Jamie Dornan feels his own experience of fatherhood helped him perfect his role in Belfast.
It comes as the star recalled how he struggled with some of the ‘physical things’ whilst playing the role of a dad in The Fall.
The Belfast native has been surrounded by awards buzz since Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical movie hit screens, winning huge praise around the globe for his role of Pa, Branagh’s father, in the flick.
And the 39-year-old, who has three daughters under ten, feels his own experience of fatherhood helped him understand what was needed within the role.
“It helps to have experienced what parenthood is and to understand, being a father, the lengths you’ll go to keep your family safe.
“I’m not saying that everyone who isn’t a parent thinks that life is all about them, but it certainly makes you realise that these other people are more important, and it’s vital to keep them safe.
“It was crucial to reconcile those important decisions, and the impact of those decisions on people beyond just yourself,” he told RTE Guide.
Dornan first shot to fame as Paul Spector in psychological thriller The Fall before going on to gain worldwide recognition as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey.
But with the show first hitting screens almost decade ago, before the arrival of his own kids, Jamie recalls how he wasn’t as well equipped for his on screen dad duties.
“I remember during the first series of The Fall, it was the first time that I played a father, and I wasn’t a father.
“I had been an uncle for a few years, so I was trying to imbue what I'd learned from that into my character.
“I recall the scene where the girl gets out of the bath and i’m drying her hair.
“Allan Cubitt, who created the show and was a father, came out and said, ‘What are you doing? That’s not how you dry her hair! So, there were physical things that I wasn’t armoured with just yet, having not been a parent.”
Belfast has quickly become a main Oscar contender this year, and Dornan admits he and director Branagh were overwhelmed with the reaction all round - particularly winning the audience award at the Toronto Film Festival.
He said: “We felt like two little kids out there, you know, and we kept saying to each other. ‘This is mad’”
He admits the glory is made even sweeter by the fact it is based on his hometown, but also as it came at a time he worried if he would ever work again as the pandemic hit.
“I remember just seeing that word on my inbox, ‘Belfast,’ and then being asked can I read this quickly and get on the phone with Kenneth Branagh.
“I was like, what is happening here! And this was all during the first lockdown.
“I had been forced to pull out of a job that I was meant to be shooting in New York.
“And here are the weird parallels with the character of Pa, who is having to make these decisions in the firm about getting his family to safety.
“This was all at the start of the pandemic when we knew nothing about what was ahead of us.
“I had my own family in New York and had signed a lease for a place for a year.
“We were back home after three weeks and all in a state of flux thinking, ‘What the hell’s going on here?’
“Honestly, I was like, are they going to shoot anything again?
“Am I going to work again? And then Belfast lands in my inbox. That was hugely exciting!”
