Jamie Dornan hopes the coronavirus pandemic brings people together.
Jamie Dornan covers Radio Times
The ‘Belfast’ actor – whose dad tragically passed away after contracting the virus – hopes the global health crisis will have the long-term impact of “unifying” divided communities, even though it doesn’t seem that way at the moment.
He said: “We’ve all had some sort of testing experience, albeit some more than others. As bad as the personal impact on me has been, I’m hoping that something positive comes out of Covid in that this will, in our lifetime, probably be the one thing that worldwide we’ve all experienced together. It’s impacted us all in different ways, of course, but hopefully will have a unifying quality.
“Early signs are that maybe it hasn’t, but you’d like to hope that it might bring us all closer, and end some of the nonsense tribalism that exists, based on nothing. But who’s to say? Time will tell.”
Although the 39-year-old star found the early days of the pandemic “frightening”, he enjoyed being able to spend more time with his wife Amelia Warner and their three young daughters.
He told the new issue of Radio Times magazine: “The early lockdown was frightening, but also happy in that I had all this time with my family.
“Apart from the home-schooling aspect, we had brilliant days together, and the weather was insane.
“But on the flip side, I lost my father to Covid at the beginning of the year, when I was out in Australia doing ‘The Tourist’, quarantining in a hotel.”
Meanwhile, Jamie has been tipped for awards success thanks to his starring role in ‘Belfast’ but he admitted it isn’t a topic he’s comfortable with.
He said: “In Ireland, you can’t be too impressed by your own success. It doesn’t go down well. You almost have to be detrimental about it.
“I admire Americans for taking ownership of that sort of thing – ‘We’re great, watch this, look at us’ – it doesn’t come naturally to people from home.”
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