Richard Dormer: "Winning an Oscar can be counterproductive because your fee goes up and you're priced out of certain roles"

And the winner of the award for Meanest Motherfucker in an Original TV Drama goes to… Richard Dormer!”

I’m just imagining next year’s awards season if, as it should be, mean motherfuckery was recognised as a creative art form in its own right.

Already an IFTA gong winner for his portrayal of Constable Gerry Cliff in the brilliant Blue Lights – more of which anon –the Armagh actor is a new addition to the season 3 cast of Gangs Of London, the ultraviolent Sky Atlantic series which has been described (by me) as the cockney Sopranos.

Dormer plays the splendidly named Cornelius Quinn, a face from the past whose arrival, we’re told, “awakens old rivalries for Marian Wallace and Ed Dumani.”

The duo being pretty mean mofos themselves.

Was Richard already familiar with Gangs… or did he have to do some serious binge-watching to get up to speed?

“I know Michelle Fairley, who plays Marian, and had seen some of the first season which just blew me away,” he enthuses. “It’s the most balletic, creative violence I’ve ever seen. Cornelius is a nasty piece of work who comes back and tries to gain power within the clan. This guy is insane and enjoys killing people as slowly as possible with a shillelagh that he wields like the grim reaper. You’ll be having nightmares about him!

“It’s the politics of the mafia – that supposed honour code thing – but the ground is always shifting. Cornelius was fascinating to play and hopefully fascinating to watch!”
From the sneak peeks we’ve had, he is!

While the new Gangs Of London series is still awaiting a release date, Dormer is currently to be seen in The Day Of The Jackal, which features Eddie Redmayne as the titular globe-trotting hitman who keeps rubbing British intelligence noses in it.

Written and produced by Ronan Bennett, a former Long Kesh inmate who’s previously show-run Top Boy, some of its best scenes are when the Jackal visits Dormer’s character Norman, a criminal gunsmith with a neat line in wisecracks and a murky past of his own. Was it love at first read?

“Yes… well, originally they offered me two other parts which I turned down because I loved Cyril Cusack as Norman Stoke in the original 1970s The Day Of The Jackal movie,” Dormer reveals. “I said, ‘I know it’s less work and less money but that’s who I want to play’ – and they went, ‘Yep!’ I was overjoyed because I knew I’d be doing those scenes with Eddie who’s just an incredible actor.”

While respectful of Bennett’s script – “He’s stuck to the spirit and structure of the story, but modernised it and given the Jackal more of a backstory and depth” – Dormer and Redmayne managed to sneak in a few adlibs.

“There’s a scene where we’re drinking whiskey and talking about my marriage and all the lovers I’ve had, which we didn’t think there was enough playfulness in – so we added some!” Richard laughs. “The only scenes I have are with Eddie but the likes of Úrsula Corberó, Lashana Lynch, Ben Hall, Charles Dance and two of my fellow Northern Irish actors, Jonjo O’Neill and Patrick O’Kane, are also brilliant in it.”

The opening scene finds Redmayne peeling off an elaborate latex mask he’s donned for a hit - the Jackal does a lot of morphing – while Radiohead’s ‘Raise Hell’ malevolently plays in the background. It’s all very James Bond meets Mission: Impossible. Which is a good thing!”

“As soon as I heard the opening music and saw the title credits on the finished episodes, I went, ‘It’s James Bond on television!’” Richard nods in agreement. “Michael Gambon said I’d make a great Bond villain. Maybe it’s the deep voice or something!”

As for his new acting bezzie, Eddie Redmayne says of the Jackal: “I found the idea of the character intriguing. The scripts were so compelling and the story so propulsive. It was a genre we recognise, yet it had a unique quality to it. I wanted to know what was going to happen next!

“I also thought it would be a challenge from an acting point of view. The idea of starting out playing a 65-year-old German cleaner, then moving through several other guises, along with the different languages – French and Spanish – mixed with the shapeshifting, the physicality and the prosthetics. It was an actor’s dream.”

And the best thing you’ll see all year on Sky Atlantic.

Talking to Hot Press for the first time in 2013 – “My play Drum Belly was in The Abbey, I’d just played Terri Hooley in Good Vibrations and was about to debut as Beric Dondarrion in Game Of Thrones, so it was a pretty good year!” he notes now – Dormer told us about the numerous Northern Ireland-based roles he’d turned down because they were merely rehashing old tropes.

He presumably had no such qualms about Blue Lights, a police procedural that tackles Belfast’s social ills head on without taking sides or resorting to crude stereotypes.

“I was wary but instantly liked the writing and thought, ‘There’s intelligence and a humanity in this,’” Richard reflects. “These cops carry guns and you do see the sectarian side of things, but they’re not milking it. There’s so much else going on, not least the impact the job is having on the PSNI officers’ private lives, which is a really interesting aspect.

“I met the amazing French director, Gilles Bannier, who’d already shot Marcella in Northern Ireland and has a genuine love and feel for the place. He gets the humour and I’d work with him again in a heartbeat.

“We had an hour-long conversation, mainly about music because this guy, Gerry Cliff, is stuck in the ‘70s with Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson playing in his patrol car. Unlike Cornelius Quinn, he’s the nicest, happiest, most comfortable character you could ever meet. Gilles said to me, ‘I see how happy you look when you’re talking about music – that’s what I want from Gerry.’”

Quick pop quiz: what’s the best gig Richard’s ever been to?

“It was Snow Patrol who I saw in the Odyssey with my friend Laura,” he reminisces fondly. “Full disclosure: I know Gary Lightbody and the boys. They played ‘Open Your Eyes’ at the end and, bang, the lights all just went. I was crying like a baby.”

Did he know that Gerry was going to get killed off at the end of Blue Lights’ first season or did it come as a nasty surprise?

“Part of the reason I did it is that Gerry does die,” Dormer reveals. “Now that I’m later in my career, I don’t like getting stuck in seasons of shows because then you can’t expand and do other parts. It’s great because I can enjoy Blue Lights now as a punter.”

Before playing Gerry Cliff, Richard got to infiltrate the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Disney+’s wonderfully bonkers Secret Invasion, in which Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn reprise their previous MCU roles as Nick Fury and Talos.

“You’re right, it was bonkers and terrifying doing the opening scene, which was me talking with Martin Freeman for six minutes. Agent Prescod is one of the most manic characters I’ve ever played and eventually we nailed it, only to be told a year later that we had to re-shoot the whole thing because we mentioned stuff that was too politically close to the bone. We had to change it around and I was gutted.

What they showed was alright but the original was much better.

“On the plus side,” he continues, “Samuel L. Jackson came to visit me and Martin. He was like Santa Claus: ‘Come on, big bear hug. I’ve seen some acting here, I’d better up my game!’ He’s that larger than life American-style of legend. Always ‘on’ and like he’s just stepped off the Pulp Fiction set. I really liked him.”

Being a megabuck Hollywood affair, did it rival Games Of Thrones for largesse?

“There were hundreds of people on set, which was pretty epic, but not as epic as Game Of Thrones which was thousands. I don’t think they’ll ever be able to afford to make a show like Game Of Thrones again.”

Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion in Game Of Thrones

Dormer got to play another fantastical law enforcement agent in The Watch, a BBC series that drew on elements of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

“It was brilliant fun to shoot and I loved my weird, cookie, strange interpretation of Captain Sam Vimes but unfortunately the fanbase tore us apart because it wasn’t the books,” he rues. “They took one look at this 21st century reimagining of it, which actually stayed faithful to the main characters, and said ‘Where’s the chainmail? Where’s the armour?’ I remember going to the guys, ‘We’re in for a hiding. No matter how good this is, we’re going to be destroyed.’ On the other hand, people who didn’t know Terry Pratchett have come up to me and said, ‘That was one of the funniest, craziest things I’ve seen on TV in years.’”

Richard has spent a sizeable chunk of 2024 commuting to the Greek Islands where he’s been starring in The Assassin, the story of a hitwoman – there’s a theme developing here! – played by Keeley Hawes who’s forced to come out of retirement.

“I’m only in a few scenes but it’s been a long engagement,” he explains. “Typically, I’ll spend ten hours getting there, work for two hours and then travel almost straight back. It’s been worth it, though, because it’s very funny, very clever and very dangerous. Most of my scenes have been with Keeley Hawes who’s absolutely lovely. One of the first things she said to me was, ‘I went to see your Hurricane Higgins show twenty years ago in the West End with Sam Rockwell. Afterwards we both agreed that we wouldn’t do theatre again and would get into television because no way could we top that.’ That’s how generous a person she is.”

The aforementioned Hurricane found Dormer not so much playing as inhabiting maverick Belfast snooker player Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins. Those acute powers of observation were evident again in 2013 when he turned his attentions to Terri Hooley. Are there are any other legendary Irish characters he’s itching to play?

“Yes, Richard Harris!” he shoots back. “More specifically, Richard Harris during the making of A Man Called Horse. He was at the height of his powers/craziness, shooting a western in the Arizonan desert. If someone writes it, I’ll play him. My other big ambition is to be in Star Trek because it’s my favourite”

J.J. Abrams, if you’re reading this give Mr. Dormer a call. Samuel L. Jackson aside, who’s the most charismatic actor he’s worked with?

“Stanley Tucci has a real presence. He played my character’s nemesis, DCI Morton, in Fortitude. We had a scene in a restaurant and jokingly I suggested we drink real whiskey. He sent his assistant out to buy three of the most extravagant bottles you’ve ever seen and said, ‘Rich, which one do you want?’ I was like, ‘Dude, we can’t, I’ve got to go and do another two scenes.’ He went, ‘I don’t, let’s get smashed!’ Even though we got through half-a-bottle of whiskey and were both a bit sozzled, he didn’t drop a line. I learned a lot from Stanley; his calmness and absolute razor-sharp mind.”

Some fine whiskeys were also downed in April at the IFTAs, which felt more celebratory than ever.

“With Oppenheimer, Saltburn and so many other great Irish films and TV series, it did feel like a moment,” Richard agrees. “I got to hang out with Aidan Gillen, Jared Harris who I really admire as an actor and the Kneecap boys who were wild. When Marty McCann, who’s brilliant in Blue Lights, didn’t win Lead Actor I thought, ‘No way are they giving me anything’ – but they did, which was lovely for the show.”

Does Richard dream about one day getting to thank the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?

“I’d be too terrified to speak,” he concludes. “Actually, winning an Oscar or a Golden Globe can sometimes be counterproductive because your fee goes up and you’re priced out of certain roles. A lot of people’s careers are ruined because they become unaffordable. But it would look good on the mantlepiece!”

• The Day Of The Jackal premieres on Sky Atlantic on November 7.