I was trapped in Australia as my father died, says Dornan
THE actor Jamie Dornan has revealed he was stranded in quarantine in Australia when he learnt his father had died from coronavirus.
Dornan, 39, who starred in crime drama The Fall, said the loss had made 2021 “the worst year” of his life.
The Belfast-born actor said he had four days remaining of his mandatory hotel quarantine in Australia, ahead of filming BBC drama The Tourist last March, when he received the news and was unable to travel to Northern Ireland.
His father, Jim, had been in hospital for a knee operation when he succumbed to Covid-19.
“It’s been a brutal time for lots of reasons and for lots of people. We’re all just trying to ride it out and come out the other side – and hope we’ve got our heads intact,” he told The Sun.
Dornan said his father had helped him navigate the loss of his mother, Lorna, from pancreatic cancer when he was 16, telling him: “Don’t let this be the thing that defines you.”
Jim, a renowned obstetrician and gynaecologist, had also strongly supported his son’s acting career.
“I’ve been subjected, early on in my life and now, to a lot of pain and loss,” Dornan said. He is about to star in Belfast, Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Oscartipped film, with Dame Judi Dench.
The comedy drama follows a boy and his working class family navigating life during the Troubles in the late Sixties.
Dornan, who lives in Gloucestershire with his wife, Amelia Warner, 39, and three daughters, said the plot had resonated with him on a personal level.
“If you’re from Belfast, no matter what era you grew up in, you’ve been through something. You’ve been through a certain hardship and you’ve been tested at many different stages of your life,” he said.
Dornan plays a father – based on Branagh’s own father – who travels to England to escape the violence back in Belfast. It is due to be released in the UK next week.