There'll be a revolution! In fairness to Roy Foster, what a speaker and what passion he gave, and it comes through in the film and it came through on the night as well. He wasn't letting that one go. It is fascinating what happened to Hugh and to the collection and even when I came on-board I was intrigued. There's definitely a two-hander of a play or of a movie that could be made about Celia and Hugh...she said! [Laughs] Dublin back then must have been so interesting and so exciting. The artists, the famous figures, and even the lockout. I remember reading about that in school and thinking about the power of the people. It was so exciting and I think that maybe we've had a little taste of that with the water charges, but I hope that people don't get too complacent.
When it came to researching the role, how much of it was written and how much did you look to the experts to fill her in?
It was quite a quick process and in hindsight it would have been nice to speak with them. I spoke to Shiela [Ahern, one of the producers] after the screening and she told me that very recently a whole batch of letters between Hugh and Celia were found and were offered to her. They were in a bank in Dublin. But they were all very perfunctory. It was all "See you at 7." and "What's going on with this?". The artist in me goes "Ignore all that. I want to know was there love between them and what kind of vibe was was between them." And I guess to maybe dress it up a little bit, the love affair. So in terms of the research, a lot of it was there on paper. In fairness to Mark he had done an awful lot of work. And then when I read the main source material that I used, which was his biography. A lot of the information was there. And then I just trawled through books about Hugh Lane and the gallery and the cross-referencing to other people's lives as well. Just seeing that world was fascinating.
One hundred years later his impact is still felt in the city.
Absolutely. One of the things that I liked doing was walking around the city and seeing the areas that it could have been. Celia lists out a whole lot of possibilities, like Lincoln Place and Merrion Square, and Hugh was like too this or too that and not good enough.You could even do a walking tour of all of the places that it could have been and even all of the temporary homes that it had, on Harcourt Street and other places. And then of course it gets its home in Parnell Square. To my shame I have only been there a handful of times in the 20 years that I've been in Dublin. And maybe it's because it is that little bit out of the way from the museum and gallery circuit in Merrion Square. I hope that this brings more people in the door.
You have been very busy lately with Fair City and then The Cured which was out last month.
It's been great. So probably 10 years of unemployment now! [laughs] It's been great. It's been a lovely boost to the profile. I've been chugging away for the last number of years, but it's nice to be at the front of people's minds a bit more.
You seem to have managed a nice balance of TV, film and theatre.
For me it is always about the work. It's always about the quality of the work and the challenge as opposed to just being in something. I would be a bit picky! [laughs] I was very glad that the role in Fair City [she plays Aoife O'Neill in RTÉ's long-running soap opera] was so meaty and that the storyline was so important and interesting. It certainly got the country talking. That was great to get into Fair City on a character like that. And The Cured was a great movie, a great director, and working with great people. It was amazing.
On this one, on Citizen Lane, you got to work with one of the Irish legends in Thaddeus O'Sullivan.
I know! Back in the day reading or looking on Equity or Irish Film Board chaser list and Thaddeus would have been royalty. One of the first or earliest film directors of a very young film industry in Ireland. He would have flown the flag so to be able to work with him was amazing. It was Maureen Hughes, fair play to her. I just came in for an audition. It was great because I have blonde hair so I got this spray that you can put in. So I sprayed my hair all brown and I went in looking as Celia as I could. When you do an audition with Maureen Hughes it's just great to get inside the room as she is so insightful. The directions she was giving about Celia and her relationship with Hugh were amazing. And then the writing! Mark's writing is just on-the-ball. He says so much and his choice of words can paint a scene. One of the opening lines sees Orpen or Hugh go "Isn't he a queer fellow?" and you just have to go "Why did he say that? What hint is he giving us about this guy and his feelings for this other guy, maybe...perhaps? Getting in the room with Maureen is great because she just really brings the scenes alive. You forget that you are in an audition. It's just like you are in a rehearsal room, which is very exciting. I love the rehearsal more than I love the finished product. I'm more of a process girl. It was great that Thaddeus went "That's my Celia." but I had the advantage of working with Tom on The Cured, which was great. that was a nice short-cut. Because you can fall apart when you work with an actor of that calibre. And not that Tom would ever project this...but you could feel intimidated or unworthy almost, but to be able to walk into the room with Tom as an equal and go "Let's play. What's going on with these two?" was great and because we were a bit limited with time it just sped up the process. All of my scenes were just me and Tom, which was a joy.
CinÉireann / May 2018 37