Fast five with Domhnall Gleeson
'General Hux isn't a particularly nice fella,' says the Irish actor on his Star Wars: The Force Awakens character
FAST FACTS
NAME Domhnall Gleeson
BORN May 12, 1983, Dublin, Ireland
FILMOGRAPHY Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 & 2 (2010, 2011), About Time (2013), Unbroken (2014), Ex Machina (2015), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), The Revenant (2016), Brooklyn (2016)
1 FRANCHISE FUN
The eldest son of actor Brendan Gleeson had his first taste of an epic film playing Bill Weasley, big brother of the boy wizard's best friend, Ron, in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 & 2.
Now, the Irish actor is embarking on another fantasy saga, this time as General Hux in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which opens here tomorrow.
As one of the military leaders of The First Order, an organisation inspired by the Galactic Empire, "General Hux isn't a particularly nice fella," said the 32-year-old. "He works with Kylo Ren and General Snoke, and is in charge of the military operation."
2 QUICKIE CASTING
Gleeson agreed to take on the role of General Hux before he even received a script from director J.J. Abrams.
"J.J. told me about the character, what he was and what he did," he said.
"They made an offer and the next day was the table read with the cast. So I stayed overnight and the next day I was in the same room as these legends and new people who will go on to be legends themselves. It was pretty cool and fast. It all happened in two days."
3 STAR STRUCK
A fan of the original Star Wars movies, Gleeson said the first table read was unforgettable as "everybody you'd hope to be there was there".
"I really got to sit back and watch these really cool people do their lines and kill it,"he said.
He also told InStyle.com that co-stars Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) were his heroes when he was a kid.
"I was so in awe of the people from the original trilogy. I giggled like a schoolgirl when (Ford) was around. He's an amazing man so that was just incredible."
4 NO TO SOUVENIRS
When asked if he sneaked any Star Wars props home, the fair-skinned, ginger-haired actor told Esquire magazine: "I thought about it, but all I could remember was one day leaving the Harry Potter set and noticing this massive tailback on the roads - all because a wand had gone missing. They'd stopped traffic! You don't want to be that guy."
5 HERO WORSHIP
Gleeson is enjoying a good run in Hollywood, first starting with Angelina Jolie's Unbroken last year. Following Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be Alejandro González Iñárritu's gritty drama The Revenant (opening here Jan 7), where Gleeson will be starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.
He told Metro UK: "What J.J., Angelina and Leo all have in common is they do extraordinary work. I've been very lucky in the last few years to work with people who are great at what they do, like real heroes of mine, so that feels good, and it puts a pressure on you to be better."
Rising sons
These up-and-coming actors have famous dads too
SCOTT EASTWOOD (SON OF CLINT)
SUICIDE SQUAD (2016)
ALEXANDER SKARSGÅRD (SON OF STELLAN)
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN (2016)
WYATT RUSSELL (SON OF KURT)
EVERYBODY WANTS SOME (2016)
MAX IRONS (SON OF JEREMY)
WOMAN IN GOLD (2015)
PATRICK SCHWARZENEGGER (SON OF ARNOLD)
SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (2015)
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now