0:00:23 > 0:00:25I've come about the ad.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27In a career spanning 30 years,
0:00:27 > 0:00:32Colm Meaney is a man for all screens, large and small.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34He's appeared in over 65 films -
0:00:34 > 0:00:38but it could all have been so very different.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40"Do you really want to be a fisherman?"
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Like, "Absolutely, Dad, yeah,"
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and I'm, you know, lying through my teeth.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47He speaks frankly about his politics...
0:00:47 > 0:00:51My politics that started to form in my teens were very much left-leaning
0:00:51 > 0:00:53and very much of... I mean,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56I actually was a member of the Internationalists.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01..and gives us his personal take on playing Martin McGuinness.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03You know, iconic figures like that, people...
0:01:03 > 0:01:05You know, you have to make an attempt to look like them
0:01:05 > 0:01:07and you have to make an attempt to sound like them,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10but the important thing is getting the character right,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13the inner...you know, the inner person.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16That's the first time you've said "we".
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Colm was born in Dublin in 1953.
0:01:21 > 0:01:22The third of four boys,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25he grew up in a post-war housing estate in Finglas.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28I think we moved to the house the year I was born
0:01:28 > 0:01:29so it was one of the, you know,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33the housing estates that were built after the Second World War,
0:01:33 > 0:01:38built by the Corporation and... You know, my dad...
0:01:38 > 0:01:41It was what they call a purchase house
0:01:41 > 0:01:44so he was paying kind of rent towards the...
0:01:44 > 0:01:49I remember many years later when the house became his, he was so happy.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51- It was a big deal. - Yeah, it was a big deal.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55So where did it start? Where did the acting bug begin?
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Oh... Early. Very early.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Like, in my teens, early teens,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02I kind of had this inkling that I wanted to be an actor -
0:02:02 > 0:02:04and in Dublin, in those days, you know,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06there weren't many opportunities,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08so it was kind of hard to figure out how to go about it.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11And what were those days you're talking about?
0:02:11 > 0:02:13- Late '60s, early '70s.- Yeah. - Yeah, yeah.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15And what kind of household were you coming from?
0:02:15 > 0:02:18- Was it a theatre household? - No, no, not at all.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21I mean, we'd go to the theatre once a year, usually.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26My dad used to take us to see the...
0:02:26 > 0:02:29The Abbey used to do a pantomime sa Ghaeilge
0:02:29 > 0:02:31in Irish, every year
0:02:31 > 0:02:32and we would go see that.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34That was about the extent of our theatre-going.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37- And what did he do and what did your mum do?- He delivered bread.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39He was a bread man for Johnston, Mooney and O'Brien.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41It was the big bread company in Dublin.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43And what did he make of you becoming an actor?
0:02:43 > 0:02:47He was completely baffled by it, you know. It was like, "What?"
0:02:47 > 0:02:50But I'd kind of baffled him a few times before that.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54I was number three, you know, and I think he just sort of saw me as,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57"This guy's going to break me," you know?!
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Cos I... In secondary school...
0:03:01 > 0:03:05I had got into a little bit of trouble, political trouble,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09because we'd tried to form a secondary school students' union.
0:03:09 > 0:03:10Because the Christian Brothers
0:03:10 > 0:03:13didn't take kindly to, you know, Communist propaganda in the school
0:03:13 > 0:03:15so they were expelled.
0:03:15 > 0:03:16I was in fifth year, they were in sixth.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18The sixth years were expelled
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and I knew if I stayed I would be expelled.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23So I kind of pre-empted that
0:03:23 > 0:03:26by one day seeing an ad in the paper for...
0:03:26 > 0:03:30The government had set up a fishery training school
0:03:30 > 0:03:32in Moville in Donegal.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I remember sitting there with my dad, late at night,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44the fire going down, you know, and saying to him...
0:03:44 > 0:03:47I always remember him saying to me, "You what? A fisherman?
0:03:47 > 0:03:50"Do you really want to be a fisherman?
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Like, "Absolutely, dad, yeah,"
0:03:52 > 0:03:54and I'm, you know, lying through my teeth.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- So you became a trawlerman?- So I went off to be a fisherman, yeah.
0:03:57 > 0:03:58I just went to the school,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01and then I'd fish for about ten minutes in Howth, you know,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05before I went into the Abbey School.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10In 1971, Colm's acting career began
0:04:10 > 0:04:12with a place in the Abbey Theatre School.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16I was in the school for two years,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and in the course of that two years you also did, you know, small parts,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24walk-on parts, ASM - assistant stage manager - doing the props,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27all that sort of thing, on the main stage productions
0:04:27 > 0:04:28and the productions in the Peacock.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30So it was more like kind of an apprenticeship,
0:04:30 > 0:04:32as well as going to school.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34It was actually a really, really good system.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38It doesn't exist any more, cos they moved to the school out
0:04:38 > 0:04:41to...initially Trinity, and now I think it's The Lir -
0:04:41 > 0:04:44but they're much more kind of academically focused.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47So it was a really good learning experience
0:04:47 > 0:04:50and a really good way to come into the business, I feel -
0:04:50 > 0:04:51and I was very fortunate,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55cos I went from the Abbey School into the Abbey Company.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57I was offered a year's contract in the Abbey Company.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59So it immediately solved my Equity problem -
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I immediately became a member of Equity.
0:05:01 > 0:05:02So, it was theatre.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06- That was very much theatre that you were focused on then?- Yeah.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08And then more theatre in London?
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Yeah. Yeah, I moved to London.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13I worked... I actually found...
0:05:13 > 0:05:15I really feel I found myself as an actor
0:05:15 > 0:05:17when I was working in London
0:05:17 > 0:05:21cos I got involved with a company called 7:84.
0:05:21 > 0:05:247% of the population own 84% of the wealth.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26So it was a touring company based in London,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28and there was a Scottish company, as well.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30They were quite radical, weren't they?
0:05:30 > 0:05:33- They were... Radical? Socialists. - Radical!
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Is that considered radical nowadays?
0:05:35 > 0:05:36Well, yeah, we were socialists.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Yeah, it was a left-wing touring theatre company.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Wonderful work, and it was like...
0:05:43 > 0:05:44The idea was to create a theatre
0:05:44 > 0:05:48that you could bring into, like, you know, working men's clubs
0:05:48 > 0:05:51or theatres, or - it could go anywhere,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53and always with music.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56And John McGrath founded that company
0:05:56 > 0:05:59and was the writer of that company, and John McGrath was a genius.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02You know, he was an amazing writer, wonderful writer,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04and a wonderful man.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09I had the privilege of spending a number of years there with John
0:06:09 > 0:06:10as a member of the company.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14What we'd do is we'd research an idea to do a show,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16a subject to do a show about
0:06:16 > 0:06:18and then we'd knock it round for a week or two
0:06:18 > 0:06:21and then John would go away and write the play.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25So we had a standing company of, like, six actors and four musicians.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28But prior to that, John originally did Z Cars, as well.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35In his previous incarnation he was a film and TV writer.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Great films.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Originally plays, but became films.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41The Bofors Gun.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44You're a disgusting, obscene pig, Featherstone.
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Likewise all cockneys.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47I never knew one who had a ha'p'orth of taste.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49The Reckoning, Nicol Williamson.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51So, John was a hugely successful writer
0:06:51 > 0:06:54before he decided to give all that up and just concentrate on this.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56And then you went the other way -
0:06:56 > 0:06:59cos your first break, then, on the TV was Z Cars.
0:06:59 > 0:07:00Yeah, well, the first...
0:07:00 > 0:07:03It was one of the first TV jobs I did in England.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05It was the final episode of Z Cars. Yeah.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07- The very final...!- Yeah, yeah. - That's a bit unfortunate.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09No, no, John just wanted...
0:07:09 > 0:07:12He just got everyone in the company to be in the final episode.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15God giveth and he taketh away. Isn't that so?
0:07:15 > 0:07:18You have the ultimate theological argument - a knife.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Look, I'm bursting. Do you mind if I...?
0:07:22 > 0:07:25So, he's given us something and he's taken it away from you.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27So, Z Cars kind of kick-started...
0:07:27 > 0:07:32- Did it kick-start a kind of love of TV?- No, no, no. Very little.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36I did probably... I don't know what year that was.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38It was maybe '79 or '80,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43but I did maybe two or three more TV jobs in England before...
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Then I went to New York in '82.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Making the Big Apple his new home,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53he married Dublin-born actress Bairbre Dowling.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57What age would you have been then?
0:07:57 > 0:07:59- I was about 27, 28, something like that.- Yeah.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01So was it just that sense of,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03"There's somewhere else I want to go to"?
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Well, I was visiting New York and I had friends in New York,
0:08:05 > 0:08:09going back and forth for about three years before I actually moved.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14And also my first wife was living there at the time,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17so I was back and forth visiting her.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21And then we decided to get married, which we did in '82,
0:08:21 > 0:08:22and then the move to New York
0:08:22 > 0:08:24seemed like a natural thing to do, you know.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27I never really had a plan.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29I never really had... and in this business,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31if you do have a plan, you're mad, you know,
0:08:31 > 0:08:32cos as soon as you decide to turn left,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34something will make you turn right.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38You know, so I never really had a plan in my head.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42No, I went to New York to continue working in the theatre.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45You know, if TV or film work came up, great.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48But after five years, no film offers came his way.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Theatre and occasional television roles were the only work available.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56But in 1987, one TV show would change his fortunes forever.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03I never watched Star Trek before I did it.
0:09:03 > 0:09:04I mean, I'm sorry... I was...
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Even back in William Shatner's day?
0:09:06 > 0:09:10No, no. I was never... My dad was a huge science-fiction fan. I wasn't.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14To boldly go where no-one has gone before.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18But you started off in Star Trek,
0:09:18 > 0:09:22- was it as a kind of unnamed character?- Mm-hm, mm-hm.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- Yeah.- And then found yourself... - Really involved, yeah.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28- ..as part of the crew of the spin-off, Deep Space Nine.- Yeah.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31And that's... That's an amazing achievement.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34You can't go sneaking up on someone like that, friend!
0:09:34 > 0:09:36It's an Alpha Quadrant rule.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39No, I, well, what happened was... I mean, I... I was... We were...
0:09:39 > 0:09:42young, knocking around, doing auditions,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45and I auditioned for the pilot of Next Generation,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48and they liked me and wanted to use me,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51and were thinking about me for, you know, a lot of various parts.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Living and working in capitalist America
0:10:00 > 0:10:03didn't change his socialist convictions,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05nor his support for Sinn Fein,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08which he feels is sometimes misunderstood.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10I always felt...
0:10:11 > 0:10:14..and this is, this is something I find hard to explain to people.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Because people automatically assume,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18because you're for Sinn Fein, you're a nationalist.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20I'm not really a nationalist, I'm an internationalist.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22You know, I've always been an internationalist.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25My politics that started to form in my teens
0:10:25 > 0:10:28were very much left-leaning and very much -
0:10:28 > 0:10:31I mean, I actually was a member of the Internationalists
0:10:31 > 0:10:33in Trinity College, as well,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35and they were a Maoist organisation, you know?
0:10:35 > 0:10:38I wasn't... It was very brief, but, I mean,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41they were interesting guys at Trinity College in the late '60s.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43So I always felt... I mean,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45I always felt internationalism was the way forward,
0:10:45 > 0:10:52and as a leftist, I joined Sinn Fein in the late '60s -
0:10:52 > 0:10:55and the split, I mean, if I had still been a member
0:10:55 > 0:10:57at the time of the split, I probably...
0:10:57 > 0:11:00I'm sure I would have gone with official Sinn Fein.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Because that would be my... That's where my sympathies lie.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06That's... That was my politics.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12And so when I went to England, when I went to America, I didn't...
0:11:12 > 0:11:15I never really gravitated towards the emigre community.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18You know, not... I mean, it wasn't a choice,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20it just wasn't something I actively pursued,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24to find, you know, Irish guys and Irish pubs
0:11:24 > 0:11:26and to...make it like it is at home.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29I wanted to explore where I was, you know?
0:11:29 > 0:11:31I wanted to be, like, I'm in a different place,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33a different country, I want to live like...
0:11:33 > 0:11:35people live there.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37That's not to say I wouldn't want to go and see
0:11:37 > 0:11:39the all-Ireland final, or I wouldn't want to, you know...
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Certain occasions were very special, that you try to keep...
0:11:42 > 0:11:45keep a part of your calendar, or whatever.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48But I was very much wanting to be...
0:11:48 > 0:11:51to explore the world.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53And I suppose, because of that,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56that may have given me a different perspective on Ireland.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Having left Ireland, that I kind of looked...
0:11:59 > 0:12:04at Ireland, then, through that lens. Through the lens of...
0:12:04 > 0:12:07you know, someone who has experienced a different culture
0:12:07 > 0:12:08and a different country.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13HE YELLS
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Even though you're an Irish actor,
0:12:15 > 0:12:20you have been able to be in many different films,
0:12:20 > 0:12:25and many different genres of films, from big-budget Die Hard 2,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29to something very intimate like Parked.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31I've nowhere else, either, except me car.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34I'm Fred.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Glad to meet you, Fred.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38I didn't want to be considered the "Irish actor", you know?
0:12:38 > 0:12:41I want to... I'm an actor. And I think it's great that today,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45you have much more fluidity in that, you know what I mean?
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Except, I have to say, in the UK.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51The UK still, you know, I mean...
0:12:51 > 0:12:55I've been involved in projects where I've...where I've...
0:12:55 > 0:12:58you know, played English accents.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00They don't, they're very...
0:13:00 > 0:13:02very unsure about it, you know what I mean?
0:13:02 > 0:13:05- They... "But he's Irish!" You know?- Yeah.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07- I mean, I've heard that so many times.- So...
0:13:07 > 0:13:08Whereas in America,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11a foreign actor playing an American accent is not a problem.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14I mean, you see, like, so many English actors
0:13:14 > 0:13:16are playing American, you know,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, all these guys.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21No problem. Sure, play American - and the same for me, it was...
0:13:21 > 0:13:25I mean, that's one of the reasons I liked and wanted to be in America.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30I did find that at the time, if I'd stayed in England,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32I would have been the "Irish actor",
0:13:32 > 0:13:34whereas, when I went to America, I had more...
0:13:34 > 0:13:36- AMERICAN ACCENT: - "The land of opportunity!" You know.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39SHE LAUGHS Good American accent, as well!
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- She sure is beautiful.- Beautiful?
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Sunsets are beautiful. Newborn babies are beautiful.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46This, this is fucking spectacular.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49- But you've been in some of my favourite TV programmes.- I have?
0:13:49 > 0:13:50- Moonlighting.- Oh!
0:13:50 > 0:13:53- Remington Steele.- Mm-hm.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54Yeah!
0:13:54 > 0:13:57- With Pierce Brosnan. - With Pierce, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:13:57 > 0:13:58The Russians?
0:13:58 > 0:14:01The painting's been hanging in the Moscow museum
0:14:01 > 0:14:04for the past 300 years, mate.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07I had... That episode, that episode of Remington Steele,
0:14:07 > 0:14:12I remember we were at the bar, I was playing, I was a baddie again.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Anyway, he's... We're having a conversation and it turns nasty.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Me and Pierce. And the script was that I turn and smack him.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22- And I thought... - That beautiful face?
0:14:22 > 0:14:24- Yeah, I know. - You can't smack that beautiful face!
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Beautiful Pierce, yeah. I know.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Yeah, yeah, he took a beating very well. But...
0:14:30 > 0:14:34I decided that, you know, in a crowded public bar,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36that you wouldn't...you wouldn't swing at a guy, you know?
0:14:36 > 0:14:39You'd probably just nut him, you know?
0:14:39 > 0:14:41So I decided to head-butt him, and...
0:14:43 > 0:14:44Not...
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Being a young actor, and not realising
0:14:47 > 0:14:52that by the time the day was over, I had done that...
0:14:52 > 0:14:53about 86 times.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Cos, you know, filming from the wide,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04coming in over my shoulder and then over his shoulder, so I'm going...
0:15:04 > 0:15:07- Mm! Mm! And pulling it...- And are you making physical contact?- No, no.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Oh, no, so I was thinking about Pierce. It's you, sorry.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12- Me!- You.- Pierce was fine!
0:15:13 > 0:15:15So, you know, I'm pulling it all the time.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17So I'm just going like that, you know.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19And I woke up the next morning and I couldn't,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21I felt like I had glandular fever or something,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24I couldn't move my head, my neck was killing me.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26And so I... That was a lesson learned, you know?
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Don't come up with good ideas like that about head-butting people.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32If I'd thrown a punch it would have been fine!
0:15:33 > 0:15:34You didn't do what I asked.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39Do you feel that, if you look at your career,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41have you been typecast?
0:15:41 > 0:15:43When I say someone's finished, they're finished.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47You know, when I first started on Star Trek,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49there was... There was a danger.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52I mean, you always feel that there's a danger,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54with such a high-profile show like that,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57that you're going to be, you know, just that.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59But what actually ended up happening was quite interesting,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02was I became these, like, two different people.
0:16:02 > 0:16:03I had two different careers.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05I was like, I had my, you know,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Star Trek fans who knew you from that show
0:16:08 > 0:16:09and you did that show,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12and then, you know, I was doing other, you know,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15films independent of that, and people who knew those films
0:16:15 > 0:16:17didn't even know you were in Star Trek.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19# For goodness' sake
0:16:20 > 0:16:22# I got the hippy hippy shakes... #
0:16:22 > 0:16:26In 1991, the first of a series of films about life
0:16:26 > 0:16:29in working-class Dublin brought him back to Ireland.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32- Roddy Doyle.- Yeah.- Has...
0:16:32 > 0:16:36He's obviously been a huge influence in the work that you've got
0:16:36 > 0:16:41and the character of Jimmy Rabbitte Sr, that you inhabited.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43- What's this?- What's what?
0:16:44 > 0:16:46"Have you got soul?
0:16:46 > 0:16:48"If so, the world's hardest-working band is looking for you.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52"Contact J Rabbitte. Rednecks and Southsiders need not apply."
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Was that, again, one of those moments where you were aware
0:16:56 > 0:16:59of Roddy Doyle's work, you were aware of the Barrytown Trilogy,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02- and thought...- No. No, not at all. - .."This is something I can do"?
0:17:02 > 0:17:03No, no.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07And I...you know, it's one of those things that could very easily
0:17:07 > 0:17:10not have happened at all, because...the...
0:17:10 > 0:17:12I, the year before we did The Commitments,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15I worked with Alan Parker in Los Angeles.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17We did a film called Come See The Paradise.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20It was about the internment of Japanese-Americans
0:17:20 > 0:17:24during the Second World War. It's a beautiful film.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26While we were doing that, Alan said to me
0:17:26 > 0:17:28that he'd just got the rights to this book
0:17:28 > 0:17:29that hadn't been published yet.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32It was set in Dublin, it was called The Commitments,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35and he said he loved it and he really wanted to do it,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37and, you know...
0:17:37 > 0:17:40You kind of hear these things in this business all the time.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42You know, this is going to happen, that's happening, you know...
0:17:42 > 0:17:45- And then it goes nowhere. - Various things are going to be made,
0:17:45 > 0:17:46and then they never happen.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48So you always take it with a grain of salt, you know?
0:17:48 > 0:17:50And even from Alan, I kind of said, "OK, Alan,"
0:17:50 > 0:17:52and thought, "Yeah, we'll see."
0:17:52 > 0:17:55And within six months, he had it up, he had it set up.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58And he brought me back to Dublin to do it.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01And Alan was very adamant that he would only use people
0:18:01 > 0:18:04from Dublin, who lived in Dublin, who...
0:18:04 > 0:18:07I mean, he didn't want any names in the film at all.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10And you already had traction, though. I mean, you...
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Yeah, so I was surprised that he brought me -
0:18:12 > 0:18:15but I was the only one who, that he was prepared to do it for.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Which was very nice of him.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19And what that did for me was it kind of...
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Cos I hadn't worked in Ireland -
0:18:21 > 0:18:24at this stage it was, like, more than 10 years
0:18:24 > 0:18:27since I'd worked, since I'd spent time in Ireland, even,
0:18:27 > 0:18:28like, any length of time.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30So it was lovely to come back and do that.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33It was just, I mean, it really reconnected me with Ireland,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35and, you know, then, you know...
0:18:35 > 0:18:37The...
0:18:37 > 0:18:40The Snapper after that, which was Stephen Frears,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42a different director.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46Stephen did the last films, The Snapper and The Van, then,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48and, you know, I think without The Commitments,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50I probably wouldn't have done The Snapper, you know?
0:18:50 > 0:18:527lb, 12oz.
0:18:53 > 0:18:5512!
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Yeah. Yeah, two arms, two legs and a head. Right!
0:18:58 > 0:19:02- And the dialogue is so whip-smart... - Yeah, Roddy...- ..As well.
0:19:02 > 0:19:03Roddy's a genius.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06There's a scene where you're in the pub, with two pints and a man
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and they're talking about a baby...
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Oh, the baby's just been born, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:19:11 > 0:19:137lb, 12oz.
0:19:13 > 0:19:14Huh?
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Is that a turkey or a baby?
0:19:18 > 0:19:19It's a baby!
0:19:20 > 0:19:23- That's a good-sized baby. - It is, but, isn't it?
0:19:25 > 0:19:26Small turkey, though.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30So many movies.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33Are there favourite, standout moments for you?
0:19:35 > 0:19:36Well, you know, the...
0:19:36 > 0:19:39The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van were...
0:19:39 > 0:19:41That was a great period of time for me,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45because, you know, to get the chance to play the same character
0:19:45 > 0:19:47in three different films, even though he had a different name
0:19:47 > 0:19:50in each film. That was because of legal and copyright things,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52or something, I don't know.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54- But he was Jimmy Rabbitte Sr to all of us.- He was really... Yeah.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56- Are you Mr Rabbitte?- Yeah.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58I've come about the ad.
0:19:58 > 0:19:59What ad?
0:19:59 > 0:20:02You normally don't get to play the same character
0:20:02 > 0:20:05three times in a film, unless it's, you know,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09an action-adventure, comic book, or something like that.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12So this was... It was kind of a unique opportunity for me -
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and there were so many great moments in those films, you know?
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Because Roddy's writing is just peppered with, you know, gems.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22- £2.10.- I've only got £2.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24Here.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28- MUFFLED:- £2.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Did you see what he done?
0:20:31 > 0:20:34One I always remember was from The Commitments,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36was when I'm asking...
0:20:36 > 0:20:39when I first meet Joey The Lips.
0:20:39 > 0:20:40You know...
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Unforgettably played by Johnny Murphy.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Tell me something, Joey.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48In all the time that you were in Graceland,
0:20:48 > 0:20:49did you ever...?
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Did you ever see Elvis
0:20:53 > 0:20:54messing around with drugs?
0:20:55 > 0:20:56No, brother.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58I knew it.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00I always said...
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and you, you malignant little bastard!
0:21:02 > 0:21:04The choice of those words was just...
0:21:04 > 0:21:07masterful, you know what I mean? And that's Roddy, you know?
0:21:07 > 0:21:09He's just... It's just...
0:21:09 > 0:21:11His choice of, of...
0:21:11 > 0:21:16of descriptive words and swear words are always immaculate.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Suppose a ride is out of the question?
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Hang on till I get this line done.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25You're serious?
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Suppose so.
0:21:27 > 0:21:28Fucking great!
0:21:28 > 0:21:30And what about a romcom?
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Shall we get you in a romantic role, romantic lead?
0:21:33 > 0:21:35People just don't see me that way, I'm afraid.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37I'd love to do a romcom.
0:21:37 > 0:21:38You know, it's interesting, I mean,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41I've always been a character actor, even as a kid, I was like...
0:21:41 > 0:21:44I wasn't considered the, you know, the juvenile lead.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47You know, I was the character guy, always,
0:21:47 > 0:21:52and there's great satisfaction in that, in some ways.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54His most recent characterisation
0:21:54 > 0:21:57has been Martin McGuinness in The Journey.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59And this is Martin McGuinness,
0:21:59 > 0:22:03former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Allegedly.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Were you apprehensive at all about playing Martin McGuinness?
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Not... People have asked me this a number of times. Not really.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14I mean, I met Martin, just the once.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18I supported his campaign for president in 2011 and...
0:22:18 > 0:22:20you know, spent a good part of the evening with him,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22and it was delightful.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26I mean, he was a delightful man, wonderful company,
0:22:26 > 0:22:28and you do stop to think,
0:22:28 > 0:22:30when you're asked to play a real-life person -
0:22:30 > 0:22:32the only time I've done it before was,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35I played Don Revie in a film called The Damned United,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37and that was a bit of a...
0:22:37 > 0:22:38You know, cos people, you know,
0:22:38 > 0:22:40iconic figures like that, people, you know...
0:22:40 > 0:22:42You have to make an attempt to look like them
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and you have to make an attempt to sound like them,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48but the important thing is getting the character right, the inner...
0:22:48 > 0:22:50you know, the inner person.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53For Leeds to win the First Division title,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55and me to be named English Manager Of The Year
0:22:55 > 0:22:57really is a dream come true.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00When you come to a film, a drama,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03an impersonation isn't what you're looking for.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06I mean, impersonation is fine for three or four minutes, you know?
0:23:06 > 0:23:09But to tell the story, which is a drama,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12which is, you know, fiction, it's invented,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15you have to go for the emotional...
0:23:15 > 0:23:1813 innocent people, shot in the back, most of them!
0:23:18 > 0:23:21The next day, we had so many volunteers, we couldn't cope.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23They were queueing round the block to join us.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27- And you had your licence to kill. - We were fighting a civil war!
0:23:27 > 0:23:30If it hadn't been well-written, I would have had problems,
0:23:30 > 0:23:32you know, I would have, you know, I would have had to sort of...
0:23:32 > 0:23:36really kind of dig deep to find who this man was.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Would you still had taken the part,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40- if you hadn't liked the script as much?- No, no.- OK.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43My initial reaction was it might be a slightly kind of dry,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45political treatise, you know?
0:23:45 > 0:23:47And...
0:23:47 > 0:23:50But once I started reading it, I sat down to read it,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52and I couldn't put it down.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56I just read it straight through in one sitting, you know? And it...
0:23:56 > 0:23:58You know, made me laugh,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01and by the end, it had me in tears.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04It was just a beautiful piece of writing, and...
0:24:04 > 0:24:07about, you know, such a significant event
0:24:07 > 0:24:09and extraordinary characters.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11It was a very clever device, in the first place,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13to put the two guys in the car together
0:24:13 > 0:24:16and have the outside eye on them, as it were.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19We had a civil war.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24And this is our only opportunity
0:24:24 > 0:24:27for both sides to walk away
0:24:27 > 0:24:29with heads held high.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34To build something that will last at least for our lifetimes.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39- When you were making the film, Martin McGuinness was alive.- Mm-hm.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41He has passed away now,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45- so he hasn't had the chance to see the finished film.- No.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Has that...
0:24:47 > 0:24:49put the film into a different light for you?
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Well, no, just, it's a real regret for me, personally,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54because I'm sure he would have had
0:24:54 > 0:24:58some very, very wry, funny comments to make about it, you know?
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Which I would have appreciated very much.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03So, just from a personal point of view, it's a real...
0:25:04 > 0:25:08..shame, that he didn't get to see it.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11You know, as far...as far as the...
0:25:11 > 0:25:13I mean, I'd love to have...
0:25:13 > 0:25:15I mean, from a personal point of view,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17but also from a political point of view,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19I'd love to have known his thoughts on it, you know?
0:25:19 > 0:25:22It would have been... It would have been extremely interesting.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25- Because... Did that journey actually happen?- No.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27So it's entirely fictional?
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Well, it's not entirely fictional.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31It's an imagining of what could have happened.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33I mean, basically, because...
0:25:33 > 0:25:34The issue in the picture is,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38how did these guys get from where they were to where they got to?
0:25:38 > 0:25:41We say never!
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Never! Never!
0:25:44 > 0:25:45Never.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47You know, the stakes were very high.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49I mean, for me personally, it's...it's...
0:25:49 > 0:25:51You know, I care deeply about...
0:25:52 > 0:25:55..the characters and the country.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57And, so, yeah, it was...I felt that.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59When we made this film, it was kind of like,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04this is something that happened in '06, and it was amazing -
0:26:04 > 0:26:08and look at these two figures who were, you know, polar opposites,
0:26:08 > 0:26:12managed to travel that distance to be able to work together.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14- No change.- Very good.
0:26:14 > 0:26:15Not an inch and no surrender.
0:26:15 > 0:26:16LAUGHTER
0:26:16 > 0:26:19And it's an inspirational story for...
0:26:19 > 0:26:21for any conflict situation, you know?
0:26:21 > 0:26:23And we sort of saw it as...
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Hopefully, that would make it universal,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27that it would be for conflict situations
0:26:27 > 0:26:29around the world, you know?
0:26:29 > 0:26:32That if it could be done here, it could be done anywhere, you know?
0:26:32 > 0:26:38So, you know, without wanting to sound pretentious or presumptuous,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41you would hope that a film like this, that actually kind of...
0:26:43 > 0:26:47..is, you know, is in praise of compromise,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50you'd hope that would have some influence on...
0:26:50 > 0:26:52on the players who are here today.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56How can we even contemplate doing this?
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Hm?
0:26:59 > 0:27:02HE CHUCKLES
0:27:04 > 0:27:06What?
0:27:09 > 0:27:12That's the first time you've said "we".
0:27:13 > 0:27:15And long may it continue...
0:27:16 > 0:27:18..to be a character actor.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20Colm Meaney, it has been a pleasure talking to you.
0:27:20 > 0:27:21Thank you for your time.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Same here. Thank you so much.