Aidan Gillen has long been acknowledged as one of Ireland’s most intense and respected actors – and personally, something of an enigma. Quiet but deeply good-natured, Gillen radiates a palpable intelligence alongside a slightly distant quality that hints at a myriad of thoughts and ideas constantly bubbling under the surface.
Over the past few years, the Dublin actor has become well-known for harnessing that energy to portray a series of fascinating characters: terrifying gangster John Boy in Love/Hate; controversial Taoiseach Charlie Haughey in Charlie; and master manipulator Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish in Game Of Thrones. However, fans will also know him for his brilliant comedic abilities, a skill that’s again on display in Mark Noonan’s bittersweet dramedy You’re Ugly Too. Here, he plays Will, an ex-con who’s released from prison on condition that he will take care of his orphaned niece, a precocious young girl whose sharp tongue complements Will’s easy-going charm. For Gillen, the opportunity to play a warm, rough- and-tumble character was irresistible.
“You try to get away from what people might think of you after seeing you play a gangster or whatever,” he explains. “You want them to kind of forget about the last version of you that they saw, keep them guessing. I like to do that.”
For an actor who likes to play characters from all walks of life, it turns out Gillen was a bit too good at playing the bad guy.
“At one point I realised there wasn’t as much variety in my roles as I thought there should be,” he acknowledges. “I felt I really needed to pinball people’s expectations – I was getting sent all these very cold, villainous roles. Initially I was seduced by it, because I had played innocent victims up until 1995 or 1996 – there was no way anyone would ever cast me as the bad guy. But then I did this film Mojo in which I played a killer, and suddenly it started me on this whole new track. I had to be reminded that I used to do the comedy stuff!”
Mark Noonan knew Gillen’s comedic talent so well that he wrote the role of wise-cracking Will specifically for him, and the actor and director also bonded over their shared passion for seeing unique relationships portrayed on film.
“The idea of doing a kind of double-hander with a kid seemed really interesting,” enthuses Gillen. “I also found the touchstones of the film really appealed to me. They wouldn’t necessarily reveal themselves to everyone, but references to Paper Moon etc really spoke to me; that relationship between a kid and an adult where the kid is the smart one and the Dad is a bit of a cad.”
Gillen’s approach to acting is a blend of analysis and raw emotion. He refers to films like Paris, Texas, Wim Wenders’ Alice In The City and Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men as mental reference points when developing his character in You’re Ugly Too – but he also went method, refusing to meet his young co-star Lauren Kinsella before filming.
“I’ve done that before,” he notes. “I worked with Dominic Savage on a film called Freefall and it was the same. The actors don’t really meet each other, but you also don’t really have a script – you’re just reacting. So someone can knock on your door and you genuinely don’t know, it could be the police, a neighbour, a prostitute – and whatever happens, the cameras will keep running. I found that approach really thrilling. In You’re Ugly Too it makes sense, because the characters have to get to know each other, and the trust really has to grow. So you have characters and actors who hopefully have a desire to get to know one another – and if the camera can catch that, then don’t come in having rehearsed for three days and having missed all those tiny moments.”
While Gillen may still approach his work like a dedicated theatre actor or indie musician, thanks to Game Of Thrones he’s now perceived as a star – a new role he’s not quite sure how to play.
“It’s odd, definitely, and I don’t think I set out to be famous – but then that’s what happens if you’re an actor and you’re working! I dunno. It’s fine.”
Despite his reticence, fame has changed some aspects of his daily life – this year, for example, will be the first in many that the music lover and Other Voices presenter won’t venture down to Electric Picnic.
“That’s actually one of the places that it does get quite difficult,” he sighs. “I found that quite hardcore the last time I was there. It’s one thing people coming up to you on the street, but if it’s an enclosed environment like that, and people are in the festival mood, it can be quite crazy. People do all kinds of things. So I guess some things have changed.”