‘The Patient’ star Domhnall Gleeson on controversial ending; “If I knew I always had a happy ending, there was no point in watching anything.”

At FX The patient, Domhnall Gleeson plays a foodie named Sam Fortner who is starving — so he kidnaps his therapist, Alan Strauss (Steve Carell), and chains him up in his basement for 24-hour analysis. This is a recipe for disaster, and Gleeson – perhaps best known for his role as General Hux in the war of stars Franchise – is a master of serving terror.

DEADLINE: When showrunner writers Joel Fields and Joseph Weisberg first cast you, did they let you know how it would end?

GLEESON: None. The scripts were great, and a lot of the conversations we had revolved around whether it was possible for Sam to get better, whether it was wishful thinking on Sam’s part, or whether he was doing something in a different way. control wanted to control. Way. Control plays a big role in his life. So of course the ending has a lot to do with it. I didn’t know what the ending was until maybe halfway through.

DEADLINE: What was your first reaction to the ending?

GLEESON: I loved it. I found it very emotional. I liked the letter Alan wrote to his family showing his evolution as a patient. I found it spoke so well about therapy and what is possible, although it didn’t quite work the way Sam wanted it to. But strangely, it worked the way Alan wanted it to. I mean he didn’t want to die but he wanted Sam to be better and understand more of his own nature and abilities. Alan said at the very beginning that the therapy cannot work if the patient has all the strength. It is not an even distribution. This is not a real conversation. Sam got it wrong. He wished it would be different, he told himself it could be different because it was him and he was special. I think it’s a deeper issue that they addressed in a very responsible way. As I read it, I found it felt very responsible and moving. I think this is a sign of truly talented writers.

MEETING: Did you wonder if viewers would accept this ending? That they prefer a happy ending for Alan?

GLEESON: Yes, I knew they would. I want happy endings when I want things, but if I knew I would always get happy endings, there would be no point in watching anything. And I think it’s important that a happy ending makes sense and makes sense. You can’t just add a happy ending and say, oh look, we came up with this deus ex machina way to make things great. I thought they were the closest thing to bringing happiness to the Strauss family, which Alan wanted. He wanted to forgive them. It was more important to him than anything else. forgiveness and understanding and empathy. I thought it spoke beautifully of the need for sacrifice. But yeah, I thought some people would be mad.

MEETING: Why did Sam feel like Alan had to die?

GLEESON: I don’t think he thought his therapist should die. But if you look at it from the beginning, how could it be otherwise? He will never let Alan go because he is too selfish. He wanted to keep him as a pet. He wanted to keep him as a validator. He grew to love him. I think there was a version of Sam’s respect and love. In a normal relationship, you are accountable to those around you, which led to them confronting him about aspects of his behavior. Sam simply cannot live in the real world. It’s not built that way. He’s gone too many times to deserve it. What else could he do? He would never break free, he would not surrender himself. There is also too much ego. I don’t see any other way to make it permanent if Alan insists that he doesn’t stay indefinitely.

MEETING Some of the viewers who posted on our bulletin board wanted to know what it means for Sam to be chained in his own basement. what do you think will happen Would his mother leave him there forever?

GLEESON It depends. The writers are the people who would actually know best what would happen in this world because it is their world. In terms of the way I thought about it, I thought there were a couple of things. I thought it might be a week before he was caught for killing his boss. For example, he killed too many people around him without a finger being pointed in his direction. I also wondered how long he stays there before he regrets giving his mother the key and before he starts using his own kind of manipulation to try to get her to free him. He will convince her that he is better. Or maybe he really understands that he can’t go out into the world and owes Alan a lifetime of catching up in front of the TV while chained up. I kind of sympathize with the world he ended up building for himself. I think he will continue like me during the pandemic.

MEETING Some viewers said the concentration camp scenes anticipated what would happen in the end. Do you think this is a good interpretation of what happened?

GLEESON It’s an interesting point of view, but I think it might be a losing battle to compare anything to the Holocaust. The Holocaust was such an unspeakable thing, with so many different aspects of an absolutely broken society and broken minds that led to it. You don’t want to diminish the memory of the reality of the Holocaust by comparing it to random things in fiction.

MEETING Boy, did Sam have a crazy relationship with his mom, played by Linda Emond?

GLEESON It’s so twisted and dependent and… childish. They’re both really childish in different ways with this absolutely inhibited sense of growth and development. The fact that Strauss helps them even a quarter of a step further is nothing short of a miracle, even though the situation literally does not allow for therapy in the truest sense of the word.

MEETING What was it like working with Steve?

GLEESON I laughed a lot at work. I mean, there was a lot at stake every day and there were long scenes and a lot of food. But Steve kept it very, very fresh and we tried to approach scenes in different ways. I really felt it was my job to offer as many options as possible. Steve is so extraordinary, so reactive and creative at the same time. It amazed me how different a scene could feel at the end than when it started. I think it would have been very difficult for him to carry all that stuff because he had to hold back his true feelings so many times. Sam really shows everything that is going on in his face. So I found myself with all kinds of ticks. Sam is not good at hiding his feelings. I think it will help him sleep a little better, but not the people around you.

DEADLINE: How was the trip for you?

GLEESON: It was great. It felt incredibly liberating. Everyone talks about collaboration, but so few people actually collaborate. Although everyone was masked and wary of each other at all times and didn’t spend much time together off set, it really was a collaboration. These conversations were sometimes heated and sometimes not on the same page, but they always proceeded as best they could, trusting that everyone wanted to make something good out of it. It was exhausting as the best work is. Sometimes excess energy is spent on crap that doesn’t matter, on conversations that don’t matter, on details that don’t matter. And it sucks the life out of a production and kills everyone involved. It was like the other end of the scale. His work could have been a nightmare, as it is packed with long scenes and a set, but it was not. It was insanely brilliant.

DEADLINE: Are you prepared for people to come up to you and say, “You’re a master serial killer?”

DOMHNALL GLEESON: I feel so good about it. I played a person who did similar horrible things before in a movie called Golgotha [with his father, Brendan Gleeson], but it was for half a day and I prepared for it a month before. I have to prepare myself for it. I need to have this man in my world every day to show all the different sides of him. He really made me laugh even though he was such a horrible person and he tried. And yes, when people come up and say you’re a good serial killer, I’m more than happy as long as they’re talking about the show.