The radical empathy of Brendan Gleeson

In the context of Hollywood filmmaking, €20 million is chump change. 

In the context of the Irish healthcare system, €20 million pays for a new hospice.

For Dublin’s own Brendan Gleeson, he happens to have first-hand experience of both.

A cultural institution that has worked with everyone from Martin Scorsese to Paddington Bear, the one thing that strikes you about sitting across a table from Brendan Gleeson is how imposing he is.

It’s natural to feel nerves when talking to a major cultural icon; within 30 seconds of sitting down to speak to him, it feels like talking to an old friend or family member.

When you ask him a question, he gives you the most thoughtful, lucid responses and thanks you at the end of the interview for asking such a “thoughtful set of questions.”

On the grounds of St Francis’ Hospice in Raheny, the actor was spending the day talking to the press about his efforts to raise money for a new 24-bed in-patient unit, where both of his parents received care.

The winning, charitable nature is one of the reasons why Gleeson has become something of a global ambassador for the Irish arts; he wasn’t talking to the press to plug a betting company, it was to promote a cause that was near and dear to his heart.

“It’s a real beacon of hope and an example of the bright side – which is strange, as it’s in the business of death – but it has fulfilled that function for me since my parents died.”

Gleeson was full of praise for the staff at the hospice, calling them “a bunch of compassionate people,” and said “they make it clear that there is a better side to people.”

“If things are done with professionalism and compassion at the top of the tree, and not done with money-making in mind, it’s a way to make life more beautiful in hard times.”

As for adding his international stardom to a local cause that is very close to his heart, he explained, “it continually reinvigorates my belief that there is good in people, and that’s something in short supply at the moment.”

“One of the things I love about this project is that these people aren’t just compassionate, but they are ambitious; they want to make things better.”

The new unit will enable staff at the hospice to care for an extra 3,000 patients over the next 25 years.

The fundraiser invites people to contribute to the build by buying a brick for €25, €100, or €250 and leaving their name or message on a Virtual Community Support Wall.

Gleeson said, “to leave the better part of yourself out in the public space is an amazing thing.”

2024 saw Gleeson appear in the big-budget sequel to Joker, but he also threw his clout behind a documentary about his love of playing music.

Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s, which aired on TG4 last Christmas and screened at the Lighthouse and IFI, examined Gleeson’s relationship with the Dublin pub, a place where he played music for many years before its closure in 2021.

Farewell To Hughes’s is a perfect encapsulation of why Gleeson has attained a significant global fandom despite not using social media; he has movie star charisma, but is approachable, has boundless intelligence, but is warm to be around.

“Music gave me massive balm for the soul and a relief from the relentless changes. You’d come home, wasted out from somewhere, you’d go to Hughes, and it has the music wash through you.”

Over the interview, the actor expressed concern about the state of the world, but the throughline was that he has an unwavering belief in the power of the arts in trying times.

“It’s a cliché, but art makes you feel less alone,” he said.

“There’s a catharsis and a shared experience that we’re all in this together,” and he relayed it back to acting.

Gleeson is gearing up for a return to the stage for the first time in a decade later this year, in a production of The Weir.

He will be threading the boards at the Olympia Theatre before a stint at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London, and he said getting the chance to deliver the words of playwright Conor McPherson appealed to him.

He said that acting on stage is perhaps the most vulnerable an actor can be, and that, he argues, is reason enough to try.

The decision to return to the stage was an easy one for Gleeson, saying that The Weir is “a beautiful piece of writing I got very excited about.”

“To me, the most important aspect is not how therapeutic it is for you (the actor) but how therapeutic it is for the audience. Your function is to make that happen as much as you can.”

Since he last appeared on stage, Gleeson’s global profile has grown massively; an Oscar nomination for Banshees Of Inisherin, playing Donald Trump in the TV series The Comey Rule, and his performance in Paddington 2 won him a whole new generation of fans. 

The question posed is whether stage acting is like muscle memory that an actor doesn’t forget.

The trademark laugh.

“I don’t know, we’ll find out!” and confessed that there still might be “some teetering on the bike, as it were. We will see if the cliché is true.”

Gleeson’s list of credits is exhaustive; to some people he might be best known for his role in the Harry Potter movies, others might recall his work with Martin McDonagh.

When asked if there was any particular director he wanted to work with, he was adamant that he didn’t operate on that level, but confessed getting the chance to work with the Coen Brothers was something he couldn’t turn down.

He said that working with the Minnesota filmmakers was something he wanted to check off the bucket list, and he got his opportunity with the 2018 film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

In 2021, he got a further opportunity to work with Joel Coen by playing King Duncan in Coen’s spin on Macbeth in The Tragedy Of Macbeth. 

The Oscar nomination for Banshees Of Inisherin was regarded as a well-overdue nomination for one of Ireland’s great actors (indeed, he was nominated alongside fellow Northsiders Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan for the Martin McDonagh film) and he recalls “we had a great night at the Oscars,” despite the film going home empty-handed.

“You’re sitting there at the Oscars and you’re going ‘Jesus, this is pretty amazing,’” he recalled.

Nearly 40 years into a stellar career, he was asked if there was ever a time when he felt like he had “made it.”

Trademark Gleeson, down-to-earth response: “ah, you don’t ever think that.”

He said the “big thing” was when he no longer had to do auditions and directors were crafting characters with his vibe or type specifically in mind.

He expressed a quiet pride that his body of work “speaks for itself.”

Speak, it certainly does.

The Buy a Brick campaign will run throughout the construction pase and until the new in-patient unit is completely paid for.

To participate, visit https://www.sfh.ie/buy-a-brick/ or contact the Fundraising Department at 01-8327535