‘Domhnall makes me laugh like a radiator being bled’
Aisling Bea plays Domhnall Gleeson’s wife in new series Alice & Jack
AISLING Bea has paid a glowing tribute to her fellow Irish actor and new on-screen partner Domhnall Gleeson, describing him as ‘a kindred soul’.
The pair became friends during the filming of the new Channel 4 series, Alice & Jack, created by filmmaker Victor Levin and described as a ‘love story for the ages’.
Star Wars and Peter Rabbit star Gleeson plays Jack, who is happily married to Lynn, played by Bea, before a phone call from his ex, Alice, turns their lives upside down.
Speaking ahead of the release of the series, Bea told how she and Gleeson have formed a close friendship off-screen.
The talented actress and screenwriter said: ‘When I first read the script, I knew Domhnall was attached and we’ve recently become friends. I’ve loved his work for years, but as a person, I feel I’ve met a brother.
‘I feel a bit of a kindred soul with Domhnall.’
The actor, whose real name is Aisling Clíodhnadh O’Sullivan, this week revealed to podcasters Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally that her stage name is a tribute to her late father Brian, who died by suicide when she was just three.
‘I took Bea from the start of Brian O Suilleabhain,’ she told the latest episode of My Therapist Ghosted Me, adding she was ‘carrying a bit of that trauma with me at all times, lest I forget.’
Speaking about her new role alongside Gleeson, Bea said that although both actors – and characters – are from Ireland, the parts were never ‘written Irish… they were never written for Domhnall and Aisling, the two least spellable names in the industry!’ The Kildare star said on their on-screen relationship: ‘What’s ended up being nice about us being cast together is it feels like there’s an element of the most obvious route.
‘The easiest route could’ve been Jack and Lynn together. It was easy, nothing was broken. They fit together culturally in the way they grew up and where they’re from. And then you’ve got this other situation that’s a bit more magnetising and blinding. It’s love that doesn’t always feel lovely. It’s dramatic love. That’s the one that he ends up being ultimately won over and drawn to.’
The 39-year-old award-winning comedian said Gleeson’s sense of humour helped their chemistry, both on and off screen. ‘Domhnall Gleeson makes me laugh like an old radiator getting bled,’ she said. ‘Real drama feels like people who make jokes and see the lightness in things. No matter what character I play, it’s important to find their sense of humour. Even if someone has no sense of humour, that’s quite funny.
‘When they’re (Bea and Gleeson’s characters) sniping at each other, if you put in their jokes, then it suddenly gets softened a little bit, and you actually see why they got together in the first place.’
Gleeson also praised his ‘fantastic’ co-star, describing her character as ‘a very strong, confident, funny person who shares the more traditional ideas about how their ideal relationship would be, and how love would work for them’.
The Harry Potter actor also spoke about rekindling his on-screen romance with the award-winning Andrea Riseborough, who plays Alice. The pair played romantic partners in the 2010 film Never Let Me Go and then siblings in thriller Shadow Dancer in 2012.
He said: ‘It’s kind of amazing to be back together so much further down the line and with so much more experience but getting to talk about similar stuff. Having worked
‘It’s a love that doesn’t always feel lovely’
together before certainly helps. There’s a language there, and there’s a trust there as well.’
Episode 1 of Alice & Jack airs on Channel 4 this Wednesday at 9pm.