Before the glitz and glamour of Hollywood red carpets, Brendan Gleeson taught Irish and English to school kids from north Dublin.
As part of the Irish wave taking over the Oscars this year, Brendan and Barry Keoghan was nominated for best supporting actor for their roles in The Banshees of Inisherin. And Castleknock man Colin Farrell was nominated for best leading actor for his part in the zany period piece.
Brendan is used to staring in big movies like the Harry Potter franchise and The Guard. However, he started his career in acting while he was teaching children English and Irish in the now defunct Catholic Bellcamp College in North County Dublin.
Read more: Colin Farrell's lesser known story of helping a homeless man back on his feet
The 67-year-old went to school in St Joseph's CBS in Fairview where he was the member of the drama group. And during an NPR interview he revealed he had been molested by a Christian Brother during his primary school days.
He added that he was "in no way traumatised by the incident". After he studied Arts in UCD, he joined the Dublin-based Passion Machine Theatre company which put on a series of successful shows. The plays included Brownbread, which was written by Roddy Doyle, and Wasters.
Gleeson started his film career at the age of 34 and his early works include playing Michael Collins in The Treaty and starring in The General as Irish gangster Martin Cahill. Brendan is also a keen musician and even came up with the traditional Irish music tune his character plays in The Banshees of Inisherin.
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