Gabriel Byrne is amazing!
You already knew Gabriel Byrne was great, right?
Did a very short spot for an AMAZING organization called Concern Worldwide. Concern Worldwide raises money and intervenes in the lives of the world’s most poor. They go places where missionaries and other organizations can’t go, due to remoteness or danger. Basically Concern Worldwide is the Navy Seal of relief organizations.
Anyway, they got a hold of Gabriel Byrne to lend his voice for their cause. Of course being an Irish based organization and Mr. Byrne being Irish seems to make a lot of sense.
You know Gabriel Byrne from The Usual Suspects, and if you are lucky like me, you saw him in “A Touch of the Poet” on Broadway a few years back. Such an incredible actor. Actors from in and around the UK, God forbid any think that I said that Ireland is part of the UK, are a different breed from American actors.
American actors have a bit of swagger, can be somewhat self centered, and occasionally absolutely nuts. All of these qualities have a commonality: they draw attention to the actor.
Across the pond things are a little different. The audience isn’t as “live” as we are, so to speak. We are a passionate people, and we LOVE our actors. We want those actors to know what we think of them, love or not. Over there, actors seem to have a bit more quiet dignity.
Gabriel Byrne is no exception. He came in wearing black jeans and a t-shirt. Looking somewhat disheveled, but pulling of that rugged handsomeness. Spoke quietly, and politely introduced his way around the room.
He had never seen the text before, and while his first two reads where very clean, by the time he got to the third round, he KNEW what he was saying. There was a passion in it, caring, and feeling. It wasn’t just a celebrity reading for a charity, it was a man truly asking the world to help others.
Amazing.
