Domhnall Gleeson talks fame, his father, and “Star Wars” in new interview

Domhnall Gleeson, best known for his role as Bill Weasley in the last two installments of the Potter franchise, recently sat down with ComingSoon.net to talk about his upcoming film roles.

Domhnall’s next role is in Jon Ronson and Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank, which is their tribute to avant-garde British comedian/musician Frank Sidebottom. However, the interview quickly turned to his current project, Star Wars: Episode VII, which is shrouded in mystery. Even his costume has to remain secret, according to Domhnall.

When you walk from your trailer to the set – you’re in Pinewood Studios – you have to put on a big, black cloak thing to cover all of your clothes, like full length, ’cause they’re worried about people seeing costumes and stuff. It’s crazy.

ComingSoon.net [CS]: So far it’s worked pretty well.

Gleeson: There’s a guy in that window out there with a sniper rifle trained on you and another one that’s trained on me right now, and they can hear every word we’re saying, and if you ask a question that disrespects the NDA [non-disclosure agreement] there’s just going to be a *poof*.

When Domhnall refused to spill the secrets of the Star Wars set, the interview turned to his father (Brendan Gleeson who played Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody) and whether he had passed on any advice for dealing with fame.

CS: I talked to your father a few weeks ago for ‘Calvary,’ which you’re also great in.

Gleeson: Thank you very much. I’m very proud of having a small part in a very fantastic movie.

CS: I asked him if he gave you any advice for the onslaught of fame you’re about to go through, and he said you were beyond advice at this point in your life.

Gleeson: I think he’s being very nice to me there. I think he’s respecting me publicly, but the truth is, I ask my father for advice all the time and everybody needs advice, but you’d be foolish not to seek it out from someone like him, who’s a very good man and a very good actor. The fame thing we’ve talked about at various points, but the truth is you never know where it’s going to come from. When my dad did ‘Harry Potter’ we thought everything was gonna go nuts for him, and it wasn’t ‘Harry Potter’ that made everything nuts for him, it was ‘In Bruges’ and then ‘The Guard’ in terms of walking down the street and getting stopped a lot. Those are the movies that did it, and they’re not the ones you’d expect. So just because I’m doing ‘Star Wars’ doesn’t mean that’ll be the thing that makes people stop me in the street. Maybe they won’t EVER, so it’ll be fine.

It sounds like Domhnall is well suited for fame. Frank opens in select theaters on August 15.

Although Domhnall can’t tell us whom he’s playing in the new Star Wars movie, we’re completely free to speculate! Who do you think he’s going to play? Jedi? Sith? Imperial officer? Tell us your ideas in the comments!