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Although Donald Gleeson Best known now for his role in “The Paper”, many “Star Wars” fans will only recognize him as General Hux from the “Star Wars” series. Gleeson played the generic First Order scheme alongside Adam Driver in 2015 “The Force Awakens”, “The Last Jedi” in 2017, and “The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019. In a new interview, Gleeson opened up about a scene that made him realize that Driver was a “superb” actor.
Dohmnall Gleeson recalls Adam Driver ‘shaking it out’ on ‘Star Wars’ set
When asked what it was like working with Driver, Gleeson called it “amazing,” “great,” and “really good.”
“He did things like that…we would get caught up in it. Especially in the first movie, we were finding out how these characters were related to each other, so that was a bit difficult,” he explained. “That was on the fly, but like, it was really cool.”
Gleeson went on to say, “He’s one of those guys who shakes you up. We were in a scene once, and I said the line a few times the same way, and I remember him saying, ‘Oh, I’ve never heard that before,’ or something like that, from behind the mask, and I was like, ‘Oh, good,’ he shakes me out of it, it’s the best thing my actor does, it’s the best thing he does.”
Donald Gleeson Reveals Why He Looks ‘So Angry’ In ‘The Last Jedi’
On Wednesday’s episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” the host asked Gleeson what first came to mind when he thought of “Star Wars.” His response? “Bedbugs.”
“I was staying in a hotel the night before shooting on my first day [The Last Jedi]and I got eaten alive by bed bugs,” Gleeson recalled, “And the hotel said they didn’t have bed bugs and I was imagining it and it was a lie.”
They suggested I wear pyjamas,” continued Gleeson. “That was the solution to not getting bitten. “
He believes that the unfortunate experience helped to influence his behavior on set. “When I look at it, I just think I was really itchy that day,” he said, according to EW. “That’s why I look so angry, I think. That’s why I played it that way.”
Drew Barrymore told him about his crush on Darth Vader
Later in the program, Drew Barrymore it was revealed that her “first crush” was Darth Vader.
“Isn’t that ridiculous?” asked Gleeson. “You seem like a nice person. You’re so beautiful.”
“It wasn’t that he looked like a dark man, but he was just sexy to me,” Barrymore admitted. “It was just, it was hot, it’s hot, and I gotta tell you, I wouldn’t say no to a stormtrooper either.”
She first discussed her crush on Darth Vader after actor David Prowse died in 2020. At the time, she recalled her recurring dream about the fictional Sith Lord.
“I used to have a dream again when I was a child,” she said. “I would run down those halls, it was clear that I was being chased, and then I would go to the panel in the wall, and I would do the things and the buttons to open the wall, but then the cape would close around him and the camera would go up and [Darth Vader] he looks down at me. I am in men in masks! “
Donald Gleeson talks about ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ Demise
“The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019 featured the death of General Hux, after it was revealed that he was actually a spy helping the Resistance after Kylo Ren killed Snoke and seized the mantle of the Supreme Leader in 2017’s “The Last Jedi.”
While speaking to interviewer Liv Marks, according to IGN, Gleeson said he wanted Hux’s character to be explored more on screen.
“Honestly speaking, it would have been nice to go into the real bitterness that is his heart in a quiet way. Just to find a couple of quiet moments with him where he’s not performing, where he’s facing real danger,” Gleeson said. “Because I think a kicking dog is going to attack somebody, and it’s a kicking dog by the end of that kind of stuff.”
“And so I think I would have liked to have gone into that devastating warning that I got shot in the chest by Richard E. Grant. And so I didn’t get to do that at all,” he continued. “But it was great, I had a great time at the movies.”
Gleeson also addressed his on-screen death in 2021
Back in 2021, Gleeson spoke to IndieWire about his role, according to Star Wars News Net. “It would be nice to stick around a little longer, for sure,” he said at the time. “It would be nice to see the spy thing play out a little bit, but JJ [Abrams] he knows what he’s doing, and I heard a kind of protest in the cinema when it happened, so I guess he was right.”
“The film is what the film needed to be, I think,” he continued. “There’s always stuff you’d like to see more of, but you can’t have a 17-hour movie, I’ve been told. Apparently that’s not allowed, so I was happy with what was there.”
He also joked about being shot by Grant again, saying, “I’ve been a fan of Richard’s work for a very, very, very long time. So if you’re bowing out to anybody, there’s a lot worse people to bow to.”
