‘Damages’ star talks Ireland, career and hit film ‘Knowing’

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Australian actress Rose Byrne

Photo by Steve Parsons/PA

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Australian actress Rose Byrne is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated role in the hit FX legal drama “Damages” as Glenn Close’s character’s protegee.

Now the actress, who is of Irish and Scottish descent, appears for the first time as the leading lady in a major blockbuster, the Nicholas Cage box office smash “Knowing.”

Byrne recently visited Dublin to promote the film, and sat down with Movies.ie

Byrne is no stranger to Ireland. She praised the country’s beauty, saying: “I've been here once before, I drove around the country for ten days with my partner about five years ago. We went to Limerick, Galway, Cork, Kerry and Dublin. It was beautiful. We had the most terrific weather at the ring of Kerry, it was like we were at the Greek islands or something.”

But this latest trip to Ireland was more for business than pleasure. Byrne made the rounds in Dublin, endorsing her new movie and discussing her career.

“Knowing” is directed by Alex Proyas, director of cult favorite “The Crow.” The intense film is a combination of action and sci-fi, featuring large-scale disasters, aliens and fortune telling.

This crazy mix of genres didn’t intimidate Byrne. “Alex Pryos deals with a lot of science fiction and super natural. He’s made movies like ‘The Crow’ and ‘IRobot,’ so I knew if anyone could pull it off then he could.”

Byrne explains that she wasn’t too involved with the sci-fi paranormal moments in the film. “I wasn’t involved in a lot of the supernatural stuff, so when I saw the film I was so impressed with how he set the tone that it’s already pretty eerie before the final moments. When the ending comes along it’s radical, but the tone is already set for him to pull it off.”

Proyas is a fellow Australian, which a factor in Byrne’s attraction to the project, as was the unusual depth in her character, Diana, who’s not your typical action movie ingénue.

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