Briain Gleeson has quickly become one of Ireland's busiest young actors. Is it thanks to his dad, Brendan, or because all the other 19-year-olds are busy studying? He talks to Róisín Ingle
Briain Gleeson has an audition in about an hour. During his short professional acting career he has passed every one he has gone for, but that doesn't mean they're a breeze. "I get very nervous during auditions," says one of the stars of John Boorman's film A Tiger's Taleand the new six-part RTÉ drama series Trouble in Paradise.
How does he deal with the nerves? "My dad says to try and let them propel you forward." "Dad" is the actor Brendan Gleeson, who has said in the past that if you are "a plumber it's quite on the cards that your sons will want to be plumbers". Enter 19-year-old Briain, who is turning out to be a very promising, er, plumber indeed. His latest audition is for a Channel 4 programme. "I don't want to say too much about it; you know, in case . . . "
Gleeson is charming, polite and seemingly unaffected by the fact that his father, whom he resembles, is a star. Briain is also shy. "Yes, I am," he says. "In this situation, anyway . . . I suppose acting lets you go a bit mad and express yourself in ways you wouldn't in real life. I'm shy, but I also have an obnoxious streak. That's there all right."
His roles so far have a kind of melancholy in common. "I think I get that from my dad," he says of his ability to portray intense, introverted and misunderstood characters. In A Tiger's Talehe played the son to his father's lead character, a businessman and neglectful parent. In Trouble in Paradisehe is again a neglected child who is given everything he could wish for materially but lacks parental love. Next month he appears in another RTÉ drama, Singlehanded, and then there is a "tiny" part in Martin McDonagh's first full-length feature, again with his dad.
Finding work doesn't seem to be a problem for Gleeson or his elder brother Domhnall, who is 23 and also an actor. Does he worry that people might think it's because of his famous father? "There are always going to be people who say stuff, but it just makes me think, right, I'll show them. It spurs you on. You have to prove yourself," he says. "My dad always says: 'I'll get you seen for the part, but I won't get you the part.' He'd be very against the whole thing where you're cast because you are related to someone."
"The way I look at it, everyone else is in college, so there isn't much competition for the 19-year-old roles," he says, smiling. Last year Gleeson, who lives at home in Malahide, Co Dublin, deferred his studies for an arts degree at University College Dublin when acting commitments took over.
"It's a really exciting time to be an actor in this country; there is so much great new drama being written, and a lot of it is about 21st-century Ireland, which is fascinating. A lot of writers are exploring this materialistic society we live in now and looking at how it's different to the Ireland of the past."
He has his own take on the challenges this Ireland presents for people of his generation. "I don't want to sound all lecturing," he says, "but I went to a private school, and my generation is not like my parents' generation, where you went out and got a job straight out of school. It's a generation with a huge amount of talent, but there are also lots of issues with alcohol and depression. A lot of talent is wasted because they have more financial support from their parents than there would have been in the past. The good thing is that it allows them more time to explore the arts and to find out what they really want to do with themselves, but it's about harnessing that, and it's not easy for everyone to do."
Gleeson says he is fortunate that his parents, Brendan and Mary, never spoiled him or his three brothers. "We were brought up to appreciate what we had. When I was younger I was made get a job in the local shop to earn a bit of money for myself, so that I knew what it was like in the real world, where you have to work and support yourself, and I think that was a good thing," he says.
Also a good thing was the fact that from a young age he's been able to observe his father at work on film sets. "I've learned a lot from him," he says. "On the set of A Tiger's Talehe left the father thing behind and he treated me like a fellow actor. He really wants me to see the ups and downs of the profession for myself."
In September it's back to college, to student life and the drama society, unless, he says, "a chance I absolutely cannot miss comes along". "There's a lot of bitterness in the profession, a lot of brilliant actors getting no work, and that makes people bitter," he says before heading off to his audition. "I'm loving acting at the moment, but I will only do it if I am happy. If I am not happy I will give it up."
Trouble in Paradise begins on RTÉ2 at 9.30pm on Monday