Some actors become strongly associated with one particular kind of character. Domhnall Gleeson has somehow managed to avoid that. Across his career, he has played romantic leads, villains, anxious intellectuals, historical figures, comic characters and deeply troubled men — often without looking quite like the same actor twice.
Born in Dublin in 1983, Gleeson is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, but his career has developed very much on its own terms. He studied media arts before becoming involved in acting, writing and directing, and his early work included theatre as well as short films. He even received a Tony Award nomination for his performance in the Broadway production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
His first major exposure to a global audience came through Harry Potter, where he played Bill Weasley in the final two films. It was a relatively small role compared with some of the franchise's central characters, but it introduced him to an enormous audience.
Then came a series of roles that demonstrated just how difficult it is to put Gleeson into one category.
From Romance to Science Fiction
One of his most recognizable performances is Tim Lake in About Time. The film asks Gleeson to carry a romantic comedy while also exploring ideas about family, mortality, and appreciating ordinary moments. Tim is awkward and somewhat insecure, but there is a gentleness to the performance that makes him easy to follow through the story.
Gleeson has described About Time, Ex Machina, and Frank as among his favorite films he has worked on, joking that perhaps they were simply his favorites because he played the lead.
That contrast becomes particularly interesting when Ex Machina arrives.
As Caleb, Gleeson is again playing an intelligent but relatively ordinary young man who finds himself in an extraordinary situation. This time, however, his vulnerability becomes part of the tension. Caleb enters Nathan's isolated home fascinated by the possibility of artificial intelligence and gradually finds himself questioning what he knows about Ava, Nathan and eventually himself.
It is a very different performance from Tim, but Gleeson brings a similar openness to the character — something that lets the audience discover the situation alongside him.
His performance in Ex Machina became one of the defining points of his career, and the film remains one of the clearest examples of how effective he can be when an apparently ordinary character is slowly pushed into something psychologically extreme.
The Importance of Not Being Predictable
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Gleeson's filmography is what he does immediately after performances that could have defined his career.
He followed About Time with projects such as Frank, Calvary and Unbroken, before appearing in Ex Machina, Brooklyn, The Revenant and Star Wars. In 2015 alone, he appeared in four films that received Oscar nominations.
And then there is General Hux.
In the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Gleeson plays a character who is almost the opposite of Tim Lake. Hux is aggressive, authoritarian and desperate for power. There is also something slightly ridiculous about him, which Gleeson seems to understand perfectly.
That ability to find humor inside a character who could otherwise become a straightforward villain is one of Gleeson's strengths. He does not necessarily need to make a character sympathetic. Instead, he often finds something human, awkward, or strange inside them.
When the Character Becomes Uncomfortable
One of the best examples of this came with The Patient.
Gleeson plays Sam Fortner, a serial killer who kidnaps his therapist, played by Steve Carell, hoping therapy will help him stop killing. The role could easily have become a conventional portrayal of a dangerous man, but Gleeson makes Sam considerably more uncomfortable because of how ordinary he can appear.
Sam can be quiet, polite, and vulnerable before suddenly becoming frightening. The tension comes partly from never knowing which version of him will appear.
Gleeson has spoken about the responsibility of playing the character without reducing him simply to his crimes. The series explores the psychological relationship between Sam and his therapist, and the performance depends on maintaining that complicated balance.
A Career Built on Variety
There is also a lighter side to Gleeson's work. Frank allowed him to explore a much stranger kind of comedy, while Peter Rabbit put him into a completely different type of mainstream entertainment. He has also played A.A. Milne in Goodbye Christopher Robin, appeared in mother! and starred alongside his father in several projects.
His interest in comedy is particularly revealing. Gleeson has said that although he loves drama, working on something funny "keeps you alive", and that when choosing roles he mainly wants to be involved in things that are good and interesting.
That may actually be the simplest way to understand his career.
Domhnall Gleeson does not seem particularly interested in building one recognizable screen persona.
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