Jack Reynor: 'When she walked on set, it was like: Holy shit - that's Nicole Kidman'
Jack Reynor stars alongside the likes of Nicole Kidman and Eve Hewson in The Perfect Couple, on Netflix.(Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Meet the Winburys - a privileged family who are one of the wealthiest on the high-end US island of Nantucket. They have the confidence and swagger of a clan used to getting their own way. The Winburys are very wealthy - as one local police officer observes, they’re “Kill someone and get away with it rich”.
In The Perfect Couple, the family must contend with just such a police investigation when a body is washed up on a beach, just as the family matriarch (Nicole Kidman) is putting the final touches to her son’s wedding, one of the society events of the year.
As the sharkish, sharp-tongued Wall Street player Thomas Winbury - a man who likes to play as hard as he works - Irish actor Jack Reynor’s character might be the most abrasive of the entire family. He wouldn’t have had it any other way, he says - the Netflix series’ devious sense of humour was part of the draw.
“When I got on the phone with Susanne (acclaimed Danish director Susanne Bier), we were discussing the character, and she was like: ‘I really want you to make this character your own and take it as far as you can’.
“I said to her: ‘That’s great, because I see this character as being a catalyst for a lot of what happens through his ability to just agitate the situation’. There's so much room for humour in that. She agreed with me, and then that was my mandate to come in and make up a lot of shit that wasn't there and just frustrate everybody with me coming in across their lines with improv,” smiles Reynor.
“The family has a home out in Nantucket. They are coming from a place of profound wealth and privilege, there are a lot of skeletons in everybody's cupboard. It's a very beautiful veneer on what actually is quite a seedy and toxic world, I guess you could say - and my character is maybe the seediest and most toxic of everybody in the family. I was just so grateful to have an opportunity to walk onto a set every day and look for the humour in every moment that I was there.”
It brings a further layer of binge-worthy chaos to the series that has attracted a stellar cast. Reynor and his fellow Irish star, Eve Hewson - whose character is marrying into the dynasty - join a cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber and Dakota Fanning.
With a career spanning over 12 years since he first broke out as a student with a dark secret in Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did, Reynor is well used to working with big-name actors. Still, he was thrilled at the prospect of sharing scenes with Kidman.
“I've always been such a huge fan of hers. She’s worked with such iconic people, and you can't help but sort of be caught in the vacuum when she walks onto the set. I don't really get star struck by people but when she walked onto the set, it was like: holy shit - that's Nicole Kidman.
“She has an absolute burning intensity that when you're in a scene with her is laser intense. It's so great to be able to play against that but also she's just a great person to have a chat with. She's really funny. She's got a very, very dry sense of humour, and I loved chatting with her in between setups and getting to know her a little bit.”
The Wicklow actor has built on his breakthrough in 2012’s What Richard Did, mixing roles in blockbusters like Transformers with Irish and international projects. They’ve included Kerry filmmaker Gerard Barrett’s fine drama, Glassland, Ben Wheatley’s fun shoot ‘em up, Free Fire, and Ari Aster’s unforgettable horror thriller, Midsommar.
He and fellow Irish star Eve Hewson impress in The Perfect Couple, at a time when so many Irish actors and filmmakers are making huge waves internationally. In the past few years, Colin Farrell, Jessie Buckley, Cillian Murphy, Paul Mescal and Brendan Gleeson have all enjoyed Oscar runs. Saoirse Ronan is favoured to get her fifth nomination this year. Cork actors Maireád Tyers, Alison Oliver, Éanna Hardwicke and Chris Walley are among the numerous talents showing there’s plenty of strength in depth. It seems remarkable compared to a generation ago, when just a few Irish actors and storytellers would hope to develop a prolific international career.
“You make a valid point,” says Reynor. “There used to be like, three or four actors and two or three directors or whatever. But even at that, given the size of the island, we've always been over represented in the industry, and the impact that we've had through Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, all the way through Jim Sheridan, Liam Neeson - all of these people have made such a big impact on the industry.
“At some point, about 10 or 15 years ago, it was like somehow we caught on, and we got our hooks in. And now all of a sudden, there's just a host of great actors, great directors, great musicians in the film industry, people like animators - at every level, there are Irish people in the industry who are just doing incredibly well. And I think that, contrary to how we usually deal with success, we're actually feeding off one another's success and all of these wins that we're getting."
Reynor believes this new-found confidence becomes self-perpetuating. "You can get to a point where it becomes complacency - and that's dangerous - but right now, I just think we're in a very confident position.”
Among Reynor’s forthcoming movies is Power Ballad. He stars opposite Paul Ruud and Nick Jonas in John Carney’s music-driven tale of a wedding singer and a rock star, which recently completed filming in Ireland. The film marks his latest collaboration with the Irish writer-director, who he previously worked with on Sing Street and Flora and Son.
“We've been friends now, I think, nearly 15 years and whenever I come home to work on a film with John, it feels like we're back in [former independent film hub] The Factory, years and years ago. It has a feeling of lightness and fun. It never feels like work. It's always so collaborative. We're just trying things out, and they tend to work and it's great to be able to go home and sleep in your own bed at night as well.”
- The Perfect Couple is on Netflix
