Domhnall Gleeson seems like he is good at being bad, well “acting” bad anyways…on screen as General Hux in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. while I am not a fan of his character, I am a fan of him. I can say that after sitting down to chat with him about his role, he is a sweet guy who has not yet seen the movie because he wants to watch it with an audience as they experience it (isn’t that nice?).
Here is what Domhnall Gleeson had to say…
Have you seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi yet?
“No, they had a screening for the cast, and I think it was the right idea. I decided I would rather see it with like two thousand people who don’t know what’s going to happen. Just the feeling in the room of like, cause at the Force Awakens, that premier was insane. I was there with my dad and my friend Lawrence. Like what the hell is going on. Like, whoops and cheering and big gasps and everything. I didn’t want to miss out on that being my first experience with the film, so I’m waiting…”
Can you tell us a little bit about your character arc in the first film versus the character arc in this film?
“No. (laughing) The character arc in the first film, he goes from a very good place to a very bad place concerning his standing in things. I think it’s pretty obvious. He wants his place on the throne. He wants to be in charge of Kylo Ren as an opposed to whenever Snoke goes, that’s what Hux wants. And so that’s what he would like. But he’s in a really much worse place at the end of the first movie than he was at the beginning in terms of achieving that goal.
And that’s where we start the second movie, so, just regarding an arc, you’re just starting the character in a much worse place. A much more desperate place, much more uncomfortable place. I think that’s a good place to put somebody like Hux. Taking a step back from him and thinking objectively, you want Hux to suffer. That is what you wish for somebody like that, who behaves like that, and who carries himself like that. And I liked creating somebody that that would end up being the feeling you would have for him. So we start with a place where we’re ready to see him suffer.
Now, in the first film, we saw that you channeled a lot of inner rage. How did you channel this for yourself and ultimately find the character that you wanted to portray?
I think, even less than, or more than rage, I think there’s a desperation about him, which is very unbecoming. There’s a need at all times to make sure that everybody knows that he’s important; that they should do what he says, that he deserves his position in things. But he knows that he’s not as powerful as Ren, really when it comes to it. If it came to a first fight, he’s dead within ten seconds. And Ren wouldn’t have to use his fist. He’d just like force choke him or whatever.
So that’s where he is at all times. You just put yourself in a desperate place, and then say, right I’m getting rid of that. Now I’m pretending that I’m powerful, even though something in there is worried that you’re not. I think insecurity is where he, those are not solid foundations, you know? And that’s where we tried to start him from.”
If you had a lightsaber in real life, what color would it be?
“I do have a lightsaber in real life, it’s just one of the plastic ones, (Laughing), and it’s red…when I went to one of the premieres last time around, Harrison Ford was there, and they were giving out these plastic ones to the fans, and I picked a green one ‘cause I’m Irish. And then, we were at the thing and just Harrison Ford’s like the coolest man in the world. So I was talking to my agent and I was kind of waving the thing around, and I saw Harrison Ford was looking over at me, and I was like, oh, (laughing). So, yeah, I got my photo with him. That was super cool, and- but yeah, so I’ve got a red one and a green one. So, you know what I mean; mix and match, depending on my mood.”
Can we say that Han Solo is your ultimate, favorite character in Star Wars?
“Can you say that? I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that. See, when I was a kid, I was like an Indiana Jones kid. More than Star Wars even. So that was like my childhood was Harrison Ford in a different movie. And by the time I kinda came up then, the prequels were coming out, and I saw them in the cinema, but I’d never seen the original trilogy, any of them in the cinema. I just missed it. And then my big experience was when I was deciding whether I could be in the Force Awakens, JJ (Abrams) gave me a file of the original Star Wars, and I watched it on a big screen… then they all became my favorites. How diplomatic is that? They’re all my favorites. Yeah, but I do love Han Solo.”
Is there ever a moment on set where you had a geek-out moment, like, oh my gosh, I’m in this.
“Oh my gosh? That’s so polite, (laughter). I use different words. Yes, there are. There are lots of moments like that because of the scale of things. Because of how much Star Wars means to people. Just the history of it. I mean, there aren’t many. Harry Potter was a huge journey. Those films were over ten years or something like that, you know what I mean? This has been going on since.
There are so many things which are part of growing up, which are part of people’s childhoods. Star Wars would have been the first movie that a lot of people, you know what I mean? Like all those things. There’s just something that’s a position of privilege, so loads of moments like that. Anytime, without giving anything away of who I worked with on this or didn’t work with, but when you’re on set, other people have to come on set to show Rian a costume in person, or, you know, to talk to him about something.
So the days when you don’t know somebody’s gonna be in, and you’re kinda talking to Rian about something and then Mark Hamill just stoles up in his Luke Skywalker gear, you’re like what the f- (laughing). You’re like, oh my gosh! (wink) Those moments, when you’re not expecting them. He’s there on a Star Wars set and you’re like, what are you doing in the evil place? Why are you hanging out here, and it’s like, oh he just here to see Rian. Like, those things are kind of amazing. Those where you pinch yourself.
You said you watched all the films. Did you take anything from past villains and bring it into General Hux?
You can’t steal, right, but like obviously his place in things at the beginning of the film is like Peter Cushing’s kind of role. That’s kind of, like, in terms of just the scheme of the way the villains are set up. He would be kind of fulfilling that role a little bit, so the wat the Peter Cushing, just that very clipped English accent I liked for that. But then you have to go to the real world to find you influences. ‘Cause you can’t take your character notes from other characters. I think you want to base it on something that’s real.
“You know, that you can kind of look into, so I understood where he stood in things, but no, the influences would have come from elsewhere. And also just about how he’s got to fit into the story. That was a real process with JJ of understanding the most interesting version of Hux, which is not there from the very beginning. That is the one that’s very dysfunctional with Kylo Ren and battling for their place in things. And for favor from Snoke. That ended up, finding that along the journey, as opposed to it being there from the very beginning.”
What is it like to be sitting in a room full of people who have not seen the film and having to be careful with what you say?
“It’s weird, right. That is another reason it was good for me not to watch the movie because I would have spoiled it for all of you already. My mother has form in this regard. She is the worst person to give away the endings of movies, so I try and make sure I don’t put myself in that position. It’s odd. It’s really easy to say nothing. It’s really difficult to say a little but not too much. And that’s where we exist in this week. Because all the way up until now, we’ve been allowed to say nothing. And now we are expected to say a little. And that’s much harder.”
Okay, so how does it end?
“I’m not telling you how it ends. No, I won’t, (laughing).”
In Harry Potter, you were in Gryffindor, on the good side, and now you’re playing a villain. Which, which do you tend to side with more personally? Are you light or are you dark?
“We all have our dark moments, you know, everybody has those, and those moments when you remind yourself that you should be a person than what your instinct to do is or whatever, that there are other people. Hopefully, I’m not that bad about remembering that the good of the people is more important than the good of your own thing. These days are getting trampled all over all over the place. I’ve never killed anyone, (laughing). Yeah, you just start there and work backward.
So, when you were describing Hux, it does sound very similar to the current climate. So how much does Star Wars, and not even just this movie, but how much does Star Wars really kind of reflect our times in which we are living?
This will sound like I’m hedging my bet right, but like, most pieces of great art reflect something about the times you live in, no matter when you live. And I’ve heard that this film is particularly, you can do whatever you want with it regarding it being contemporary and relatable to people and all the rest of it. I think that there’s never a lack of evil or not evil. Never a lack of bad intention in the world.
And people only out for their own interest and the interest of the few. That’s been around forever and will always be around. That’s not gonna disappear. So I think you can just compare it to anytime, but obviously, what brilliance of Star Wars is that when you watch it you can be entertained by the dark side, whereas in real life, that isn’t entertaining, that’s terrifying. Different.”
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be in theaters December 15, 2017
In the meantime, do you want to know more about Star Wars? Check out these posts:
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Interview with Laura Dern
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Interview with Gwendoline Christie
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Interview with Kelly Marie Tran
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Press Conference Recap & Highlights
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Press Junket Recap
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Interview with Harrison Ford
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Interview with Daisy Ridley
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Interview with J.J. Abrams
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Interview with Lupita Nyong’o and Oscar Isaac
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Interview with John Boyega
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Interview with Kathleen Kennedy
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Global Press Event
Rogue One
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Interview with Felicity Jones
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Interview with Diego Luna
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Interview with Riz Ahmed
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Interview with Ben Mendelsohn
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Interview with Alan Tudyk & Mads Mikkelsen
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Interview with Donnie Yen
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Interview with Director Gareth Edwards
Visiting LucasFilm Headquarters for Rogue One
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*I was invited to attend the Star Wars: The Last Jedi Press Junket. All of my lodging meals and transportation were provided by Disney. However, all opinions are my own.
