Irish movie star Jonathan Rhys Meyers is acting out

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CAHIR O'DOHERTY,

Irish Voice Reporter

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It's an unwritten law of the universe -- the people who most need our help are always the least likely to ask for it. In fact, psychologists say, the more spectacularly messed up a person is, the more they’re likely to become convinced that it’s everyone else who has the problem.

How else to explain the strange behavior of Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers recently? Last month Rhys Meyers, 32, was permanently banned from flying with United Airlines because he caused such a nasty scene at their private airport bar; news of the incident just broke in the last couple of days.

According to reports Rhys Meyers (who owns homes and apartments in Dublin, London, New York and Morocco), was “pounding drinks” into himself at 7 a.m. before attempting to board the New York to LA flight, and he quickly became “belligerent and disruptive” when he was told he could not take his seat.  According to RadarOnline.com, he even used the “n” word when shouting at one of the United employees.

Rhys Meyers’ fury at discovering he couldn’t just behave in any old way he likes is the classic symptom of a person who’s already checked out of reality. His insanely angry outburst stems from his refusal to abide by the same social contracts the rest of us do.

Because, after all, rules are for the little people. He’s a star. “Do you know who I am?” he screamed at the attendants.

It was a statement, but it might have been a question. Behavior like this suggests that at some points Rhys Meyers may not know the answer himself.

When a man with a bank balance as impressive as his threatens people who make a fraction of what he does, you quickly lose sympathy. Sure he was drunk, but -- ask an alcoholic -- not everyone who boozes gets completely out of control: it’s either a choice, they’ll tell you, or a necessity.

United Airlines didn’t want to deal with the incandescently angry, self-destructive star for the duration of a six-hour flight, nor do they want to deal with him ever again. The truth is, no one else will either if JRM doesn’t get his act together.

This latest incident is not the first time the young Irish actor and model (who has been the face of Versace and Hugo Boss) has been in trouble for boozing it up in the air. In fact there’s been a pattern.

Every recent Rhys Meyers drunken flare up seems to have unfolded in an airport or on a plane, where his hard drinking is highlighted by confined spaces and the very hard and fast rules that come with them. In other words, when Rhys Meyers is asked to play by the rules he’s been failing spectacularly, which makes you wonder what he’s been up to when he’s out of the public eye.

Most worrying of all is that 1,000-yard stare of his that’s been captured each time he walks a red carpet. Some celebrities learn how to make their peace with the rigors of fame, while others look like they’ve been incarcerated -- Jonathan Rhys Meyers (who was born Jonathan O’Keefe) has been in the latter camp for years.

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