I had the pleasure of speaking with “Cold Mountain’s” Brendan Gleeson ('Stobord') on the morning the Golden Globe nominations were announced. “Cold Mountain” had just received eight nominations, the most of any film considered in 2003. In this interview, Gleeson discusses how recognition helps the film, working with director Anthony Minghella, promoting “Cold Mountain,” and playing Renee Zellweger’s father. Gleeson also provides a small preview of one of his next big projects, “Troy.”
You’ve been very busy traveling the United States with this movie. Why did you decide to go on a press tour with “Cold Mountain?”
I was kind of encouraged to do it (laughing). They wanted to kind of push it out there. It was a particular project that took a lot of time making, and I kind of felt that it deserved to get an audience, you know? MGM pulled out at one stage and there were problems with trying to push it through. It kind of deserves the best shot it can get.
And apparently it got a good shot with eight Golden Globe nominations just announced.
That’s fantastic. That sets up a head of steam and that pushes it out there.
Does that help you with your enthusiasm while you’re promoting the movie, to know that it is being noticed and recognized by organizations such as the Hollywood Foreign Press?
As far as I’m concerned, the work stands on its own anyway. I mean, it’s always nice to get recognized. Obviously it’s a universal medium so you’re hoping that it’ll have universal appeal. I always reserve judgment in the sense that I have my own kind of feeling about what the movie is, its importance, and whether it was worth doing or whatever. But it’s obviously much better… We’re in the communication business and there’s no point in talking to an empty seat, as I say. No matter what you have to say, if the seat is empty there is no point. So it’s great that it’s spreading out there and it’s obviously moving people.
When you do Question and Answer sessions across the United States, what’s the most commonly asked question?
I think people are slightly nonplussed at the fact that there are so many non-Americans in the cast, and also the fact that it was filmed in Romania. There’s a kind of a fascination with that, for example. It’s just the whole internationalization of the industry. People are shooting everywhere for everywhere. It’s good, as far as I’m concerned, it’s great news that actors can be international, too. The boundaries are down a little bit.
Romania and why it was shoot there and why not in North Carolina was kind of something that did occupy people’s minds. All film is an illusion anyway. We were able to go into a time capsule in Romania that I don’t think would have been possible in North Carolina. But, it would have been interesting to be there, too. I would have been very interested to shoot down there.
In Romania, did you encounter a lot of difficulties with language problems or with the fact that they’re not used to such a big production being filmed there?
Yes, both of those. But in a sense, that was refreshing particularly for people like Nicole [Kidman]. They can walk about and there isn’t the same mad preoccupation with celebrity and everything else. There were advantages to go with that. They have a film structure over there. We were working in tandem with a local film company so the structure was kind of in place. But I think the language – people break through language. And it’s very beautiful country, you know? The set was a little bit isolated but I think that’s very good for the movie, given the movie as it was. It felt right to be out in the wilderness a little bit.
Had you read Charles Frazier's book prior to being cast in the movie?
No, I didn’t read it deliberately. I’d heard music from the book, and then I heard that they were interested in me so I deliberately didn’t read the book because I think you form too many opinions in your head. You kind of pepper the book with your own imagination and it’s very difficult to shake out of that. I wanted to read the screenplay first. Once I read that, I could take that as my initial impression and then use the book as a reference point and find if I could mine anything else out of it. That’s the way it happened for me really. The music was first, the screenplay was second, and the book third.
PAGE 2: Accents, Fiddles, and Renee Zellweger
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