Irish actor Jack Reynor has said that returning to Ireland with his partner Madeline Mulqueen and setting up home in Blessington in Wicklow is the best thing he’s ever done.
The breakout star of What Richard Did went on to appear in the Transformers franchise and acclaimed horror movie Midsommar and can now be seen in new Prime Video drama The Peripheral.
Speaking on Friday night’s Late Late Show, he said, "After a couple of years of what was really intense exposure to the industry, I just felt I really wanted to go back home and have that space again and live in that place which I identify with so much and it’s been invaluable to me, particularly over the course of the pandemic.
"So many people were having a hard time in nucleated places, just trying to find space and we were lucky enough to be in the countryside where we could step out, there was the fields and the trees and the fresh air and that was really important.
"I wake up every morning and I thank my lucky stars that I look out the window and see a place I relate to. It’s Blessington, it’s home, the place where I grew up. It gives me a sense of meaning. In this industry it is hard to stay grounded."
After appearing in independent Irish films, Hollywood came calling and he starred in big budget franchise movies. He says the transition was quite a shock to the system.
"To go from small Irish films to Hollywood and appear in one of the highest grossing films of all time in one step is a bit of a crazy leap to take in your early twenties," he said.
"It is untethering, and I definitely did lose the run of myself, and I had fun losing the run of myself. Hahahaha."
"It’s not a question of can you keep your head when you go out there. It’s more a question of can you come back and coming back to Wicklow was part of that for me. Madeline is from Limerick and she came with me to Wicklow and she felt it was a place of peace and she has really grown to love it. We are west Wicklow 'til we die."
30-year-old Reynor was in the running to play Han Solo in Star Wars spin-off but now says he is glad he didn’t land the part.
"Your twenties are a tumultuous time in your life, and they certainly were for me," he said. "If I had of leaned into the world of franchises, I don’t know whether it would have suited me. After doing Transformers, I wanted to make some bold choices and to build a portfolio that positioned me more as an actor than it did a star."
Watch The Late Late Show on the RTÉ Player
