LOS ANGELES—It must be tough to be an aspiring actor when you’re the son of actors, Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack. Max Irons, last seen in “Red Riding Hood,” is the first one to admit it.
“I think it’s a disadvantage,” said the younger of the two sons of Jeremy, the highly respected British thespian who has won various awards: Academy, Golden Globe, Emmy, Tony, the Screen Actors Guild—the veteran actor has those trophies, and more.
Sinead herself has won several theater awards and was nominated for the Tony and Laurence Olivier Awards. In A. Scott Berg’s book about Katharine Hepburn, he quoted the legendary actress as saying about Sinead, “the real McCoy—one of the most exciting actors I’ve ever seen.”
“Perhaps there are casting agents out there who would get me in the room, because who my parents are piques their interest,” said Max, who, at 6’2”, is taller than his dad. “But, I’d be lying if I say I got a role because of my parents. When you find yourself in an audition, there’s an expectation laid upon you. We all have bad days. If I do a mediocre audition, and they know who my parents are, they’ll never forget it. So, I have to work harder.”
Nepotism
“Also, in England, nepotism is despised, and rightly so,” added Max, who is dating “Sucker Punch” actress, Emily Browning. “So, you’ve also got to work against that.”
But, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama alumnus was quick to emphasize, “I’m very proud of my parents and what they’ve done.” He updated us on his Ireland-born mom: “She’s doing theater primarily, but she recently did the TV series, ‘Camelot.’”
As to what kind of tips his dad gave him about surviving show business, Max replied, “He gave me advice about the business aspect of acting. He warned, ‘Keep your eye on what’s important.’ And, to remember that you’re an actor—you need to pay attention to the acting, not the fame, photo shoots or interviews. It’s a good piece of advice. He also reminded me to have fun. But, when it comes to the technicalities of acting, it’s like when your parents give you driving lessons—you know they’re right. But you want to tell them to shut up!”
Max’s entry into the limelight was courtesy of renowned photographer, Mario Testino. But, he clarified how he was spotted by Mario. “It’s not true that he chatted me up on the street,” Max stressed. “I came from a DVD store with my girlfriend, and we always had arguments there about what to rent—romantic-comedy versus science fiction.”
Argument
He continued, “So, afterward, we were walking on the streets of Notting Hill. She was on one side of the street, and I was on the other. We were dramatically having a false argument, when this big, black SUV pulled up, and this man got out of the car. He said, ‘Hello, I’m Mario, a photographer. I’d like you to come and have a chat with me sometime. Here’s my card.’ I was like, ‘Okay, thank you very much.’ Then, he drove off.” Mario shot Max, alongside Kate Moss, for Burberry ads and other campaigns.
A modest guy who likes to use the word, “terrifying,” Max admitted, “Spiders scare me. Girls still do!”
For someone who grew up with famous parents, Max revealed that one of his first walks on the red carpet was, well, “terrifying.” “About two years ago, I went to the Golden Globe Awards,” he recalled. “It was scary! You’re there having a drink, then you see Leonardo DiCaprio! I felt I had no reason to be there at all.”
He disclosed that acting in his first movie, “Being Julia,” in his late teens was also nerve-wracking. “I auditioned for the part that went to Tom Sturridge,” he candidly volunteered. His dad was in the main cast. “At the time, I had just finished school when I was toying with the idea of going to drama school. I was offered the part of a curtain-call boy, who had three lines—and all delivered to Annette Bening! It was pretty much the most terrifying experience of my life. I suddenly realized that, even though I’d done bits and pieces at school, I really had no idea what I was doing!”
Busy place
“The film set is a busy place, and unless you know what they’re doing, it’s terribly distracting,” he explained. “Even though my part in ‘Being Julia’ was small, and wasn’t a sample of great acting, it was pretty much what made me go, ‘Okay, I’ve got to invest in those three years at drama school.’”
Max bared an interesting facet of Amanda Seyfried that he learned when they worked together in “Red Riding Hood.” “Amanda is a dream to work with,” he began. “She’s beautiful and incredibly talented. She loves to tell jokes, especially sexually obscene ones, all the time! I remember my first take on the set. It was my first big movie, and there were 200 people around. Then, just before the cameras started rolling, Amanda started asking me about my sexual proclivities! That scuppered my whole first take, but that’s just the way she likes to work.”
When he’s not in front of cameras, Max dabbles in music. “I play the guitar,” he disclosed. “I used to perform at school—and, once, I played in front of 650 people.” He sang a Ben Harper tune to woo a girl. “‘Walk Away’ is a nice song, very emotional,” he shared. “I sang it to impress a girl. I thought I did quite well—but, two years ago, a close friend of mine said to me, ‘Remember when you sang at school? You were s – – t!’”
As to being tagged as the next Robert Pattinson, Max commented, “I don’t know Robert personally. He’s British, and he’s very talented. So, it’s an honor to be compared to him.”
Looking into the future, Max hopes to make it on his own, to the point where his achievements—not his parents’ careers—will be the focus. He mused, “Hopefully, I can eventually make people forget, or at least stop it from being such a talking point!”
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