Brendan Gleeson on Latest Film ‘Live By Night’

Jan 14, 2017

Posted by: Dawn Johnson

Films, Gleeson, Gleeson Interviews, HP Cast, Interviews, Movies, News, Trailers

Brendan Gleeson is best known to Harry Potter fans as the imposing and eccentric dark-wizard catcher, auror Mad-Eye Moody. In his latest film, Live By Night, he plays another complex character on the hunt–the hunt for those who find themselves on the wrong side of the law of the land.

Gleeson is Thomas Coughlin, a Boston-Irish cop caught in a difficult position. It’s the era of prohibition and crime runs rampant. His son, Joe, is stuck in the middle of the war between the Irish mob and the mafia. Like any concerned father, Coughlin tries to get involved, but this may be one problem he can’t solve as Joe is drawn deeper and deeper into the gangsters’ world.

Gleeson, himself a father of four sons, told Mail Online:

“Being a father informed the part, of course…But the thing about my character is that he has two families – has the cops and he has his son and it’s very compromising.”

His son is played by Ben Affleck, who also directs the film. With the critically-acclaimed films Argo and The Town under his belt, Affleck seems to be hitting his stride as both an actor and director. And he’s familiar with this type of role, channeling the raw frustration of the hometown boy trapped by his fate. It’s not unlike the character he portrayed alongside Matt Damon in the film that won them an Oscar for Best Screenplay (Good Will Hunting). It’s how you choose to handle it that makes the difference.

Gleeson mulls over the internal conflict Joe faces, which eventually pulls him into a tailspin of violent external conflict. He observes:

“Joe would have come home from the [First World] War ­disillusioned and he doesn’t want to follow the rules any more, and I think he knows he’s going from one hell to another, but he keeps holding out the torch to his father.”

Gleeson

The gritty drama seems to suit Gleeson, a devout family man and native of Ireland, who never considered leaving it for Hollywood. He’s a serious man who viewers take seriously, and it comes through in the way he treats his work.

He came late to a career in acting–teaching English was his first profession–so he never took it for granted. Gleeson recalled:

“To begin with anyway, you don’t know what money is coming in or when, so I still have the natural impulse to get up and work, to put bread on the table…I never actually contemplated taking on anything I thought was going to be rubbish or wouldn’t work so I was always pretty selective, but it has only been in the past five years where I’ve thought I’m actually going to calm down a little bit.”

He might be assuming a more leisurely schedule, but his work ethic will undoubtedly remain strong and be reflected, along with his superb talent, in any film he takes on.

He can currently be seen in the film Alone in Berlin, co-starring Emma Thompson, which opened January 13th. Live By Night also opened yesterday. Catch a glimpse of Brendan Gleeson in the trailer below:

For Mail Online’s full interview with Gleeson, read here.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.