Worries

7 September 2025

Brendan Gleeson thinks social media makes people seem “hideous”.

Brendan Gleeson worries about social media

The 70-year-old actor is concerned about online algorithms that seemingly work to isolate people and stressed the importance of spreading kindness and bonding through connections and experiences.

He told The Sunday Times’ Culture magazine: “It’s making people seem hideous to each other. If I do a project that makes people somehow feel less alone, that’s the gift. I think most people want to be good people, I think they’re happier when they are. Kindness always reverts to feeling better about yourself.

“We need to keep reiterating this to young people.”

The Banshees of Inisherin star has read untrue things about himself online and tries to get inaccuracies corrected.

He said: “I didn’t actually train as an actor. Somebody put it up on Wikipedia. I told them to take it down a hundred times. I started doing it with a group of fellas in secondary school. And a group of the lads started up a theatre group afterwards. That’s how I started doing it, building sets and seeing how lights work.”

The Harry Potter star – who has four sons including wife Mary – began his acting career while also teaching English in secondary schools and recalled how “alarming” his first screen jobs were when he took the leap to act full time.

He said: “I didn’t know anything about film. So I had to do [the Irish soap opera] Glenroe to find out what happens when the camera goes on my face, which was very alarming.”

Although Brendan believes it has always been a “hard” profession to break into, he advised aspiring actors to create their own opportunities and embrace regional theatre, however small the potential audience.

He said: “It’s always been hard but what I always say to people is, put on your own [show]. Don’t wait for anybody. One of the few good things that happened with the [Celtic] Tiger [economy] was they built a whole load of regional little theatres. It’s an opportunity for people to start writing contemporary stuff and writing stuff that’s relevant to this particular generation.

“Put them on in these places. People are craving it, they want the connections. People will come. If the stuff is good and entertaining and it’s about their lives, they will come.”