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Gabriel Byrne: A Hard Actor to Characterize

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Gabriel Byrne's latest film is set in Swaziland at the sunset of British colonial rule.
Carlo Allegri

Gabriel Byrne has starred in quirky films such as The Usual Suspects and Miller's Crossing and Hollywood hits such as Enemy of the State and The Man in the Iron Mask. Dozens of them. Sometimes he's the leading man, sometimes he's in a key supporting role. He's almost always the sort they call an actor's actor.

On Friday, the Irish star's latest opens. It's called Wah-Wah, and it puts him at the end of British colonial rule in Swaziland.

Later this month, he's likely to earn a Tony Award nomination for his role in the Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's Touch of the Poet.

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