EW and the Irish actor dive deeper into his careerand even a little into the ghostly realm.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:The Little Strangerwas your second time working with Lenny Abrahamson.
Was thatpart of the appeal?DOMHNALL GLEESON:Yes.
Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Ive been really lucky with directors, but Lenny is special.
Hes maneuvering himself through his life carefully because hes aware that theres something inside of him.
As it goes on, you begin to feel the house is sick, the people are sick.
As the doctor, he tries to cure them, and then he gets sick himself.
You ask, Where is this all coming from?
Ive never believed in ghosts.
But Ive been terrified in the middle of the night sometimes.
And I dont know why.
And I think thats scarier: Your mind only gives you things that are useful.
You grew up with a parent whos an accomplished actor.
Did that influence your view on acting as a possible career?Yes.
Ive always understood that Ive got a huge amount to learn from my father.
Being around him…it makes me nervous, because you want to impress him.
But its not a competitive thing.
Your commercial breakthrough was theHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallowsmovies.
When they asked my dad to play Mad-Eye I was so incredibly excited.
I met some amazing people on that set.
Since then youve been in an eclectic mix of movies fromAbout TimetoThe RevenantandPeter Rabbit.
General Hux is ridiculous in lots of ways, but not in a hilarious way.
But just anything to do with that level of…whats the word?
At a certain point you say, Why is that man wearing that hat?
That doesnt make him more powerful.
And you were reunited with yourEx Machinacostar Oscar Isaac.
Working with Oscar onEx Machinawas amazing.
People that talented just make you better.
I feel like youve probably done all the accents at this point.
Does that help when youre trying to get into character?I think it helps now.
I used to think about it wrong, like it was a hump I had to get over.
And then I started thinking about it as the character, and thats bad too.
It has to come from yourself.
It has to come from who you are.
And not making it one against the other.
Its fitting a voice and an accent to a character and then forgetting about it.
Its the only way to make it work for me.
The Little Strangeropens Friday, August 31.
