A FAMILY
BUSINESS
Gleeson’s father
Brendan and brother
Brian are also actors,
and the trio is working
on a short film. “But
I’m not from some
acting dynasty or
anything like that,”
Domhnall maintains.As Milne,
Gleeson pays
more attention
to the bear
than the boy
(Tilston)EVERYONE HAS A SOFT SPOT FORWINNIE-THE-
Pooh. Everyone, that is, except Domhnall Gleeson,
who had never read aPooh book until he was cast as
the beloved bear’s creator, A.A. Milne, and picked
one up for research. “I was happy to find that they
were good,” he says cheerfully, sipping a soft drink
in a plush London hotel in late September. “Some
things are inexplicably popular, butPooh is not. You
really understand why people love it so much.”
Gleeson understands what it’s like to be
popular, at least with casting directors:Goodbye
Christopher Robin is only the third of his six films
due out this year. The charismatic Dubliner’s
talent is obvious from the eclectic range of roles
he’s taken on since breaking out as the affable Bill
Weasley in theHarry Potter franchise. So far in
2017, he’s bossed around Tom Cruise in the crime
thrillerAmerican Made and creeped out Jennifer
Lawrence inmother! In the forthcomingStar Wars:
The Last Jedi, he’ll battle the Resistance as the
ruthless General Hux.
The copper-haired 34-year-old is clearly
unafraid of venturing outside his comfort zone—
if he even has one. “As an actor, you should feel
like you’re wrestling the material, like it’s using
up your energy and your resources. You should be
drained by the process,” he says. “I think the key
is not to be comfortable.”
Comfortable is not how audiences will feel
watching Gleeson take on Milne. Far from the
child-friendly stroll in the park one might expect of
a film about honey-doped Pooh,Robin is a dark tale
of child neglect and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Gleeson stars alongside Margot Robbie, reuniting
after their 2013 love storyAbout Time, about a far
more functional father-son relationship. InRobin,
Milne’s son (Will Tilston) yearns for intimacy with
his distant father, a British war hero, who is too
busy promoting the characters he created to spend
time with the boy who inspired them.
Both Gleeson and Robbie, who is Australian,
required vigorous vocal training to affect the
plummy English accents of Milne and his wife
Daphne. “I would recite poems with my dialogue
coach to help practice my voice,” he recalls. One
was Philip Larkin’s “This Be the Verse,” which
begins, “They f-ck you up, your mum and dad.”
Quips Gleeson: “I think it was pretty appropriate
for the film.”GLEESON’S RELATIONSHIPwith his own father
hardly mirrors the disconnect between Milne and
his son. He is close with Brendan Gleeson, the
award-winning actor known for films likeBrave-
heart and, alongside his son,Harry Potter. When
Domhnall was young, he saw how much the pro-
fession fulfilled his father, which fueled his desire
to become an actor. “I also knew that it was des-
perately difficult when you were not working,” he
adds. Domhnall’s younger brother Brian is also an
actor, and the pair appeared together inmother!
“That movie was hardcore, difficult and very
stressful,” he recalls. “My brother and I absolutely
went at it.” No spoilers, but suffice to say things
don’t end well between them onscreen.
Gleeson has done a lot for an actor his age. His
résumé also includes the sci-fi mysteryEx Machina,
wintry westernThe Revenant and the epic romance
Anna Karenina. What, to him, accounts for this
early success? Gleeson points to a long-held,
irrational belief that he would die prematurely.
“I always had this strange sense that I was going to
be dead by the time I hit 30 and felt this voracious
desire to leave my mark before I went,” he says.
“The fact I’ve made it to 34 feels bizarre.” Not
that survival has driven his desire away. “I’ve just
pushed the benchmark to 40 now.” □ACTING
Domhnall Gleeson proves (once
more) he can do almost anything
By Kate Samuelson
104 TIME October 23, 2017
Time OffMovies
GLEESON: DAVID APPLEBY—TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX; HOFFMAN: MATT BARON—REX/SHUTTERSTOCK