Domhnall Gleeson: ‘Cillian Murphy is my acting hero – he made me embarrassed’

If you run into Domhnall Gleeson over the next few weeks, don’t be surprised if he’s whistling because he’s on top of the world right now.

The 43-year-old star has two new movies set for release; he’s just starred in a Taylor Swift music video, and most excitingly (for me at least), his hit sitcom The Paper is back for a second season.

In fact, Domhnall is having such a moment that some have even gone so far as to brand it the ‘Summer of Domhnall’.

Not that the famously humble Dublin-born actor would agree with that rather grand title.

And when Metro caught up with him for the release of The Paper season two, he was the spirit of modesty, especially when we brought up his encounter with a certain Oscar-winning actor on Graham Norton’s glitziest sofa ever.

Specifically, Cillian Murphy described Domhnall’s performance as Ned Sampson – the idealistic editor-in-chief of the Toledo Truth Teller and the main character of The Paper – as ‘magnetic’.

‘I don’t know if it’s an Irish people thing, but we’re not very good at handling a compliment and definitely get a little bit embarrassed,’ he told us, slightly suppressing a smile.

‘But Cillian would be one of my acting heroes. He is exceptional at everything, in every way, and so that meant a huge amount.

‘I definitely got a bit shy, which is weird when you’re being filmed, but it made me feel good but also embarrassed at the same time.’

Still, just because Cillian Murphy thinks he’s great doesn’t mean Domhnall doesn’t have things to learn, and in season two of The Paper, he’s learned to relax a little.

Or at least that’s what he told us when we reminded him of an anecdote his co-star, Chelsea Frei, told Esquire.

Chelsea joked with the publication that Domhnall made the rest of the cast look bad with his diligent preparation for season one, which saw him basically act as an unpaid intern in a real newsroom.

‘I think I have learned to relax a little bit,’ he laughed before immediately contradicting himself by adding: ‘but also all that work was already done.’

‘That’s the amazing thing about coming back on something. You feel like you know who the person is in your bones, and so coming back to it, that’s, that’s one of the great joys.

‘I would also say [in regard to what] Chelsea said, all that matters is what happens on screen, so you can do all the prep in the world and you can still be absolutely crap, and I’ve definitely done that in my time, but hopefully not on [The Paper].’

Domhnall continued that this time, when he stepped into the fictional newsroom, there were still some nerves, but he felt a little more comfortable and was keen to make the second season as good as possible.

‘I do feel there was a big push to make the whole show a bit funnier, and a bit more heartfelt, more cohesive, a little more dramatic, but to keep the vibe the same,’ he explained, and he wasn’t the only one feeling more confident heading into the sophomore season.

Sabrina Impacciatore, who plays Ned’s co-worker Esmeralda Grand, the frankly insane managing editor of Toledo Truth Teller, also felt good when she came back.

‘I was feeling just a bit more secure about the character,’ she told me. ‘But then I was still exploring day by day, I would say minute by minute.’

And one of the things Sabrina was keen to show people in this new season was Esmeralda’s human side.

‘She becomes more aware for the first time,’ she said. ‘Because she listens for the first time.’

‘Ned tells her, “You are a narcissist”, and this is very hurtful to her, and in that moment I think there is a little break inside of her.

‘I think that that is a big change about Esmeralda [becoming] more human, maybe, more aware.’

And a big part of the reason the cast felt more secure to push and explore was the changes behind the scenes.

‘One big thing is that this is a streaming show,’ co-creator Greg Daniels explained to me  ‘There wasn’t really a pilot that we could show the actors before we were shooting [season one].”

’Most of the actors hadn’t seen what takes were selected until they saw the first season. So that’s a big reason that season two is smoother and funnier. The cast being able to see what we’re excited about them doing.’

‘You make so many choices,’  agreed The Paper’s other co-creator Michael Koman. ‘You can’t plan everything; a lot of it is natural.’

‘The great thing about this mockumentary format is that we can shoot a whole lot and then kind of sift through it for cool moments,’ added Greg.

‘Those moments are what Michael was talking about, about, you know, surprising interactions and stuff.’

One such surprising interaction came when talking to Sabrina about Esmerelda, and she joked she finds it funny when the character is mean to children.

‘We incorporated that with [Esmerelda’s] son,’ Greg laughed. ‘Sabrina is so great about always kind of trying to push things further.’

‘In the very beginning of the season, I think we’re talking about an idea where maybe we’re seeing in her apartment, and her son’s there.

‘And [Sabrina’s] reaction was like, “Well, couldn’t he be doing something like sewing my dresses?”

‘That to me is like the greatest instinct that she has. Her only note almost always is how she pushes it… and Domhnall is the same way.’

And speaking of Domhnall, as it’s nearly Autumn and the Summer of Domhnall is nearly over, I felt we had to address something he said he was ’terrible’ at in season one.

What was the man Cillian Murphy called magnetic, so bad at, I hear you ask? Doing the famous look down the camera that Martin Freeman and Jim Krasinski made look so easy on The Office.

So, has he got better? Well, when I asked him, he said: ‘You tell me.’

If you want to know if he has gotten better at it, you’ll just have to watch The Paper season two when it launches on September 9.