A latecomer to films, Irish actor Brendan Gleeson spent much of his formative years training for and performing in theater before breaking into films and television at the relatively older age of 34. Supporting turns in homegrown productions like The Field (1990) and Into the West (1992) led to small parts in American features like Far and Away (1992) and his big break as right hand man to Mel Gibsons William Wallace in the blockbuster Braveheart (1995). Three years later, his turn as Irish criminal Martin Cahill in John Boormans The General (1998) boosted his profile on the international scene, so he was soon dividing his time between major Hollywood projects like Mission: Impossible II (1999) and independent efforts like 28 Days Later (2001). Dependable in just about every field, from childrens fantasy he was Alastor Mad-Eye Moody in three of the Harry Potter films to epics like Gangs of New York (2002), to even more intimate projects like Breakfast on Pluto (2005) and In Bruges (2008), Gleesons versatility elevated him to the pantheon of the character actors character actor.
Born March 29, 1955 in Dublin, Ireland, Gleeson took to drama at an early age, and participated regularly in school productions. The works of Irish playwrights held particular interest to him, so as a high schooler, he tackled one of the most challenging roles in that countrys canon Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Upon graduation, he performed with the Dublin Shakespeare Festival while earning his keep as an office worker at a health board. On the advice of a director at the Dublin Festival, he auditioned for and was accepted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated with honors. Gleeson then returned to Dublin, where he supported himself as a teacher while continuing to perform in local theater. After an opportunity to audition for the Royal Shakespeare Company presented itself, he returned to England to spend a few seasons with the acclaimed troupe.
The exposure and acclaim gave Gleeson the impetus to begin auditioning for films and television, and by 1989, he was landing small roles in UK television and features like Neil Jordans The Field, which marked his motion picture debut. He earned positive reviews for his performance as Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins in The Treaty (ITV, 1991), and by the following year, was making his first appearance in an American feature the Ron Howard epic Far and Away (1992). But it was Mel Gibsons bloody epic Braveheart that gave Gleeson his widest exposure to an international audience; as Hamish Campbell, loyal if brutish lieutenant to Gibsons William Wallace, Gleeson became a go-to for rough-hewn characters that let their fists do the talking in films like I Went Down (1997) and The Butcher Boy (1998).
Gleesons true range got a stellar showcase in John Boormans drama The General (1998), which recounted the life and celebrity of Irish master criminal Martin Cahill. His larger than life performance as the roguish thief, whose daring robberies and open flaunting of the law made him something of a folk hero in Dublin during the 1970s and 1980s, earned him numerous international awards, including Best Actor from the London and Irish Film Critics associations. The exposure also allowed him to make the jump to more significant roles in Hollywood projects, which began with John Woos mega-hit Mission: Impossible II (2000), starring as the nefarious head of a biochemical company which plans to develop a deadly virus.
By the launch of the new millennium, Gleeson was dividing his time between major studio efforts like Steven Spielbergs A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Martin Scorseses Gangs of New York (2002) with UK films like Boormans The Tailor of Panama (2001) and Danny Boyles 28 Days Later (2001), as well as smaller independent features like Wild About Harry (2000) and Harrisons Flowers (2000). In all cases, Gleesons trademark attributes intense focus and emotional drive, as well as an essential everyman quality, no matter what the social standing of the role were on full display. In Gangs, his former street fighter abandons his knife for the role of sheriff in 19th century New York, while his working class father in 28 Days offers a glimpse of structure and humanity to a post-apocalyptic London until a mutant virus turns him into a ravenous killer. Gleesons talent allowed him to tackle such intensely physical roles as well as quieter turns, like an out-of-control TV chef who undergoes a personality change after losing his memory in Wild about Harry.
The year 2003 saw Gleeson working extensively in large-scale productions like Cold Mountain (2003) and Wolfgang Petersens Troy (2004), for which he played the prideful King Menelaus, who launches the Trojan War after his wife, Helen, is stolen by Orlando Blooms Paris. Supporting turns in M. Night Shyamalans disappointing The Village (2004) and the expensive flop Kingdom of Heaven (2005) preceded Gleesons scaling back to more independent projects like Breakfast on Pluto (2005), which found him taking transgender orphan Cillian Murphy under his wing. He also reunited with John Boorman for The Tigers Tail (2006), a dark fantasy drama about a wealthy developer (Gleeson) whose underhanded deals have not only left him on the brink of financial disaster, but plagued by an identical and homicidal twin.
Gleeson did not stray from big-budget projects for long. In 2005, he was cast as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Alastor Mad-Eye Moody so named for his glaring false eye in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the London Film Critics Circle. He returned to the role in two sequels 2007s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (2010) and lent his voice and form to Wiglaf, trusted friend to Beowulf (2007) in Robert Zemeckis CGI-animated adventure.
In 2008, Gleeson was cast as a kind-hearted hit man in the black comedy In Bruges. As veteran killer Ken, Gleeson showed his comic skills as well as enormous warmth to his partner, the hapless Ray (Colin Farrell), whom Ken is ordered to but declines to murder after the younger man is devastated by the accidental murder of a child. The little-seen comedy found itself on the receiving end of numerous awards from the Golden Globes at the end of 2008, with a Best Supporting Actor nod going to Gleeson himself. The actor was further honored with nominations from the British Independent Film Awards and the Satellite Awards for his stellar work. Meanwhile, he delivered a sterling performance as Winston Churchill in the historical drama, Into the Storm (HBO, 2009), which earned the actor an Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie.
Copyright © Baseline 2009.