Much of the action takes place in north central Dublin. What was it like to film in the area?
Filming in Dublin was fun but challenging. It's a big part of the character of the movie, and we grew up here, which is why it was fun transforming certain places into the two-tiered world of the movie. We have some recognisable locations, but by and large we had to box clever due to budget restrictions where we weren't able to shut down big thoroughfares and fill them with tons of extras. Because that's expensive. So we had to choose more narrow streets so they didn't look empty and the extras filled the space better, stuff like that. So it'll be fun for local viewers to pick out places that they know and see whether they're different! We managed to get permission to shoot at Croke Park and again, had to shoot that cleverly in order to make the crowd feel fuller. We also managed to get Dun Laoghaire baths which was tricky because it was night time, and wet, and time was against us. We had some pretty close calls such as losing the big car park location the night before shooting, and it features in the third act and involved a significant amount of pre-planning and action scene choreography to pull it off. That was tough and we ended up driving around for the night before shooting that stuff trying to get somewhere else that worked that we could get
permission at no notice, that worked visually, and then having to move all of the wardrobe/make-up/facilities/catering trucks etc in the middle of the night! The joys of low budget filmmaking!
The film is a three-hander in many respects and it hangs on the performances from the central trio. How did you come to get Sam, Tom and Ellen?
Sam Keeley was on board from
early. David loved his vulnerability and sensitivity as an actor, as did myself and Rachael. And we knew from other projects how much he gives to his roles. And we needed strong commitment from our cast because of the scale and ambition of the project versus the low budget! He's just a really talented terrific actor and just fitted the role so perfectly. Ellen Page and Tom Vaughan Lawlor were shots in the dark in a lot of ways. Due to their profile and status and how busy they are. But what ended up swinging it was really the quality of the script. And persistence. We pestered Ellen's agent for a while and made no headway and ended up changing tack and getting in touch with her manager. There's a series of levels that you have to get through before there's any response. So the manager's assistant reads it, and if she likes it then the manager reads it and if she likes it then it gets to Ellen, who thankfully loved it and came on board. And we knew Tom's agent already and had already pitched him the script and Tom thankfully loved it too and could see that we were trying to do something different, because horror isn't something that he's naturally drawn to. But the depth of the social and political allegory and quality of his character came through and made him get on board. They were uniformly brilliant to work with. They were so committed, and it was freezing cold and the hours were long but there were never any issues with any of them. It was tough for Ellen when she arrived also because she's extremely political and a homophobic horror show of a President got elected in her first week here. But she was a trooper through all of the being away from home and the freezing cold and was just so giving with her time. And her talent is undeniable of course. She's an Oscar nominee! The standard of acting performance with Sam and Tom and the others was exceptional. Paula Malcomson and Stuart Graham were great, such brilliant talent and experience. And the hidden gem was Hilda Fay who was extraordinary in making us feel a depth of sympathy for an infected woman.
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48 CinÉireann / April 2018