain myself – that I wouldn’t become pathetic and needy, and the worst part of myself come out in adversity. But I’m not afraid of it. It’d be such a silly thing to do! To ruin the life you have by fearing its ending. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote
I started hitching about the country when I was 16 or 17 years old. I found the music that was played around the country – Irish music – had a particular resonance. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote
I’m aware now over the last 5 or 10 years that when you do an accent, you really have to kind of get down to the nitty gritty and go into the phonetics of it, if necessary. Find out not just the sounds but the rhythms and the music – or lack thereof – in a particular accent. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote
I don’t want people poking around in my private stuff. They’ve no business in it. My work is what I give to people, that’s my job, and that’s where it stops. Brendan Gleeson Read Quote