Since he wrote his memoirs and shows, he has met these people who have gone through similar experiences and buried them, without telling anyone. “I said, ‘Look, don’t be afraid. You can’t be afraid to say these things; it’s not your fault, it’s not a moral failure, it’s what happened to you.'” He paused. “For me, there has to be a special place in hell for people who harm children. The truth is that absolutely nothing happens on that stage that doesn’t happen in one form or another.”
Byrne’s candor is part of the show’s strength. For its director, Lonny Price – since he was in 25 Camelot The director knew the actor — the man who was an integral part of it. “What you see is what you get,” he said. “No crazy ego or posturing. He’s just a very kind, gentle, lovely guy. He can’t be dishonest on stage. You trust him because he does.”
Byrne Somewhat humble indeed. For all his success, he describes a severe lack of confidence, an almost puzzling feeling that he doesn’t deserve the fame he has found. “Success doesn’t mean much to me. It’s like trying to catch smoke. It’s okay, really. It’s how you feel about yourself that matters, because if you’re seeking approval from strangers, it’s never going to fill that hole.”
He said that now, 25 After years of sobriety, he finally found peace. He had never been in therapy, but slowly he calmed the doubts that plagued him—“There’s nothing I don’t say back, but I could have done better. I’m still thinking about how I acted when I was fresh out of college. I was thinking, God, why would I do that? That was a hundred years ago.”
He suddenly laughed. “I’m fine with myself now, I accept things as they are, but I just wish I had more encouragement as a kid. I really see the power of what it means to be someone’s mentor now.”
However, his discomfort with his profession remains. He hates the way actors are lumped together and described as fake: “The actor’s job is to tell the truth. It’s a real job.” He also doesn’t like the red carpet and award show traditions, which he avoids as much as possible. “I think it makes people, especially women, childish. It makes them little girls. I’m not saying they can’t enjoy it or shouldn’t enjoy it, but it’s a mix of propaganda, childishness and total superficiality .”
He smiled again. He is the most unlikely movie star. Price tells a wonderful story about the moment something went wrong during rehearsal. “Gabriel said, ‘If a movie star played this role…’ I said, ‘Gabriel, you’re a movie star!’. But it says a lot about what he’s thinking. He’ll see it as exaggeration and bragging. He Just no deal at all.”
While Byrne is back on stage and in front of the camera (he just played playwright Samuel Beckett in the film), he is also writing a book A novel about a 25 year old woman like he is walking with ghosts .
“That generation of women, getting married at 20 and then being thrown into the kitchen, basically for the rest of their lives,” he said. “They are forgotten, they are silent, which is fascinating to me. I want to give them a life as real and authentic as possible from this vantage point.”
