FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES with
BBC FILMS, TELEFILM CANADA,
BORD SCANNÁN NA hÉIREANN/THE IRISH FILM BOARD,
SODEC and BFI Present
a WILDGAZE FILMS/ FINOLA DWYER PRODUCTIONS /
PARALLEL FILMS / ITEM 7 Co-Production
Produced in Association with INGENIOUS
In Association with BAI RTE and HANWAY FILMS
SAOIRSE RONAN
DOMHNALL GLEESON
EMORY COHEN
with JIM BROADBENT
and JULIE WALTERS
DIRECTED BY ................................................................. JOHN CROWLEY
PRODUCED BY ................................................................ FINOLA DWYER &
............................................................................................ AMANDA POSEY
SCREENPLAY BY ........................................................... NICK HORNBY
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY .......................................... COLM TÓIBÍN
CO-PRODUCERS ............................................................. PIERRE EVEN
............................................................................................ MARIE-CLAUDE POULIN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ............................................. CHRISTINE LANGAN
............................................................................................ BETH PATTINSON
............................................................................................ THORSTEN SCHUMACHER
............................................................................................ ZYGI KAMASA
............................................................................................ HUSSAIN AMARSHI
............................................................................................ ALAN MOLONEY
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ................................... YVES BÉLANGER C.S.C.
PRODUCTION DESIGNER ............................................. FRANÇOIS SÉGUIN
EDITOR ............................................................................. JAKE ROBERTS
MUSIC BY ....................................................................... MICHAEL BROOK
COSTUME DESIGNER .................................................... ODILE DICKS-MIREAUX
MAKE-UP DESIGNER ..................................................... MORNA FERGUSON
HAIR DESIGNER ............................................................. lORRAINE GLYNN
MUSIC SUPERVISOR ...................................................... KLE SAVIDGE
SOUND DESIGNER/SUPERVISNG SOUND EDITOR . GLENN FREEMANTLE
LINE PRODUCER ............................................................ CAROLINE LEVY
CASTING BY .................................................................... FIONA WEIR
www.foxsearchlight.com/press
Rated PG-13 Running time 113 minutes
Los Angeles
Leanne McClaflin
Tel: 310.369.1148
leanne.mcclaflin@fox.com
Publicity Contacts:
New York
Jen Crocker
Tel: 212.556.8246
jen.crocker@fox.com
1
Regional
Isabelle Sugimoto
Tel: 310.369.2078
isabelle.sugimoto@fox.com
BROOKLYN tells the profoundly moving story of Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), a young
Irish immigrant navigating her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America,
Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother’s home for the shores of New York City. The
initial shackles of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the
intoxicating charm of love. But soon, her new vivacity is disrupted by her past, and she must
choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
Fox Searchlight Pictures presents a BBC Films, Telefilm Canada, Bord Scannán Na
Héireann/The Irish Film Board, Sodec and BFI presentation of a Wildgaze Films/Finola Dwyer
Productions/Parallel Films/Item 7 co-production produced in association with Ingenious, in association
with BAI RTE and Hanway Films, BROOKLYN. The film is directed by John Crowley from a
screenplay by Nick Hornby based on the novel by Colm Tóibín and stars Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall
Gleeson, Emory Cohen with Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters. The producers are Finola Dwyer &
Amanda Posey; co-producers Pierre Even and Marie-Claude Poulin; and executive producers Christine
Langan, Beth Pattinson, Thorsten Schumacher, Zygi Kamasa, Hussain Amarshi and Alan Moloney.
The production crew includes director of photography Yves Bélanger, production designer François
Séguin, editor Jake Roberts, music by Michael Brook, costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux and
music supervisor Kle Savidge.
2
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
“It made her feel strangely as though she were two people, one who had battled against two cold
winters and many hard days in Brooklyn and fallen in love there, and the other who was her
mother’s daughter, the Eilis whom everyone knew, or thought they knew.”
Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn
An Irish immigrant must choose between two men, two countries and two destinies in a story
of departures, longing and slow-simmering romance, tracing the unexpected journey of a young girl
becoming a woman in America. Through the film’s contemporary lens, the story reels back to the
refined rhythms of the 1950s as a post-WWII wave of newcomers was arriving on U.S. shores in search
of prosperity.
Colm Tóibín’s 2009 novel Brooklyn, one of the most acclaimed novels of the last decade, is
adapted by screenwriter Nick Hornby (WILD, AN EDUCATION) and director John Crowley (BOY
A). At the heart of the book’s power was a classic immigrant’s tale told in a voice that has rarely been
heard. While there have been numerous stories of ambitious or desperate young men driven to seek
their fortunes in America, the novel tells a different tale – one of a quiet, unassuming but luminous
young woman called Eilis.
Eilis has lived her whole life in tiny Enniscorthy, Ireland – where everyone knows everyone
else’s business and then some -- when she is swept away to America, thanks to her sister, who wants
to see her flourish. She arrives into the diverse tumult of Brooklyn already homesick, feeling like an
exile. But as Eilis dexterously learns to adapt to life as a New Yorker, she meets a funny, sweet,
charismatic suitor determined to win her devotion. Just as she seems on the verge of beginning a new
life, a family tragedy brings her back to Ireland where she is pulled back into the life she left behind …
and a decision that could affect her future forever.
Caught between two different calls to her heart, Eilis confronts one of the most breathtakingly
difficult dilemmas of our fluid modern world: figuring out how to merge where you have come from
with where you dream of going.
As for Eilis’ climactic decision, Hornby observes: “I think Eilis can see a life in America and
she can see a life in Ireland, but she cannot maintain those two pictures at once. She knows you cannot
3
square these two lives. So I think that’s how she momentarily manages to love two people at once,
because they are in separate worlds. But ultimately, she has to live in just one.”
Says Tóibín: “This is the secret history of two countries, of my country Ireland where over the
last 150 years every family has lost one or two members, people who left and who never came back.
But it’s also the secret history of the United States. These are the grandparents and great grandparents
of today’s Americans. This is how they came. And this story has not often been told.”
ADAPTING BROOKLYN
Colm Tóibín, the acclaimed Irish writer (The Blackwater Light Ship, The Master) who like the
heroine of Brooklyn was born in Enniscorthy, Ireland but later moved to New York, has long been
fascinated by family loyalties and divisions; the search for home and identity; and the ways women and
men long for and cultivate the groundwork of love. The novel seemed to weave all these threads into
a story about the transformative power of the immigrant experience. Though set in the 1950s and
amidst the close-knit Irish community in Brooklyn, it also seemed to speak to a timeless need to answer
two of the simplest, if most consternating, questions in life: where, and with whom, do we belong?
In her review of the book, the novelist Pam Houston described it as a “classical coming-of-age
story, pure, unsensationalized, quietly profound…there is only the sound of a young woman slowly and
deliberately stepping into herself, learning to make and stand behind her choices...”
The book delivered a rare portrait of the female immigrant experience – of a powerless young
woman not only learning to navigate her new country but her complicated heart, survival and how to
stand up for herself. The uniqueness of that viewpoint, one nearly lost, is what initially drew Oscar®
nominated producers Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey (AN EDUCATION), of London-based
Wildgaze Pictures, to envision the novel on the screen. They were inspired by the idea of telling a
seemingly familiar story from an unseen angle.
“BROOKLYN is not only the story of an immigrant’s journey from Ireland to America, it is
also Eilis’ journey of becoming the woman she wants to be,” says Posey. “It’s a story about a woman
finding her true voice and finding her ability to choose, especially during a historical time when a lot
of choices were restricted.”
Adds Dwyer: “It’s also a very universal story, about the equal pull of home and wherever you
end up making your adult life. You don’t have to be thousands of miles from home for that feeling to
resonate. We all have places and people we have left behind.”
They were fired up to move ahead, but Dwyer and Posey knew they faced a major hurdle right
out of the gate: finding a screenwriter capable of bringing Tóibín’s work to a feature film for the first
4
time. Was there anyone who could capture the story’s drama while keeping the understated lyricism
intact that has made Tóibín so beloved as a writer?
Fortunately, they felt they already knew just the person: Nick Hornby, with whom they had
collaborated on the Oscar®-winning AN EDUCATION, the story of a 1960s English schoolgirl headed
for Oxford but tempted by an entirely different kind of life. Hornby, a critically praised and popular
novelist in his own right (High Fidelity, About A Boy, Juliet Naked, Funny Girl), had most recently
adapted Cheryl Strayed’s memoir WILD.
For Hornby, the resonance of BROOKLYN lay in Tóibín’s ability to capture the human heart
when it is divided in its commitments – whether to country, family or a lover. “The way Colm depicts
the pain of wanting to be in two places at once, it’s a beautiful balancing act -- and it seems to lend
itself particularly well to film,” says Hornby. “I think if you identify with the characters in Pride and
Prejudice you’ll identify with BROOKLYN – because at its heart, there is that same timeless choice a
woman must make between very different kinds of young men.”
Though naturally he hasn’t experienced the life of a mid-century immigrant, Hornby resonated
personally with Eilis’ curiosity about a life that might break away from the confines of her small Irish
village. “As someone who grew up in the suburbs and was counting the days until he could get
somewhere else, I could identify with the essence of her journey,” he notes.
Indeed, Hornby says the adaptation came quite organically, despite many thinking that turning
Tóibín’s deeply internal prose into screen dialogue would be daunting. “Because Colm’s writing is
very precise and he pulls away and leaves gaps, you might think it’s a very internal book, but it didn’t
feel so internal to me,” the screenwriter explains. “What happens to Eilis actually seemed ripe for
dramatization. I was interested in capturing this lovely mix of tones: the comic, the romantic and the
tragic. Mostly I wanted audiences to go through the wringer with Eilis, to come to love her and the
people around her and to be affected by her journey.”
Hornby’s delicately contained but deeply romantic approach gratified the producers. “Nick
really brought out all of the book’s many emotional layers and at the same time he brought out a lot of
the humor,” says Dwyer. “Most of all, he brilliantly evoked Eilis’ voice.”
Tóibín was especially pleased with Hornby’s adaptation. He says of his reaction: “I was really
amazed at the clarity of it. Nick truly understood that the central emotion of the book is love, that it’s
about someone being torn between possibilities – and that if you simply followed that idea through, as
he did, that you would get something very pure.”
5
JOHN CROWLEY: A PERSONAL POV
With such a nuanced novel and screenplay to work with, the next challenge was to match the
material with a director who could come at it with a personal vision. John Crowley, best known for the
BAFTA-winning drama BOY A, seems to have immediate insight into the material –since he, too, is
an Irishman living outside Ireland, in his case having left his birthplace for England.
Colm Tóibín felt a kinship right away due to Crowley’s familiarity with the emotions of leaving
… and leaving Ireland in particular. “John has been through that experience of being from an Irish
place, yet living under English skies, and moving between the two places, so as soon as we started to
talk, it was clear this was something he understood,” the novelist says. “It was his life.”
The novelist enjoyed watching the director be inspired by his characters. “John’s very careful
and very precise about what he wants. But what he put most into this film was his heart. He’s kind,
intelligent and funny, and all these things are on display in this film.”
For his part, Crowley had read Tóibín’s novel long before there was a script, and been swept
away by it purely as a consumer. Now, he saw it as offering the chance to evoke a time, a place and an
unforgettable character who might enlarge the picture of the American immigrant experience.
“Despite having an element of familiarity about it, BROOKLYN really felt to me like a side to
the story that hasn’t been told,” the director comments. “Everyone knows about the earlier waves of
European immigration, but the story of someone emigrating from 1950s Ireland to America is one of
the least discussed aspects of what was happening in that period. The way Colm told the story was so
un-melodramatic, yet so fantastically emotional. It’s a deceptively simple book but I actually think
Eilis’ choice between two countries and two men is about as dramatic as it gets.”
He also feels that the motif of leaving one world for another is as relevant now as it was in the
1950s. “This is a story about exile,” Crowley states. “When you leave a country and choose to live
somewhere else, you’re no longer from that place, yet you’re certainly not from the place that you’ve
chosen to live in either. So you become a member of a kind of third nation, a nation of exiles. Today,
vast numbers of people in the world do not live in the country they were born in. The story of
BROOKLYN as Colm wrote it, and then as Nick developed it and took it to a cinematic level with his
screenplay, is completely truthful to that experience.”
To Crowley, BROOKLYN also evinces a modern conception of love. “It’s a story that says
love is complicated,” he muses, “and that the heart isn’t necessarily loyal to just one person; it can
perhaps, unlike a head, conceive of loving two people simultaneously. Eilis’ choice between two men
is also a choice for what kind of life she wants to lead. But she has trouble reconciling the fact that she
has to almost cauterize one part of herself in order to do that. It costs her a lot emotionally, yet the only
6
way for her in life is to keep moving forward. Love in this story is a very real force that can potentially
be destructive or liberating depending on which way it bounces.”
For the producers, Crowley’s vision of combining a sense of Old School romanticism with a
21st Century candidness was exciting. “In our first meeting, John described BROOKLYN as a modern
fairy tale,” recalls Posey. “He felt that there was something archetypal about Eilis trying to reconcile
her two halves. But he also brought this very real, very personal understanding of what that is like.”
Crowley says he wanted to echo the stark grace of the novel and screenplay in his filmmaking
-- by riding the thin line between grittiness and sentimentality, without giving way to either. “As in the
book, I wanted the power of the story to quietly creep up on you,” he says. “I also wanted to bring out
the humor and the scope. It’s not a story that is meant to be grandiose, but I think this story of one
1950s Irish girl contains within it the larger story of Europeans in America in the 20th Century.”
Creating that power on screen required a very patient, hands-on directorial style. Finola Dwyer
says that’s exactly what Crowley brought. “We knew this was going to be a real actors’ piece, and
John is simply great with actors. He brought out astonishing performances from everyone.”
EILIS, TONY AND JIM: AN OCEAN-SPANNING TRIANGLE
BROOKLYN required an actress who could authentically embody Eilis with her quietly biting
humor, keen intelligence and unfolding desire. Like so many unsung American immigrants, Eilis
arrives as a modest, if highly capable, lonely girl about to undergo a profound personal transformation.
Colm Tóibín says of Eilis, “I think in the book I was trying to build a character who wasn’t
self-conscious; who didn’t spend her time looking in the mirror and wasn’t pushy, yet had beneath her
a depth of feeling and almost a stubbornness at times. Everywhere Eilis goes people like her. But she
has no real sense of how this is caused. She doesn’t do it deliberately.”
The novelist also says of Eilis: “She is, in a way, happier in the shadows … so for me that was
a more dramatic subject because even though she doesn’t naturally assert herself, by the end of the
book she’s running the universe. She makes her way in the world in ways which are impressive but
not loud.”
The filmmakers searched for an actress who would allow the audience into the world of a young
woman coming into her own, with gentle wit and determination, as well as one who could understand
Eilis’ longing for Ireland. That perfect fit was Saoirse Ronan.
Born in New York to Irish parents and raised outside Dublin, Ronan first found acclaim in Joe
Wright’s ATONEMENT, garnering a Best Supporting Actress Oscar® nomination for her performance
as Briony. She went on to starring roles in THE LOVELY BONES, HANNA and most recently Wes
7
Anderson’s Oscar winning THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, all by age 20.
Now entering her
prime, she was ready to take on a complicated, emotionally demanding lead.
Ronan says she felt an immediate, almost uncanny, affinity for Eilis as soon as she read the
script. “Nick Hornby isn’t from Ireland, yet he managed to completely capture the spirit of the country.
The writing was so beautiful, and so beautifully subtle,” she comments.
“It felt close to my heart
because it was about my people. It was the journey that my parents went on back in the ‘80s; they
moved to New York and went through all these same things, even though it was a different era. The
biggest hurdle anyone goes through in life is leaving the security of your family and your friends behind
for something new.”
The film is also about a girl leaving home on her own and her journey to
womanhood. Once Eilis arrives in America, the close bonds she had with her mother and sister in
Ireland transfer to the owner of her new boardinghouse – the inimitable Mrs. Kehoe (played by
Julie Walters) -- as well as to the other young girls living there and helping each other to adapt to
a changing new country and culture.
Ronan says she was drawn to the way the film highlights the profound ways women
support each other through generations, not only in times of romance but in times of confusion, a
theme rarely brought to the fore at the movies. “Several women in my own life have helped me
to become the woman I am now through the wisdom that they've passed along to me,” Ronan
observes. “I think that's a huge part of what attracted me to this film: the idea that the real heart
of Eilis lies in her relationships with all these different women in her life. They are really the
ones who help carry her to the place she is meant to be.”
Eilis’ dizzying feeling of being split between two worlds hit especially close to home for
Ronan. She continues: “I’m very Irish in some ways but I have an American sensibility as well, as I
was born in New York. I think that made the story even more emotional for me, because I have such a
strong connection to both of these places, much like Eilis. Everything that Eilis goes through was
exactly what I was going though at that point in my life, and I’m still going through now. So
emotionally, it was extremely close to me.”
Once on the set, those emotions were close to the surface and, though she carefully cultivated
them, she notes that at times they carried her away. “I’ve previously always been someone who was
able to separate myself at the end of the day, leave the story behind, just go home and be myself again.
But there were times on this film that it was so realistic for me, and I was so deep into the character,
that it would move me to tears,” she says.
The mix of emotions that Eilis confronts – from confusion and grief to joy and devotion – was
also an exciting challenge as Ronan calibrated the balance between them. “We would go from
8
beautiful, heartbreaking, completely sad scenes to gorgeous, fun scenes to do,” Ronan notes. “Eilis is
going through all these very natural things that human beings go through: grief, relationships, jobs,
your relationship with your parents, independence. But I loved the subtleties of it. The challenge is that
you can read so much into Eilis’s experiences and she could be played in a number of different ways.
And it was also about balancing the drama of real life circumstances with the humor that people use to
handle that drama, which is something that I know Irish people use an awful lot. We use humor as a
way to deal with life and death. So it was about balancing all of that.”
Ronan especially loved finding all the undercurrents in Eilis’ unfolding romance with Tony
Fiorello. “With Eilis and Tony, it’s literally two completely different worlds colliding,” she observes.
“The Fiorellos are not only Italian but they’re so American to Eilis. They’ve grown up in New York
with that feisty attitude and she comes from rural Ireland, but luckily she’s got a bit of a fight in her
too. Again, both sides use humor to communicate.”
Similarly, she was intrigued by the sudden mood and perspective shift when Eilis returns to
Ireland as more her own person. “She’s got this whole other life now that people in Enniscorthy aren’t
aware of but as soon as she comes back, she kind of falls back into the pattern of her old life, allowing
herself to be told what to do again. The difference is that she’s aware of it now, whereas she wasn’t
before. And I don't know in a case like this if you ever know if you’ve made the right decision. I don’t
think Eilis will ever know. But that is part of the beauty of her story.”
The heart of BROOKLYN for Ronan lies in the re-defining of home. “I love the piece of advice
Eilis passes onto the young girl near the end of the film -- that when you move away, you’ll feel so
homesick you’ll want to die and there’s nothing you can do about it, apart from endure it, but it won’t
kill you and one day the sun will come out and you’ll realize that this is where your life is. That
gorgeous piece of writing means so much to any person who has ever left their home and family. Eilis
needs to go through this incredibly happy, heartbreaking, exciting, scary journey in order to make this
choice about where she feels she wants to be. And for me that’s what BROOKLYN is about. Your
relationship with home is something you carry with you as move to different places in your life and
endure different things. The trick is carrying it without letting it weigh you down.”
Though he was aware of her talent, John Crowley was astonished by how many different
charming and heartbreakingly honest facets Ronan brought to her performance. “It seems like this is
the part that Saoirse has been waiting for,” he muses. “There’s an intersection between actor and role
which happens, if you’re lucky, once in your career. It felt as if every word Saoirse spoke on set she
could have been saying in reality. Her performance has an immediacy to it and an emotional depth that
is astonishing. The role is completely hers.”
9
Colm Tóibín was equally impressed by the way Ronan inhabited the character. “Saoirse has
an extraordinary ability to suggest a great deal emotionally while doing very little. That’s a most
fascinating quality to see, not only for people watching the film but for a writer because that’s what
you always try to do on the page,” he comments.
Tóibín goes on: “The camera loves her … you might not notice her in a crowd … but the minute
she has to perform, something else emerges that’s catches the light. And I think Eilis has that quality
too. In certain moments she really doesn’t want to be noticed, but the minute she’s needed or under
pressure, light comes on her.”
Finola Dwyer notes that this is a departure role for Ronan. “We all felt very lucky to have
captured Saoirse at this particular moment. She’s been an outstanding child and teenage actress, but
this is really her first role as a woman, and she has created an unforgettable and distinctive portrait of
coming of age unlike any other,” says the producer.
Ronan says she was able to go to such deep, raw places in part because of Crowley’s support.
“John was so tuned in to everything that’s going on within one scene – emotionally he knows exactly
how to map out where you should be. The script is beautifully simple in a way but John saw the
complexities. He digs up all these secrets, in a way, that you’re let in on as you go along. And that’s
what is so fantastic about working with John.”
In the end, Ronan hopes Eilis will resonate for her quiet strength. “I hope that people look at
Eilis as someone who becomes strong enough to choose the life she wants and feel proud of it,” she
concludes.
While casting Eilis was vital, it was equally important that her two suitors – one American, the
other unexpectedly found when she returns to Ireland – be as alluring and true-to-life. To play the
boyish plumber Tony Fiorello, who woos Eilis with bravado and tenacity despite her uncertainty, the
filmmakers chose rising star Emory Cohen. Known for his roles on NBC’s “Smash” and Derek
Cianfrance’s THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, this is his first major romantic lead.
Cohen, who is a New York native, was drawn to the character as both a timeless symbol of
youthful passion but also as a very real Italian immigrant who believes in the 1950s ideal that the
measure of man is doing the best by the woman he loves. “Ultimately, I think this is a story that makes
you think about a lot of things in life then and now,” he says. “What does it mean to love whole
heartedly? What does it mean to be a good man? What does it mean to enjoy the simple things in life?”
He also says it made him think about the notion of love at first sight. “When Tony sees Eilis,
he’s hit by a lightning bolt. I read this line in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather that said when you get hit
by a lightning bolt you can’t even go to sleep because you can’t get the girl out of your mind. So I
thought about it like that. Tony sees love in that kind of way.”
10
Cohen’s portrait of Tony was inspired by a number of cultural references, from the naturalistic
Italian performances in THE BICYCLE THIEF to Marlon Brando’s working class character in ON
THE WATERFRONT. He even took swing-dancing lessons so that he would feel confident in the lifealtering moment when Tony first asks Eilis for a spin.
Crowley says that on top of Cohen’s probing approach, that actor brought an unaffected instinct
for charm. “From Emory’s first reading, it was immediately apparent he was our guy,” says the director.
“He not only had the charisma and masculinity but also the vulnerability and authenticity.”
There was also an immediate, palpable link between Cohen and Ronan, which was able to play
out beyond words, in fleeting gestures and expressions. “Both Emory and Saoirse were so into their
characters that the chemistry always flew,” Crowley observes.
The magnetic contrast between Eilis and Tony appealed to Cohen.
“There’s this very
interesting kind of reversal where my character is open, adventurous and passionate but underneath all
that there’s fear -- fear of losing Eilis. And I think in some ways she’s almost the opposite of Tony,
where on the surface she can seem more rigid and cautious than Tony but underneath that, there’s a real
spirit of freedom and knowing exactly what she wants to be… and it was kind of perfect because Saoirse
is like the Queen of Ireland and I’m like this New York junkyard dog,” he laughs.
The key to building their romance in a deliciously slow way was in knowing when to hold
back. “Me, John and Saoirse were always figuring out how to not go too far, to keep some of the
emotions in reserve, not letting it fully rip right away,” he points out.
Dwyer saw in their performances the rawness of love in its earliest, most thrilling stages.
“Watching them, I always really believed they loved being with each other. There’s a lot of humor
between them and you sense not just physical chemistry but a meeting of the minds,” she says.
Tóibín had a similar reaction to the pairing. “I thought ‘Oh wow, look at this guy. I know
exactly how he’s going to win her, just by being so funny, so good, so innocent, and so sweet.’ She
keeps looking at him for signs of darkness and there aren’t any, so I thought he was great.”
If Tony Fiorello is sweetly seductive, his more provincial but gentlemanly Irish counterpart,
Jim Farrell, had to be both an opposite attraction and a legitimate threat. That led to the choice of
Domhnall Gleeson, who has been coming to the fore as one of the most versatile actors of a new
generation with roles in ABOUT TIME, CALVARY, UNBROKEN, EX MACHINA and the much
anticipated STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS.
Gleeson knew he, too, had to find a subtle but visceral chemistry with Saoirse Ronan, to put
the question mark in the audience’s mind. “Life in Brooklyn may offer Eilis more, but it was my job
to make Jim seem worth staying in Ireland for,“ he says. “I really wanted to create a connection with
Saoirse that you would feel is worth fighting for.”
11
Like his castmates, Gleeson related to Eilis’ experience in his own way. “I think everybody’s
known a sense of displacement at one time or another, of not having a clear home,” he says. “I’ve
certainly been familiar with that at various times in my life -- and I thought it was captured brilliantly
in this story. Then there’s a lot of romance and fun to the story, which is very appealing.”
Crowley says that Gleeson’s take on the character brought out the bittersweetness of the story.
“There’s a consummate intelligence to Domhnall,” says Crowley. “He thinks very deeply about all his
roles and he brings an intensity and maturity to Jim that bounces beautifully off of Emory as Tony. It
was so important that Jim and Tony occupy vastly different spaces, that they be totally opposite versions
of men that Eilis could see herself with – and Emory and Domhnall brought completely different but
equally compelling feelings that underline her choice.”
THE SUPPORTING CAST
Surrounding the triangle of Ronan, Cohen and Gleeson in BROOKLYN is a supporting cast
featuring veteran and rising actors from both sides of the pond. In Enniscorthy, the cast includes Jane
Brennan as Eilis’ lonely mother Mary; Fiona Glascott as Eilis’ sister Rose, who insists on her going to
America; Eileen O’Higgins as Eilis’ Irish best friend Nancy; and Brid Brennan as the judgmental
‘Nettles’ Kelly. The Brooklyn portion of the story features Emily Bett Rickards, Eve Macklin and
Nora-Jane Noone as Eilis’ colorful cohorts at her Brooklyn boarding-house as well as “Mad Men’s”
Jessica Paré as Eilis’ polished department store boss.
Taking two of the film’s key roles are revered British actors: Academy Award® winner Jim
Broadbent (IRIS, MOULIN ROUGE!) portrays the émigré priest, Father Flood, who watches over Eilis
in Brooklyn; and Academy Award® nominee Julie Walters (BILLY ELLIOT, EDUCATING RITA) is
Mrs. Kehoe, the strict but savvy landlady of Eilis’ Brooklyn boarding-house.
Broadbent’s fervor for the novel was instrumental in his attraction to the role of the man who
arranges Eilis’ passage to America, then acts as her mentor when she is nearly laid low by
homesickness. “BROOKLYN is a universal story of the search for a better life in all its conflicts,” he
says. “It was both heart-breaking and heart-warming, but never sentimental. Very honest about
people’s their vulnerabilities and strengths that I also found it gripping.”
He describes Father Flood as “almost a social worker for troubled new Irish immigrants. He
steps in to help Eilis when she first arrives, and they become good friends. There’s a real connection.”
Walters was also a big fan of the novel and was thrilled to play the persnickety Mrs. Kehoe in
all her shadings. “She has a house full of unmarried young girls and she rules them with a rod of iron,”
12
she muses. “She is motherly but very strict. She allows no giddiness -- as she calls it. I think she wants
to be a guide for these young women … but if you cross her, there’s no going back!”
For Walters, whose mother was Irish, the film also hit home. “The voice for Mrs. Kehoe comes
from my childhood,” she notes. “It’s a mixture of the nuns I was educated by, my mother, my aunts,
my grandmother and people at church. It’s not one specific person, but it’s that memory of all the Irish
women that I knew – and they all had such great energy.”
John Crowley watched Walters completely inhabit Mrs. Kehoe’s mix of wit and unwavering
values on the set. “I knew Julie had an Irish mother and thus I had a suspicion that she would know
that woman inside out, and of course she did,” he says. “She knew who she was, right down to what
her hair should look like and what she should dress like. Of course she’s a hysterically funny actress,
but here she’s doing comedy in a very real way. It’s beautifully played.”
FROM IRELAND TO BROOKLYN AND BACK AGAIN
Brought to life with the dreamlike shadings of a love poem, BROOKLYN unfolds in two
distinctly atmospheric worlds: one amid the cloistered, muted beauty of Enniscorthy, Ireland and the
other in the bustling chaos of New York’s Brooklyn, the frequent first stop of many immigrants to
America. John Crowley set out to explore both with a team that includes cinematographer Yves
Bélanger (WILD, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB), production designer François Séguin (LUCKY
NUMBER SLEVIN) and costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux (AN EDUCATION).
Taking the production to Enniscorthy, a town of 10,000 inhabitants in the heart of County
Wexford, was essential to capture the textures and meddlesome neighbors of Colm Tóibín’s story.
“This is where I’m from,” says the author. “My parents were from Enniscorthy, my grandparents were
from there … and it was lovely to see the film set in the very streets I was thinking about in the book.”
Roaming through Tóibín’s stomping grounds, the place that made Eilis the person she is when
she arrives in New York, equally inspired the actors. “It affects your performance when you get to
experience the spirit of a place like Enniscorthy,” says Ronan. “Because the characters in BROOKLYN
are so Irish and so grounded, it was really great for us to be around people who are like that in real life,
who had the Enniscorthy accent and who had grown up there.”
While portions of the American section of the film were shot amidst the iconic brownstone
stoops of Brooklyn and on the shores of Coney Island, the filmmakers also found a stand-in for the
1950s version in Montreal, Canada, which also played an earlier vintage Brooklyn in the classic mob
drama ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.
13
In his cinematography, Yves Bélanger aimed to echo Tóibín’s writing with some of his most
creative work to date, using stylized lighting and lyrical framing that speak both to the muted energy
of the 1950s and to the ineffable longing Eilis experiences on both sides of the ocean. “Yves did a
brilliant job, and I can’t imagine any other cinematographer who could have accomplished the kind of
beauty he brought to this in such a short space of time,” says Dwyer.
Likewise, production designer François Séguin honed in on nostalgic details of the 1950s
period but also on the different ambiances of an Ireland that still had a pre-war look in furnishings and
décor, while Brooklyn was in the midst of rapid post-war change. In both locales, he focused on forging
a visceral sense of place. “François is super-talented,” says Dwyer. “Working with a wide range of
sets in three different countries, he created a cohesive look that feels like one piece.”
Also helping to recreate the era in the minds of actors were the beautiful clothes sourced and
created by Odile Dicks-Mireaux to evoke the inimitable elegance and grace of 1950s New York. She
was thrilled to step back into that era. “It was a complete pleasure to work with these characters,” says
Dicks-Mireaux, “and there was so much craftsmanship and invention in the 1950s period.”
Tóibín notes that he had very precise reasons for choosing that era, looking to explore that quiet
but loaded moment between the tumult of WWII and the rapid social changes of the 1960s. “I wanted
this to be a very private world, where I could really throw an intense gaze on a number of people whom
might seem otherwise powerless – and put them in the limelight. Of course, no period is truly neutral,
but this period is more neutral than most periods,” says the novelist.
The early era of street photography, especially work by the mysterious Vivian Maier and iconic
New York shooter Elliott Erwitt, inspired Dicks-Mireaux with their candid shots of transient city
moments. However, she avoided even glancing at the couture of the era.
“John’s specific edict was to not look at any fashion magazines because this is a story of real
people – of working class girls trying to make their living in New York,” she explains. “In every aspect
of the film, John wanted the look to be very natural and real.”
Dicks-Mireaux especially enjoyed contrasting fashionable Brooklyn, of which Eilis is soon a
part, with the more austere dress of Enniscorthy. “There was a huge difference between America and
Ireland in those post-war years,” she explains. “The styles could not have been more distinct which is
perfect for the story we’re telling. In America it was a time of rich color – reds, caramels and yellow
ochres, pinks and pale colors – that just did not exist then in Ireland.”
An equal contributor to the film’s transporting atmosphere is the music, led by an aching score
from Michael Brook (INTO THE WILD, THE FIGHTER). There is also a transcendent musical
moment -- when Eilis volunteers to serve Christmas lunch to downtrodden Irish immigrants, only to be
enraptured by one homesick man’s stirring Irish lament.
14
Colm Tóibín told Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey that the unique voice of Irish singer Iarla
Ó Lionáird had been a particular inspiration to him while writing that scene. Inspired themselves, they
approached Ó Lionáird and were delighted to be able to bring him to Montreal to perform “Casadh an
Tsúgáin” live on the set.
Ó Lionáird fully understood why it would impact Eilis so deeply. “It’s a love song, in which
the repeating chorus talks about a man asking the woman to define in what way she’s connected to
him,” he explains. “That resonates for Eilis, in that she’s connected to two worlds. In the song, the man
is asking the woman ‘if you’re with me, you’re with me’ and he says ‘be with me in front of everybody,
show everybody, be clear.’ She has to step into her own future and to decide what that is.”
Ronan was as moved as Eilis is during the scene. “Through this incredible voice, Iarla was
able to communicate every emotion that you go through when you’re away from home,” she says.
EILIS’ DECISION
The entirety of BROOKLYN builds to the life-altering decisions Eilis must make: between
Tony and Jim, between Brooklyn and Ireland, between her past and what she wants for her future.
Everyone involved knew from the start that the story hinged on the uncertainty of her ultimate choice.
“Some people will agree with her choice and some won’t,” says Amanda Posey. “We knew
what we wanted her to do as filmmakers, and John did too, but we also wanted the audience to make
their own decisions. One of the beautiful things about the story is that it explores several different kinds
of love. With Tony, Eilis experiences first love, yet with Jim there is a more grown up connection.
Then there’s the love she has for her sister and mother, which are different kinds of love again. It’s
really about how these varieties of love can both tear you apart and buoy you.”
For Posey, Eilis’ decision is necessary if heart-breaking. “A part of growing up is realising that
when you decide to go in one direction you’re closing a bunch of other doors. But I think Eilis finds
herself finally knowing the right thing for her, even if it’s heart-breaking.”
Adds Finola Dwyer: “At the end of the film, Eilis has a very clear future -- but you come away
knowing that her decision was also a major sacrifice.”
Saoirse Ronan felt that Eilis’ decision could truly have gone either way. “I can’t say if Eilis
makes the right decision – I think they both offered her happiness,” explains the actress. “The beautiful
and heartbreaking thing is that both these guys are equally wonderful. Jim is home and Tony is a new
life. They’ve both got an awful lot to offer and she knows it.”
15
Ultimately, Ronan says, she didn’t see the heart of the story as about which life Eilis chooses
– but about who she becomes in the process. “To me, it’s all about her being grown up enough and
mature enough to actually make her choice and follow it,” she concludes.
Domhnall Gleeson feels similarly. “You often can’t know whether the decisions you’ve made
are the right ones,” he points out. “But I think it’s important that Eilis truly has a choice now in her
life, which she wouldn’t have if she had never gone to America.”
For Jim Broadbent, the lasting poignancy of Eilis’ decision is that it provokes so many lingering
questions. “The best thing about BROOKLYN is that the audience probably won’t know which way
things will go -- and they won’t know which way they will want it to go,” he summarizes.
######
16
ABOUT THE CAST
SAOIRSE RONAN (Eilis Lacey) is best known for her starring role in the feature film
ATONEMENT, directed by Joe Wright, in which she starred opposite Keira Knightley and James
McAvoy. Ronan was 13 years old when she earned an Oscar nomination as well as Golden Globe
and BAFTA nominations for the critically-acclaimed performance.
Ronan is currently in production on the movie adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s THE
SEAGULL directed by Michael Mayer. She stars opposite Annette Bening and Corey Stoll based
on the play of the same name.
Recently, Ronan was seen in Wes Anderson’s THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL. The
film also starred Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Jude Law, Bill Murray and Edward Norton. She
also starred in STOCKHOLM, PENNSYLVANIA directed by Nikole Beckwith and also starring
Cynthia Nixon which screened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
In Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, LOST RIVER, Ronan starred opposite Christina
Hendricks. The film held its premiere at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. In 2013, she starred in
Open Road Films’ THE HOST, the film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s popular novel. She also
lent her voice in JUSTIN AND THE KNIGHTS OF VALOUR, an animation film directed by
Manuel Sicilia which also stars Antonio Banderas.
She was also seen in HOW I LIVE NOW, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto Film
Festival. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, Ronan played the lead role of ‘Daisy’ opposite George
MacKay, Tom Holland, and Harley Bird.
Ronan was also seen in BYZANTIUM starring opposite Gemma Arterton and directed by
Neil Jordan which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2012. Ronan was seen in 2010
starring in Focus Features’ action-thriller HANNA, directed by Joe Wright. Ronan played the title
character, a teenage girl trained from birth to be an assassin. The cast includes Cate Blanchett and
Eric Bana. She was also seen in THE WAY BACK, directed by Peter Weir and starring Ed
Harris, Colin Farrell and Jim Sturgess. Inspired by Slavomir Rawicz’s novel The Long Walk: The
True Story of a Trek to Freedom, the film tells the story of a small group of multi-national
prisoners who escaped a Siberian gulag in 1940 and made their way across five countries.
In 2009, she starred in THE LOVELY BONES, directed by Peter Jackson, and based on
the popular novel. Ronan was honored for the performance by the Santa Barbara International
Film Festival and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in the Leading Actress category. 38
Among her previous credits are VIOLET & DAISY; CITY OF EMBER, starring Bill
Murray, Tim Robbins, and Toby Jones; Amy Heckerling's I COULD NEVER BE YOUR
17
WOMAN, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd; Bill Clark's THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
OF JONATHAN TOOMEY; and Gillian Armstrong's DEATH DEFYING ACTS, starring
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guy Pearce.
Ronan currently resides in Ireland with her parents Monica and Paul.
DOMHNALL GLEESON (Jim Farrell) is currently working on MENA, directed by
Doug Liman. In January 2015 he appeared in Enda Walsh’s THE WALWORTH FARCE,
directed by Seán Foley, starring alongside his father Brendan Gleeson and brother Brian Gleeson.
This year he will next appear in THE REVENANT directed by Alejandro González
Iñárritu and JJ Abrams’ STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS.
Other recent credits include Alex Garland’s sci-fi film EX MACHINA, and the Coens’
adaptation of Louis Zamperini’s memoir UNBROKEN, directed by Angelina Jolie.
His previous lead roles in film include Lenny Abrahamson’s FRANK with Michael
Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Richard Curtis’ ABOUT TIME opposite Rachel McAdams
and Bill Nighy, and SENSATION, directed by Tom Hall. He received IFTAs for playing Bob
Geldof in When Harvey Met Bob, Levin in Joe Wright’s ANNA KARENINA, and Jon in Lenny
Abrahamson's FRANK.
Supporting roles in film and television include John Michael McDonagh’s CALVARY,
Charlie Brooker’s “Black Mirror” on Channel 4, Mark Romanek’s NEVER LET ME GO, Joel and
Ethan Coen’s TRUE GRIT, the role of Bill Weasley in HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY
HALLOWS (I & II) directed by David Yates, and Martin McDonagh’s Oscar-winning short SIX
SHOOTER. He also appeared in DREDD directed by Pete Travis, SHADOW DANCER directed
by James Marsh, Ian Fitzgibbon's PERRIER’S BOUNTY, A DOG YEAR for HBO films opposite
Jeff Bridges, Paul Mercier’s STUDS, Stephen Bradley’s BOY EATS GIRL, and John Butler’s
YOUR BAD SELF, for which he co-wrote sketches with Michael Moloney.
Domhnall’s work onstage includes Now or Later at the Royal Court, American Buffalo and
Great Expectations at the Gate, Druid’s production of The Well of the Saints, Macbeth directed by
Selina Cartmell, and Chimps directed by Wilson Milam at the Liverpool Playhouse. Domhnall was
nominated for a Tony Award for the Broadway production of Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant
of Inishmore. He received a Lucille Lortel Nomination and a Drama League Citation for Excellence
in Performance for the same role. He earned an Irish Times Theatre Award nomination for his role
in American Buffalo.
Domhnall wrote and directed the short films NOREEN (starring Brendan and Brian
Gleeson) and WHAT WILL SURVIVE OF US (starring Brian Gleeson). Domhnall also created
18
Immatürity for Charity, comedy sketches shot with family and friends in aid of St. Francis’
Hospice. They're pretty weird and they're on YouTube.
New York City native EMORY COHEN (Tony Fiorello) is one of Hollywood's fastest
rising young stars. His stand-out roles include the troubled teen AJ in PLACE BEYOND THE
PINES, starring alongside Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling, and in BENEATH THE
HARVEST SKY as Casper, a loyal friend who finds himself caught up in the illegal prescription
drug trade in northern Maine, which screened at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.
Cohen was most recently seen in THE GAMBLER in the role of Dexter opposite Jessica
Lange, Mark Wahlberg and John Goodman. The film centers on a literature professor with a
gambling problem who runs afoul of gangsters. The film was released in the U.S.A in December
2014.
In 2015, Cohen will be seen in STEALING CARS opposite John Leguizamo, William H.
Macy and Felicity Huffman in the role of Billy Wyatt. The film centers on a rebellious teenager
who navigates his way through the juvenile court system. He will also be seen in BY WAY OF
HELENA, in the role of Isaac, opposite Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth and Alicia Braga.
The film is about a Texas Ranger who investigates a series of unexplained deaths in a town called
Helena.
His past film and television credits include: NBC’s “Smash,” playing Leo, the son of
Debra Messing’s character for two seasons, and FOUR, reviewed as “a remarkable and moving
portrait of solitude.” The cast won “Best Performance in the Narrative Competition” at the Los
Angeles Film Festival in 2013. Additional credits include TESS AND NANA, AFTERSCHOOL,
LUCKY DOG, NOR’EASTER and HUNGRY GHOSTS.
JIM BROADBENT (Father Flood) is an Academy Award, BAFTA, Emmy and Golden
Globe-winning theatre, film and television actor, best known for roles in IRIS (for which he won
Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes in 2001); MOULIN
ROUGE (for which he was awarded the BAFTA for performance in a Supporting Role in 2001)
and the International phenomenon the HARRY POTTER franchise. He was BAFTA nominated
most recently for his role alongside Meryl Streep in THE IRON LADY (Phyllida Lloyd, 2011).
He has since continued to appear in an eclectic mix of projects, including John S. Baird’s
scurrilous Irvine Welsh adaptation FILTH; Roger Michell’s romantic comedy drama LE
WEEKEND (for which he was nominated for a British Independent Film Award as Best Actor);
and THE HARRY HILL MOVIE, in which he appeared in drag as a three-armed cleaning lady.
19
More recently Jim has starred in Christopher Smith’s Christmas comedy GET SANTA; and Paul
King’s critically acclaimed PADDINGTON, based on the beloved children’s books by Michael
Bond. Jim also appears in Jalmari Helander’s action adventure Big Game, starring Samuel L.
Jackson.
Since his film debut in 1978, Jim has appeared in countless successful and acclaimed
films, establishing a long-running collaboration with Mike Leigh (LIFE IS SWEET, TOPSYTURVY, VERA DRAKE and ANOTHER YEAR) and demonstrating his talents as a character
actor in films as diverse as THE CRYING GAME (Neil Jordan, 1992), BULLETS OVER
BROADWAY (Woody Allen, 1994), LITTLE VOICE (Mark Herman, 1998); BRIDGET
JONES’ DIARY (Sharon Maguire, 2001); HOT FUZZ (Edgar Wright, 2007); THE DAMNED
UNITED (Tom Hooper, 2009) and CLOUD ATLAS (Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana
Wachowski, 2012).
Also honored for his extensive work on television, Broadbent most recently received a
Royal Television Award and BAFTA nomination for his leading performance in “Any Human
Heart” (based on William Boyd’s novel of the same name), and had previously been recognized
for his performance in Tom Hooper’s “Longford,” winning a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and
his performance in “The Street” for which he won an Emmy. His earlier role in “The Gathering
Storm” (2002) had earned him Golden Globe and Emmy nominations.
Other selected credits include “Birth of a Nation – Tales out of School” (Mike Newell,
1983); “Blackadder” (John Lloyd, 1983); “Only Fools and Horses;” “Victoria Wood: As Seen on
TV;” “The Young Visiters” (David Yates, 2003); “Einstein & Eddington” (Philip Martin, 2008);
“Exile” (John Alexander, 2011); “The Great Train Robbery” (James Strong, 2013). Broadbent
recently completed filming alongside Ben Whishaw and Charlotte Rampling “London Spy,” an
original production by BBC America.
Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Broadbent has also
appeared extensively on the stage, notably with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal
Shakespeare Company. His work on the stage has seen him appear in acclaimed productions
ranging from Our Friends in the North at the RSC Pit (directed by John Caird and written by
Peter Flannery) and A Place with Pigs at The National (written and directed by Athol Fugard),
through to Habeas Corpus at The Donmar (directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan
Bennett) and The Pillowman at The National (directed by John Crowley and written by Martin
McDonah).
20
JULIE WALTERS (Mrs Kehoe) is an award-winning British actress, who came to
international prominence in the title role in EDUCATING RITA in 1983 opposite Michael Caine.
This won her an Oscar® nomination as well as a BAFTA and Golden Globe award for Best
Actress. Walters received her second Oscar® nomination and won a BAFTA for her supporting
role as the ballet teacher Mrs. Wilkinson in BILLY ELLIOT, directed by Stephen Daldry in 2000.
Julie is perhaps best known internationally to young audiences for her role in one of the most
successful franchises in big screen history, playing Mrs. Weasley in seven of the eight HARRY
POTTER films.
Most recently, Walters has started production on the second season of “Indian Summers”
and starred as Mrs. Bird in Paul King’s critically acclaimed PADDINGTON, based on the
beloved children’s books by Michael Bond.
Over 30 years, Julie has appeared in countless British film productions, both highly
successful and critically acclaimed, such as Roger Michell’s TITANIC TOWN in 1998 ,
CALENDAR GIRLS (Nigel Cole, 2003), Richard E. Grant’s WAH-WAH in 2005, DRIVING
LESSONS (Jeremy Brock, 2006), BECOMING JANE (Julian Jarrold, 2007) and MAMMA
MIA! (Phyllida Lloyd, 2008).
Walters has also been honoured for her extensive work on television, recently coming
fourth in the ITV network’s poll of the public’s 50 Greatest Stars in the UK. One of her first
stand-out acting roles on TV was in the classic “Boys from the Blackstuff” (Phillip Saville,1982)
and was followed by a string of significant dramatic and comedic roles, including and “The
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole,” “GBH,” “The Wedding Gift” and “Pat and Margaret.”
Through the late 1990s, productions included “Brazen Hussies” (Elijah Moshinsky,
1996), “The Ruby in the Smoke” (Brian Percival, 2006), as well as WGBH / PBS’s “Oliver
Twist” (Renny Rye, 1999) “The Canterbury Tales” (Dermot Boyd, 2003) and the lead role of
outspoken politician in “Mo Mowlam.” Julie is perhaps best known to British television
audiences for her collaborations with Victoria Wood, appearing with her in the award-winning
sitcoms “Wood and Walters,” “Acorn Antiques,” “Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV” and
“Dinnerladies.”
Having studied at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre, Walters has also
appeared extensively on the stage; in regional theatre, stand-up comedy and cabaret. Educating
Rita (Mike Ockerent, RSC Donmar Warehouse) launched her into the limelight earning her
Variety and Critics’ Awards for Best Newcomer, she then went on to play Lady Macbeth
(Leicester Haymarket Theatre), Judy in Last of the Haussmans (Howard Davies, The National
Theatre), May in Fool for Love (Peter Gill, NT Cottesloe) which won her an Oliver nomination
21
for Best Actress and Kate in All My Sons (Kate Keller, NT Cottesloe) for which she won the 2001
Olivier Award for Best Actress.
In 2013, Julie Walters was awarded the Richard Harris Award for Outstanding
Contribution by an Actor at the Moët British Independent Film Awards, celebrating her extensive
contribution to the British film industry. This was followed in 2014 by the prestigious BAFTA
Fellowship Award.
22
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
With a background as an award-winning theatre director, JOHN CROWLEY (Directed
By) received critical acclaim and his first awards in film in 2003 with his first feature
INTERMISSION, which starred Colin Farrell. His subsequent work includes BOY A (2007,
starring Andrew Garfield and Peter Mullan), IS ANYBODY THERE? (2009, starring Michael
Caine) and, most recently, episodes five and the finale of TRUE DETECTIVE season two,
starring Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell. He is currently directing Cate Blanchett and Richard
Roxburgh in an adaptation of Chekov’s THE PRESENT for Sydney Theatre Company.
Oscar-nominated producers FINOLA DWYER & AMANDA POSEY (Produced by)
produced AN EDUCATION, written by bestselling author and screenwriter Nick Hornby, directed
by Lone Scherfig and launching its star Carey Mulligan. AN EDUCATION was nominated for
three Academy Awards (including Best Film), nine BAFTAs (including Best Film and Best British
Film, winning Best Actress), six BIFAs (winning Best Actress) and won Best Foreign Film at the
Independent Spirit Awards.
Recently produced films include the feature documentary MY NAZI LEGACY which
premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in April 2015 to outstanding reviews. Made in
association with the BFI and BBC Storyville, the documentary follows international human rights
lawyer Philippe Sands as he explores the family background of two sons of senior Nazis and the
legacy of their fathers’ actions in WW2. It will be released in the US and UK this autumn.
They are in pre-production on THEIR FINEST HOUR AND A HALF, a co-production
with Number 9 Films that will shoot late summer 2015. Based on Lissa Evans’ novel, it has been
adapted for the screen by Gaby Chiappe with Lone Scherfig directing a stellar cast that includes
Gemma Arterton, Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin. A romantic drama with a difference set in the early
1940s THEIR FINEST HOUR AND A HALF combines the quick-fire repartee of a screwball battle
of the sexes with the reality of filmmaking under threat of imminent invasion and London in the
Blitz.
Dwyer and Posey produced A LONG WAY DOWN the adaptation by Jack Thorne of the
best-selling novel by Nick Hornby. The film was directed by Pascal Chaumeil
(HEARTBREAKER) and stars Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots,
Rosamund Pike and Sam Neill, and had its world premiere at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival.
23
Dwyer produced Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut QUARTET under her Finola Dwyer
Productions banner, from a script by Oscar-winner Ronald Harwood starring Maggie Smith, Tom
Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, Michael Gambon and Sheridan Smith. The film took
over $60m globally.
Dwyer’s previous producer credits include Iain Softley's BAFTA-winning debut
BACKBEAT; Stephan Elliott's cult favorite WELCOME TO WOOP WOOP; Chris Menges' THE
LOST SON; Sandra Goldbacher's award-winning and BAFTA-nominated ME WITHOUT YOU,
starring Michelle Williams and Anna Friel; Antonia Bird's EMMY-nominated THE HAMBURG
CELL; Stephen Woolley's feature debut STONED; Golden Globe, EMMY-nominated and
BAFTA-winning “Tsunami: The Aftermath” by Abi Morgan, directed by Bharat Nalluri, starring
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Roth, Sophie Okonedo and Toni Collette which Finola produced for
HBO/BBC. Finola has made films all across the globe, shooting in New Zealand, Australia,
Thailand, Jamaica, the USA, Canada, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, and Hungary.
Dwyer made her theatre producing debut with Elling, starring John Simm. The sell-out
West End run culminated in a Best New Comedy award and Olivier Award nominations including
Best New Comedy and Best Actor. The Broadway production starred Brendan Fraser and Denis
O’Hare. Dwyer is also the former Chair of the BAFTA Film Committee and a BAFTA Trustee.
Posey’s previous producer credits include FEVER PITCH, based on Nick Hornby’s bestselling memoir, which Hornby adapted, starring Colin Firth, as well as the US remake of FEVER
PITCH for Fox 2000, adapted by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, directed by the Farrelly
Brothers starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon; and FIVE SECONDS TO SPARE starring
Ray Winstone and Andy Serkis. Amanda’s earlier credits include working with Stephen Woolley
on Neil Jordan’s Oscar-winning THE CRYING GAME and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
(starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt) followed by heading up film development at Scala Productions,
for Stephen Woolley and Nik Powell.
Dwyer and Posey also spearheaded The Story Works 2010/2011, an innovative
screenwriters' initiative for ten UK writers, in conjunction with script editor Kate Leys and the
Edinburgh International Film Festival, supported by Skillset. Masterclass speakers and mentors
included Jane Campion, Ronald Harwood, Paul Greengrass, David Mamet, Christopher Hampton,
John Madden, Will Davies, John Mathieson and Pietro Scalia.
NICK HORNBY (Screenplay By) is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and awardwinning author. Prior to his most recent screenplay BROOKLYN, Hornby adapted Cheryl
24
Strayed’s NY Times bestselling memoir into the film WILD, which was directed by Jean-Marc
Vallée, and starred Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern.
Nick was Oscar and BAFTA-nominated for his screenplay adaptation of Lynn Barber’s
memoir AN EDUCATION, directed by Lone Scherfig and starring Carey Mulligan, Peter
Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike and Emma Thompson, and he adapted his own
memoir for the screenplay of FEVER PITCH starring Colin Firth.
Many of Nick’s international best-selling books have served as a rich stream of inspiration
for filmmakers: the British film of FEVER PITCH was re-made by the Farrelly brothers, starring
Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon; HIGH FIDELITY was directed by Stephen Frears, starring
John Cusack and Jack Black; ABOUT A BOY was directed by the Weitz brothers, starring Hugh
Grant, Rachel Weisz and Toni Collette; and A LONG WAY DOWN was directed by Pascal
Chaumeil, starring Pierce Brosnan, Aaron Paul and Toni Collette.
Nick’s other novels include Slam (2007) for young adults (currently being developed as an
Italian language feature by the makers of IL DIVO); How to be Good (2001); Juliet, Naked (2009);
and his most recent novel Funny Girl was published by Penguin in the UK in November 2014, and
by Riverhead in the US in February 2015.
As well as Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award), Nick
has written several other works of non-fiction including; 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National
Books Critics Circle Award in America) and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, a collection of
Nick’s book columns for the influential US magazine The Believer (also subscribed to worldwide)
and to which he continues to contribute a bimonthly column. Nick is also a recipient of the EM
Forster Award by the American Academy of Arts & Letters.
In November 2010, Nick co-founded the children’s writing charity The Ministry of Stories,
located in East London, now expanding to other UK cities.
COLM TÓIBÍN (Based on the Novel by) was born in Ireland in 1955. His novels are
The South (winner of Irish Times/ Aer Lingus First Fiction award; shortlisted for the Whitbread
First Novel Award); The Heather Blazing (winner of the Encore Prize); The Story of the Night
(winner of the Ferro/Grumley Prize; shortlisted for the Prix Femina Etranger); The Blackwater
Lightship (shortlisted for the Booker Prize, made into film starring Angela Lansbury and Dianne
Wiest); The Master (winner of the LA Times Novel of the Year, the Dublin IMPAC Prize and the
Prix du Meilleur Livre, shortlisted for the Booker Prize); Brooklyn (winner of the Costa Prize for
Best Novel); The Testament of Mary (shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize) and Nora Webster
(winner of the Hawthornden Prize and shortlisted for the Costa Novel of the Year).
25
His play The Testament of Mary was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play in 2013.
His collection of stories Mothers and Sons won the Edge Hill Prize, and his second collection The
Empty Family was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor Award.
Tóibín has twice been a Stein Visiting Writer at Stanford University; he has taught at the
University of Texas at Austin, Manchester University and Princeton. He is currently Irene and
Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University. He served on the Arts
Council in Ireland between 2006 and 2013. He is Chairman of PEN World Voices Festival in
New York and a member of the Board of Druid Theatre.
Tóibín is a contributing editor at the London Review of Books, a member of the Royal
Society of Literature and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and
Letters. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Ulster, University College
Dublin and the University of East Anglia. His work has been translated into more than thirty
languages.
Born in Saint-Jean-d’Iberville and raised in Québec City, YVES BÉLANGER (Director
of Photography) moved to Montreal to study film production at Concordia University, where he
became part of a new wave of Canadian cinema artists and also became bilingual.
Beginning in 1989, he made his mark in the music video industry, working as
cinematographer on rock and country videos, which in turn earned him commercial work. In
1995, he began shooting feature films and television shows; with directorial collaborators
including Alain Desrochers, Louis Bolduc and Jean-Claude Lord. Telefilms that Bélanger filmed
have included “The Growing Pains Movie,” reuniting the original series’ cast and directed by
Alan Metter.
Among the feature films that he has been director of photography on are Alain
Desrochers’ GERRY, WUSHU WARRIOR, CABOTINS, and LA BOUTEILLE [THE
BOTTLE]; and Patrice Sauvé’s CHEECH, for which he received Canadian Society of
Cinematographers (CSC) and Jutra Award nominations. Among the short films that he has been
director of photography on are Tara Johns’ KILLING TIME, for which he was a CSC nominee,
and Geoffrey Uloth’s WILDFLOWERS, for which he won a CSC Award.
Another feature credit as cinematographer was Xavier Dolan’s emotional epic
LAURENCE ANYWAYS, starring Melvil Poupaud and Suzanne Clément, who was honored at
the 2012 Cannes International Film Festival for her performance. Bélanger was again a Jutra
Award nominee for his work on the movie.
26
More recently, Bélanger worked with Jean Marc Vallée on two films; DALLAS
BUYERS CLUB starring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, the winner of best
cinematography at the Rome International Film Festival and three Oscars®; and WILD, starring
Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern.
Bélanger has just completed his third collaboration with Jean Marc Vallée;
DEMOLITION, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper as well as SHUT IN, a
thriller starring Naomi Watts and directed by Farren Blackburn
A French-Canadian based in Montreal, FRANÇOIS SÉGUIN (Production Designer)
has designed feature films, television series and live theatrical stage productions all around the
world. He has won five Genie Awards for Achievement in Art Direction from the Canadian
Academy of Film and Television, and has been nominated twice more. Séguin has collaborated
with director François Girard on films such as THE RED VIOLIN and SILK, as well as on the
Cirque du Soleil show, Zed, in Japan.
He designed Cirque du Soleil’s Las Vegas show Michael Jackson: One, and travelled to
China to design Dragon’s production of The Han Show. Feature film credits include LUCKY
NUMBER SLEVIN and PUSH for director Paul McGuigan; Billy Ray’s SHATTERED GLASS;
THE KARATE KID and THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES, for director
Harald Zwart; and the Denys Arcand-directed JESUS OF MONTREAL and THE BARBARIAN
INVASIONS.
Séguin also designed the acclaimed Showtime television series “The Borgias,” for
director Neil Jordan, which earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Art
Direction.
JAKE ROBERTS (Editor) is a well-established editor who has enjoyed great success
within the film and television industry. As a long-time collaborator with David Mackenzie and
Sigma Films, Jake cut THE LAST GREAT WILDERNESS, PERFECT SENSE, YOU INSTEAD
and STARRED UP which was nominated for Best British Independent Film at the BIFAs in
2013.
Roberts recently collaborated with Lone Scherfig on THE RIOT CLUB featuring
Douglas Booth, Max Irons and Sam Claflin for Blueprint Pictures.
He has also edited several award winning short films including I LOVE LUCI which won
the Scottish BAFTA Award for Best Short Film in 2011 and his television credits include the
hugely popular “Misfits” series along with “Skins Redux” with director Charles Martin. Jake
27
also has co-editing credits on the feature films CITADEL, JUMP and DONKEYS which was
nominated for Best Feature at the Scottish BAFTAs and recently did a polish on Ron Scalpello’s
PRESSURE.
MICHAEL BROOK (Music By) is a Golden Globe and Grammy nominated composer,
producer and recording artist recognized for his unique style of composition that traverses
ambient, world, Americana, electronic and orchestral territories.
His work often contains unusual combinations of instruments, sounds and moods that
create a powerful, unique and emotional impact.
His music career began as a recording artist, guitar player, producer and collaborator,
working with artists such as , Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Pogues, on
ground breaking labels such as 4AD and Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records.
As his music began to be licensed in films such as Heat and Any Given Sunday, he developed an
interest in composing for film and moved to Los Angeles from the UK in 1999.
Among the more than 40 films that he has scored are THE PERKS OF BEING A
WALLFLOWER, THE FIGHTER, INTO THE WILD, CHAVEZ, AN INCONVENIENT
TRUTH and the Oscar® winning documentary UNDEFEATED.
ODILE DICKS-MIREAUX (Costume Designer), who is fluent in French, studied
theatre design at the Central School of Art and Design. After leaving college she went on to work
in fringe theatre with companies such as Pip Simmons and Belt and Braces.
Dicks-Mireaux joined the BBC in 1979 as an assistant. In 1982 she became a designer in
her own right designing the costumes for the Award winning series “Blackadder” starring Rowan
Atkinson. Other BBC projects include Jon Amiel's “Silent Twins;” Angela Pope's “Sweet As
You Are;” and Warris Hussein’s “Clothes In The Wardrobe” starring Jeanne Moreau, Joan
Plowright and Julie Walters, for which she won an RTS Award for Best Costume Design.
In 1996 Dicks-Mireaux left the BBC to work freelance, since then she has worked
consistently in both film and television. Television work includes “Great Expectations” for
which she won a BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design; “Gormenghast” for which she was
nominated for both BAFTA and RTS Awards for Best Costume Design; “The Lost Prince” for
which she received an Emmy Award and an RTS Award for Best Costume Design; “The Deal”
with director Stephen Frears; and most recently “The Hollow Crown, Richard II,” directed by
Rupert Goold, with Ben Wishaw and Rory Kinnear, for which she was again nominated for a
Best Costume Design BAFTA.
28
Film credits include: BUFFALO SOLDIERS starring Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris and
Anna Paquin, Stephen Frears’ DIRTY PRETTY THINGS starring Audrey Tautou and Chiwetel
Ejiofor; Fernando Meirelles’ THE CONSTANT GARDENER starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel
Weisz, AN EDUCATION, her first collaboration with director Lone Scherfig, for which she
received a BAFTA nomination, LONDON BOULEVARD, Roger Donaldson’s THE BANK JOB
starring Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows and ONE DAY starring Anne Hathaway and Jim
Sturgess.
More recently, Dicks-Mireaux has worked on BEL AMI starring Robert Pattinson, Uma
Thurman and Kristin Scott Thomas, QUARTET directed by Dustin Hoffman starring Maggie
Smith, Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon, A LONG WAY DOWN directed by Pascal
Chaumeil starring Aaron Paul, Toni Collette and Pierce Brosnan.
Dicks-Mireaux has recently finished working on Ben Wheatley’s HIGH RISE starring
Tom Hiddlestone, Jeremy Irons and Elizabeth Moss.
KLE SAVIDGE (Music Supervisor) is one of the UK’s foremost music supervisors.
13 is an impressionable age and it was the timely discovery of “Space Oddity” on her
brother’s stereo that brought forth to Kle the realization of music’s power to evoke, lift and
transform the space it occupies.
Savidge arrived in the UK in 1990 from her hometown of Toronto, surmising somehow
that she might find herself ever more engaged in the British soundtrack that informed her youth.
Outrageously, she immediately found what she was looking for when she stumbled upon a nascent
Creation Records and a certain Alan McGee who took her under his wing and made her his right
hand woman for the next ten years. Savidge was at the center of a seminal movement in recent
British pop history as a hopeful Noel Gallagher arrived in the Creation office with a demo tape that
would change everything. Working with the acclaimed talents of artists such as Oasis, Primal
Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Ride, My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain gave her
extensive experience in all aspects of recorded music from the studio to post production.
Savodge has always possessed a unique attraction to ground breaking music and, when
Creation imploded in 2000, she embarked upon a career in music supervision, keen to branch out
on her own in an area suited to her talents. She has since become a sought after and respected
music supervisor, sourcing tracks and artists for unique performances. She has worked with first
time directors David Schwimmer and Dustin Hoffman to established talents Susanna White, John
Crowley and Pascal Chaumeil.
29
Make-Up Designer MORNA FERGUSON
Hair Designer LORRAINE GLYNN
CAST
In Order of Appearance
Eilis
Priest
Miss Kelly
Mary
Mrs Brady
Shabby Woman
Timid Woman
Rose
Mary Lacey
Nancy
George Sheridan
Georgina
Ship Waiter
Mrs Kehoe
Patty
Diana
Sheila
Miss McAdam
Dorothy
Bartocci Customer #1
Miss Fortini
Diner Waiter
Father Flood
Mr Rosenblum
Young Man
Frankie Doran
Dolores
Young Man At Dance
Tony
Bartocci Customer #2
Mrs Fiorello
Laurenzio
Mr Fiorello
Frankie Fiorello
Maurizio
Boy’s Father
Boy at City Hall
City Hall Official
Jim Farrell
Maria
Mr Brown
Mrs Farrell
Mr Farrell
SAOIRSE RONAN
FATHER MATT GLYNN
BRID BRENNAN
MAEVE MCGRATH
EMMA LOWE
BARBARA DRENNAN
GILLIAN MCCARTHY
FIONA GLASCOTT
JANE BRENNAN
EILEEN O’HIGGINS
PETER CAMPION
EVA BIRTHISTLE
JAMES CORSCADDEN
JULIE WALTERS
EMILY BETT RICKARDS
EVE MACKLIN
NORA-JANE NOONE
MARY O’DRISCOLL
SAMANTHA MUNRO
JANE WHEELER
JESSICA PARÉ
ADRIEN BENN
JIM BROADBENT
AL GOULEM
MAX WALKER
IARLA Ó’LIONÁIRD
JENN MURRAY
ELLIS ROCKBURN
EMORY COHEN
ERIKA ROSENBAUM
ELLEN DAVID
CHRISTIAN DE LA CORTINA
PAULINO NUNES
JAMES DIGIACOMO
MICHAEL ZEGEN
TADHG MCMAHON
HUDSON LEBLANC
PAUL STEWART
DOMHNALL GLEESON
NIAMH MCCANN
DENIS CONWAY
KAREN ARDIFF
GARY LYDON
30
Mrs Byrne
Girl On Deck
1st Assistant Director
Post Production Supervisor
Financial Controller
Music Editor
ÁINE NÍ MHUIRÍ
MELLA CARRON
CHARLIE WATSON
POLLY DUVAL
LOUISE O’MALLEY
YANN MCCULLOUGH
IRELAND UNIT
Line Producer
1st Camera Assistant
Steadicam Operator
2nd Camera Assistant
DIT / Downloader
Camera Trainee / Video Assistant
Camera Trainee
Script Supervisor
Gaffer
Grip
PATRICK O’DONOGHUE
NICOLAS MARION
DANIEL BISHOP
BRIAN DUNGAN
PAUL DEANE
SARAH DUNPHY
JOHN MCCARTHY
ROWENA LADBURY
JAMES MCGUIRE
PAUL TSAN
2nd Assistant Director
3rd Assistant Director
Extras Coordinator
Assistant Extras Coordinator
ENDA DOHERTY
NICK THOMAS
STEPHEN KIRK
DENIS FITZPATRICK
Sound Mixer
Boom Operator
Sound Trainee
BARRY O’SULLIVAN
ENDA CALLAN
SEAN O’TOOLE
Production Accountant
Assistant Accountant
Accounts Trainee
Production Coordinator
UK Production Coordinator
Assistant Coordinator
Production Trainee
Director’s Assistant
Assistant to Finola Dwyer
Location Manager
Assistant Location Managers
SOPHIE TEBBITT
EVELYN MCLOUGHLIN
SUSANN CHANDLER
JANE MCCABE
ABBY MILLS
ORLA HEFFERNAN
CIAN BOYNE
KIERON WALSHE
CHARLOTTE CAWTHORNE
GORDON WYCHERLEY
GRANT BOBBETT
31
BRENDAN O’SULLIVAN
Casting Associate
Casting Assistant
ALICE SEARBY
SARAH WILSON
Art Director
Standby Art Director
Assistant Art Director
Trainee Art Director
IRENE O’BRIEN
MELANIE DOWNES
CHRISTINE FITZGERALD
FIONA COONEY
Set Decorator / Buyer
Buyer
Trainee Buyer
Graphics Designer
JENNIFER OMAN
EMMA LOWNEY
THERESE O’LEARY
PAUL BRADY
Best Boy
Genny Operator
Electrician
Practical Electrician
SIMON MAGEE
PADRAIC O’FATHARTA
BRENDAN DEMPSEY
DAMIEN HEFFERNAN
Assistant Costume Designer
Wardrobe Supervisor
Standby Wardrobe Assistant
Costume Trainees
ELLEN CRAWSHAW
JUDITH DEVLIN
KAREN RIGG
LAURA ANNE MOONEY
BÉBHÍNN MCGRATH
Assistant Make Up
Assistant Hair
NIAMH O’LOAN
LORRAINE BRENNAN
Property Master
Standby Prop
Standby Assistant
Dressing Props
Dressing Props Assistants
NUALA MCKERNAN
CHRISTINA BROSNAN
DANIEL O’FLAHERTY
PAUL HEDGES JNR.
MARK TIMMONS
PAUL BOULTON
JANET HOLLINSHEAD
PAUL CAIRNDUFF
DYLAN SCOTT
LIAM MAGUIRE
LIAM DOYLE
Stores Person
Props Trainees
Props Runaround Driver
Road Crew
Construction Manager
Construction Chargehand
Supervising Carpenter
Carpenters
Scenic Artist
Scenic Background Artists
NICKY MACMANUS
FEARGHUS MCHUGH
BRIAN TIGHE
ALAN FINGLAS
KRISTIAN TIGHE
LORCAN NOLAN
GAVIN HACKETT
NEVILLE GAYNOR
JOSEPH GAYNOR
DARREN KEARNEY
32
Painters
Rigger
Stagehand
Construction Driver
NIALL KEARNEY
NORMAN DUFF
ROBBIE CURRY
RAY BOYLE
STEPHEN PRESTON
Standby Carpenter
Standby Painter
Standby Stagehand
Standby Rigger
GRAHAM WATERS
DANIEL LYONS
JASON ARKINS
JAMES DOYLE
Trainee Assistant Directors
Stand In / Trainee Assistant Directors
Dialogue Coach
SFX Coordinator
SFX Technicians
Transport Captain
Unit Drivers
Minibus Drivers
Facilities
Facilities Manager
Facilities
Camera Truck Driver
Construction Truck Driver
Electrical Truck Driver
Props Truck Driver
Paramedic
Health & Safety Officer
Catering
Catering Manager
Chef
Catering Assistants
JESSICA WHELEHAN
DANIEL LLOYD
KEITH BROWETT
CONOR FLANNERY
ROISIN EL CHERIF
OLLIE KELLY
MEGHAN MCLACHLAN
BRENDAN GUNN
BRENDAN BYRNE
ANDREW NOLAN
LIAM MCDONALD
MARTIN FITZPATRICK
PAUL CULLEN
DAVID LEON
MARTIN REILLY
PETER THORNTON
COLMAN SHARKEY
EDWARD FORAN
IRISH FILM FACILITES
NICO LINUL
PETER HILL
JOHNNY FORTUNE
MERVYN EWING
GARY HAMILTON
GAVIN MCGLASHAN
WILLIE COOLEY
JAMES TANSEY
ANDREW WATERS
KEVIN KEARNS
LOCATER LTD
GARY WALSH
MARIUS DZIKO
DANIEL PATACHI
EMANUEL BACREDI
33
NICOLETTA ROSO
Rushes & Editing Services
Windmill Lane Edit Assistant
Rushes Assistant
WINDMILL LANE
MARTIN FANNING
EOGHAN MCKENNA
CANADA UNIT
Line Producer
Production Manager
1st Camera Assistant
Steadicam Operator
2nd Assistant Camera
Data Wrangler
Playback Operator
Camera Trainee
Script Supervisor
NICOLE HILARÉGUY
DIANE ARCAND
NICOLAS MARION
FRANÇOIS ARCHAMBAULT
MARIE-PIERRE GRATTON
SIMON DESROCHERS-LAPLANTE
VINCENT GOUIN
SHAWN ANN RIBOTTI
ROWENA LADBURY
Gaffer
Key Grip
EAMES GAGNON
ALAIN DESMARCHAIS
2nd Assistant Director
3rd Assistant Director
Additional 3rd Assistant Directors
BRIGITTE GOULET
KAVEN MACDONALD
EVELYNE RENAUD
ANABELLE BERKANI
STÉPHANE BYL
CLAIRE BAUMANN
AD’s Trainee
Sound Recordist
Boom Operator
Accountant
Assistant Accountant
Accounting Clerk
Production Coordinator
UK Production Coordinator
Assistant Production Coordinator
Assistant to John Crowley
Office Runner
Unit Manager
Assistant Unit Manager
Set PA
Truck PA
Production Assistants
CLAUDE LA HAYE
FRANCIS PÉLOQUIN
GUY AUMOND
CHARLENE HODGE
NOËLLA TURBIDE
MANON PAYANT
ABBY MILLS
MARJORIE CARON
ELZA KEPHART
NICOLAS PRIVÉ
PATRICK LEGAULT
STEEVE LEBLANC
CHRISTIAN BOURQUE
MICHEL BILODEAU
KEVIN ST MARSEILLE
ANDRÉE-ANNE FAUCHER
34
Location Manager
Location Scout
Location Manager (boat)
Assistant Location Manager
Principals Casting
NY Casting
Extras Casting
Dialogue Coach
Dance Choreographer
Art Director
Assistant Art Director
Graphic Artist
Art Department Coordinators
Key Set Decorator
Decorator
Assistant Decorators
Best Boy Electric
Genny Operator
1st Assistant Electric
2nd Assistant Electric
Additional Assistant Electrics
Rigging Gaffer
Rigging Electrics
Best Boy Grip
1st Assistant Grip
Grip
Additional Grips
Assistant Costume Designer
Key Extras Wardrobe Mistress
Extras Wardrobe Mistress
Assistant Extras Wardrobe Mistresses
Runner
Costumes Coordinator
Key Dresser
Dresser
Key Extras Dresser
Additional Extras Dressers
GUILLAUME BLANC
MICHELE ST-ARNAUD
MICHELINE SYLVESTRE
ALEXANDRE PIUZE-GUALMINI
LUCIE ROBITAILLE
JIM CARNAHAN
JULIE BRETON
JULIA LENARDON
ANDRÉ THÉORÊT
ROBERT PARLE
GUY PIGEON
CARL LESSARD
DIANE PAGÉ
HÉLÈNE LAMARRE
LOUISE TREMBLAY
MANON THOMAS
ISABELLE POULIN
EMMANUELLE FOURNIER
PIERRE DAUDELIN
FRANCK FARINA-SCHROLL
CONSTANT LAVALLÉE
ROGER ROBICHAUD
CHARLES PÉLOQUIN
DANIEL GOYENS
PETER MATHYS
DANIEL VACHON
MICHAËL OHAYON
CLAUDE GERVAIS
ERIC LEGENDRE
DANY PRÉVOST
BENOIT DAOUST
SAMUEL EUSANIO
CARMEN ALIE
FRANÇOISE LABELLE
SYLVIE DAGENAIS
CHRISTELLE DEFORCEVILLE
ÉMILIE MARTINEAU
DOMINIQUE THÉRIAULT
JOSÉE BOISVERT
DIANE DAOUST
JULIEN LATENDRESSE
CATHERINE FILION-VILLENEUVE
MANON GIRARD
CAMILLE DEMERS
JOHN STOWE
GINETTE RÉGIS
35
Key Specialized Wardrobe Technicians
Seamstresses
Make Up Artist
Assistant Make Up Artists
Hairdresser
Key Extras Hairdresser
Assistant Hairdressers
Additional Production Assistants
Unit Runner
Property Master-On Set Prop Master
Assistant Set Props
Assistant Props Buyer
On Set Dresser
Swing Crew #1
Swing Crew #2
Swing Crew #3
Swing Crew #4
Swing Crew #5
Key Scenic Painter
Scenic Painters
MARTINE PICARD
ALBERT GRÉGOIRE
NIAMH BUTLER
VÉRONIQUE LE BLOND
VALÉRIE DELACROIX
ÉMILIE MARTINEAU
FAUVE PARADIS
JONATHAN GIRARD
NOÉMIE POULIN
ANNE-MARIE KEARNS-DRAPEAU
JOSÉE COMEAU
NICOLE LANGLOIS
MARLÈNE ROULEAU
MAGALIE MÉTIVIER
EDWINA VODA
JULIE MIGNOT
MICHELLE CÔTÉ
ROCCO STALLONE
COLETTE MARTEL
MARIO HUOT
CÉDRIC ARCAND
JEAN-FRANÇOIS HALL
ALEXANDRA ELKIN
JEAN-SÉBASTIEN HOULE
LAURA NOËL
ANNE-CATHERINE BOLDUC
BRIGITTE DESHUSSES
KEVEN P. PARENT
ALEXANDRA MORIN
ALEXANDRE BESNER
LAURENT ULRICH
MARTIN FRADETTE
DENIS HAMEL
CAROLINE DAVIGNON
ANIE LEBLANC
STEPHAN MCKENZIE
STÉPHANE CARON
FRÉDÉRIC CHAMORRO
JOAO BAPTISTA
FRANÇOIS ARCHAMBAULT
DOUGLAS MACLEAN
PASCAL TREMBLAY
DAVID AMYOT
JEAN-PIERRE RIVERIN
SÉBASTIEN PERRON
PASCAL CANUEL
ODETTE GAUVREAU
VINCENT RONSE
36
BRIGITTE CÔTÉ
SARA BÉLANGER
SOUZAN TAWAKUL
NATALJA SCERBINA
JEAN-MARC CORMIER
MATHIEU LÉVESQUE BLOUIN
RENÉE BOULAIS
JÉRÔME SINCENNE
Craft Persons
Assistant Craft Person
Picture Car Coordinator
Assistant Picture Car Coordinators
Assistant Captain Driver
Drivers
Production Vehicles
Picture Cars
Rushes Assistant Editors
ROLAND CHAPUT
MICHEL DICAIRE
ETIENNE POULIN
JIMMY LEMAY
RÉAL HAMEL
ÉRIC BRAIS
STÉPHANE BYL
DENIS RAYMOND
MAUDE BEAUNOYER
MARC-ANDRÉ GOYER
HÉLÈNE ÉMOND
ROGER VAILLANCOURT
RENÉ BRISSON
TANIA VERI
ANDRÉE ROY
TONY PELLETIER
GABRIEL FORTIN TAILLON
KIROULE
RÉAL PICTURE CAR
GUYLAINE ALLARD
GENEVIÈVE ROBERGE
NEW YORK UNIT
Production Manager
Production Coordinator
Accounts Department
Visa Services
LINDSAY FELDMAN
SCOTT BREDENGERD
CHRISTOPHER CONKLING
MATTHEW
BERNABEI
SHERMAN KAPLAN AND BRIAN DINGLE
PRODUCTION SERVICES PROVIDED BY ATLANTIC PICTURES, CHRISTOPHER MARSH AND
DARREN GOLDBERG
37
1st Assistant Editor
Assistant to Finola Dwyer
Post Production Coordinator
Sound Design & Post Production by
Sound Effects Editors
Supervising Dialogue Editor
Dialogue Editors
Foley Recorded at
Foley Editor
Foley Artist
Assistant Sound Editor
Re-recorded at
Re-recording Mixers
Foley Mixer
Assistant Foley Mixer
Sound Mix Technician
ADR recorded at
ADR Mixer
ADR Voice Casting
Visual Effects by
VFX Supervisor
Executive VFX Producer
VFX Producer
VFX Coordinator
Studio
2D Artists
3D Artists
Junior Artists
Additional Visual Effects by
VFX Supervisor
Lead VFX Artist
VFX Artists
VFX Artist
VFX Line Producer
Production Assistant
LEA MOREMENT
ANNA KOCH
CHRISTINA LEGKOVA
SOUND 24
MARK HESLOP
DILLON BENNETT
GILLIAN DODDERS
IAN MORGAN
EMILIE O'CONNOR
SHEPPERTON STUDIOS
PETER HANSON
JACK STEW
NICHOLAS FREEMANTLE
PINEWOOD STUDIOS
IAN TAPP, CAS
ADAM SCRIVENER
GLEN GATHARD
JEMMA RILEY-TOLCH
JOHN SKEHILL
GOLDCREST POST PRODUCTION
MARK APPLEBY
PHOEBE SCHOLFIELD
WINDMILL LANE VFX
ANDY CLARKE
CIARAN CROWLEY
CIARA GILLAN
GILL RYDER
DARAGH CASEY
JOHN MCMAHON
ROB HARTIGAN
JENNY KEANE
TIM CHAUNCEY
JAMES KENNY
DAVE LEAHY
STACY MANGAN
KEVIN RYAN
PEARSE TOOMEY
MUNKY
GARY BROWN
FABIO VONA
RICHIE WHITE
MIGUEL ALGORA
GILLIAN MACKIE
KATE WARBURTON
38
Titles Design by
Digital Intermediate by
DI Colourist
DI Online Editor
DI Producer
Molinare Post Production Coordinator
DI Manager
DI Coordinator
DI Conform Editors
DI Online Assistants
Data Transfer Operators
Film Consultant
VFX Production Manager
Stills Photographer & EPK Director
Unit Publicity
Production Notes
MATT CURTIS
MOLINARE TV & FILM
ASA SHOUL
GARETH PARRY
ALAN PRITT
CHARLOTTE AIRTH
MATT JAMES
FRANCOIS KAMFFER
TIM DREWETT
MICHELLE CORT
STEVE OWEN
TOM CAIRNS
JOHNATHAN DICKINSON
LIZZIE NEWSHAM
BEREN CROLL
KELVIN DALEY
MIKE ANDREWS
WILL CATTERMOLE
LEIGH MYERS
LEN BROWN
FATEMEH KHOSHKHOU
KERRY BROWN
PREMIER - JONATHAN RUTTER
PATRICK REED
FOR WILDGAZE FILMS
Associate Producer for Wildgaze Films
BENNETT MCGHEE
Head of Development
JOSEPHINE DAVIES
Accountant
JOHN MORGAN
Researcher
RAPHAEL VON BLUMENTHAL
FOR PARALLEL FILMS
Co-Producer for Parallel Films
SUSAN MULLEN
Production Assistant
ALISON NOLAN
Assistant to Alan Moloney
TOM PULLEN
FOR ITEM 7
Associate Producer for Item 7
JEANNETTE GARCIA
Coordinator
MARIA GRACIA-TURGEON
Assistant Accountant
ROSELINE LILI EGOUME
Business Affairs
SAM COPPOLA
FOR BBC FILMS
Senior Business Manager
MICHAEL WOOD
Head of Legal and Business Affairs
ZOE BROWN
Legal and Business Affairs Manager
NADIA LACHMAN
Marketing Executive
JACQUI BARR
39
Legal and Production Assistant
RUTH SANDERS
PRODUCED WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF TELEFILM CANADA
CAROLLE BRABANT
MICHEL PRADIER
STEPHANIE AZAM
SANDRA KARR
JULIE BLONDIN
ELSA GODIN
Executive Producer for Bord Scannán na
hÉireann / the Irish Film Board
Chief Executive
Deputy Chief Executive
Director of Lottery Film Fund
Senior Production and Development Executive
Head of Production
Head of Production Finance
Business Affairs Manager
FOR IFB
RORY GILMARTIN
JAMES HICKEY
TERESA MCGRANE
FOR BFI
BEN ROBERTS
NATASCHA WHARTON
FIONA MORHAM
IAN KIRK
BEN WILKINSON
FOR INGENIOUS
CHARLES AUTY
ELEANOR WINDO
TED CAWREY
LESLEY WISE
BUSINESS AFFAIRS FOR INGENIOUS – DAVID QULI
FOR SODEC
MONIQUE SIMARD
CATHERINE LOUMÈDE
LAURENT GAGLIARDI
JULIE MORIN
WORLDWIDE SALES AND DISTRIBUTION: HANWAY FILMS
MATTHEW BAKER
JUSTIN KELLY
THOMAS MANN
AZI SAMINGAN
JAN SPIELHOFF
JONATHAN LYNCH-STAUNTON
CLAIRE TAYLOR
CHIARA GELARDIN
In Association with TSG ENTERTAINMENT
Camera Equipment Ireland
VAST VALLEY
40
Lighting Equipment Ireland
Camera, Grip & Lighting Equipment Canada
CINE ELECTRIC
VISION GLOBALE
Avid Equipment
Post Production Script
Digital Negative and Prints
SALON RENTALS
FATTS
iDAILIES
Production Legal Services
Insurance provided by
SHERIDANS
JAMES KAY AND NICK MAHARA
GALLAGHER ENTERTAINMENT - KEVIN
O’SHEA
Completion Guarantor Services by FILM FINANCES
GRAHAM EASTON, DAVID KORDA, JAMES SHIRRAS
Auditor
Collection Account Management by
Score Recorded at
Engineer
Assistant Engineers
SHIPLEYS LLP - STEVE JOBERNS
FINTAGE CAM B.V.
Conductor
Orchestrator
Music Production
Scored Mixed by
Orchestra Contractor
Assistant Orchestra Contractor
Orchestra Leader
Librarian
Violin Soloist
Clarinet Soloist
Piano Soloist
ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS, LONDON
SIMON RHODES
TOBY HULBERT
STEFANO CIVETTA
NICK INGMAN
DAVID GLEN RUSSELL
CRAIG CONARD
RICHARD EVANS
ISOBEL GRIFFITHS
SUSIE GILLIS
PERRY MONTAGUE-MASON
PHIL KNIGHTS
JULIE ROGERS
MARTIN ROBERTSON
TOM CAWLEY
Additional Music Recorded at
Produced by
Engineered by
TEMPLE LANE STUDIOS, DUBLIN
JOHN CARTY
MICHAEL HEFFERNAN
“TEDDY O’NEILL”
Traditional
Arranged by John Carty
Performed by John Carty, James
Blennerhassett, Paul Gurney and Jim Higgins
“GOLDEN JUBILEE”
Traditional
Arranged by John Carty
Performed by John Carty, James Blennerhassett, Paul
Gurney and Jim Higgins
“BOOLAVOGUE”
Written by Patrick Joseph McCall
Arranged by John Carty
“BE COOL AKA KEEP COOL”
Written by A Jacquest
Licensed by Rockin’ Music
Performed by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers
41
Performed by John Carty, James
Blennerhassett, Paul Gurney and Jim Higgins
Courtesy of Ace Records Ltd.
“CASTLE FINN”
Traditional
Performed by Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and
Fiachna Ó Mongáin
“CASADH AN TSÚGÁIN”
Traditional
Performed by Iarla Ó Lionáird
“MACUSHLA”
Written by Dermot MacMurrough
Performed by John McCormack
Licensed courtesy of Naxos Rights Us Inc.
“SILVER THREADS”
Written by Hart Pease Danks
Performed by John McCormack
Licensed courtesy of Naxos Rights Us Inc.
“THE STACK OF BARLEY”
Traditional
Arranged by John Carty
Performed by John Carty, James
Blennerhassett, Paul Gurney and Jim Higgins
“YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS”
Traditional
Arranged by John Carty
Performed by John Carty, James Blennerhassett,
Seamus O’Donnell and Jim Higgins
“DYNAFLOW”
Written by Jack Cooley
Courtesy of Embassy Music Corp./Music Sales
Creative
Performed by John Carty, James
Blennerhassett, Seamus O’Donnell and Jim
Higgins
“A GARDEN IN THE RAIN”
Written by Carroll Gibbons and James Dyrenforth
Courtesy of Chester Music Ltd. trading as Campbell
Connelly & Co.
Performed by John Carty, James Blennerhassett,
Seamus O’Donnell and Jim Higgins
“FIVE, TEN, FIFTEEN HOURS”
Written by Rudolph Toombs
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp.
Performed by Ruth Brown
Licensed courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd.
“WHAT’S IT TO YOU, JACK?”
Written by A Jacquest and J Carter
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp. and
Lark Music Ltd.
Performed by Linda Hayes
Courtesy of Ace Records Ltd.
“ZING A LITTLE ZONG”
Written by Harry Warren and Leo Robin
Published by Music Sales Corporation and
Four Jays Music Co., administered by
peermusic (UK) Ltd. / Campbell Connelly &
Co. Ltd.
Performed by Bing Crosby and Rosemary
Clooney
Courtesy of Jasmine Records
“JESU JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING”
Written by JS Bach
Performed by David Kelly
Courtesy of De Wolfe Music
“CANON IN D”
Written by J Pachelbel
Performed by David Kelly
Courtesy of De Wolfe Music
“MY WILD IRISH ROSE”
Written by Chancellor Olcott
Arranged by John Carty
Performed by John Carty, James Blennerhassett, Paul
Gurney, Seamus O’Donnell and Jim Higgins
42
‘Singing In The Rain’ poster and stills licensed
by
‘New York 1956’ imagery supplied by
Clearances Coordinator
WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC
GETTY IMAGES
CHARLES EDWARDS
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO
RICK GEKOSKI, BOB SULLIVAN, JEREMY THOMAS, DUSTIN HOFFMAN, CHRIS ANDREWS,
JENNIFER LAKE & DONALD DONOVAN, LISBETH SAVILL, ROGER & MARLIESE DONALDSON
WITH THANKS TO
ADAM VENIT, PAUL LYON-MARIS, JENNE CASAROTTO, BEN ROBERTS, DAN ALONI,
RICHARD PAYTON & ANDREW MACKIE, PETER SUSSMAN, CHARLES LAYTON, ALISON
THOMPSON, LISA WOLOFSKY, SANDRA MARSH, JENNIFER KAWAJA & JULIA SERENY,
RONALD GILBERT, CHRISTINA PIOVESAN, CHARLIE DIBE, GAYLE VANGROFSKY, ANDREW
MCALPINE, RICHARD HOOVER
T BONE BURNETT, MICAH GREEN, PIETRO SCALIA,
JOHN MATHIESON, STEPHEN FUSS
ENNISCORTHY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, ENNISCORTHY TOWN COUNCIL,
ENNISCORTHY GARDAI SIOCHANA, WEXFORD COUNTY COUNCIL, ENNISCORTHY
ATHENAEUM COMMITTEE, JOHN O’CONNOR AND ENNISCORTHY ENTERPRISE
CENTRE, O’LEARY ESTATE AGENTS ENNISCORTHY, THE SHOWGROUNDS
ENNISCORTHY, ST AIDAN’S CATHEDRAL AND PARISH ENNISCORTHY, ST MARY’S
CHURCH AND PARISH TAGOAT, ALL THE BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS OF CASTLE
STREET, COURT STREET, JOHN STREET, FRIARY HILL AND LOWER CHURCH STREET
ENNISCORTHY, AERFAST INTERNATIONAL, MOVIETONE FROCKS, CARLO MANZI LTD,
RTE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT, FATHER MATT GLYNN, PAUL HAND OF DUBLIN FIRE
BRIGADE MUSEUM, JOANNE BYRNE, PADDY BERRY, AOIFE WOODLOCK,
NICHOLAS CAROLAN & BRIGITTE BARK, IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC ARCHIVE,
DUBLIN
ELA MAISON BIRKS (Donald Morneau), COMPAGNIE DE LA BAIE D’HUDSON (Catherine
Durand), SOCIÉTÉ DU VIEUX PORT DE MONTREAL, PATTISON, MINISTÈRE DE LA
CULTURE ET DES COMMUNICATIONS, SOCIÉTÉ RADIO-CANADA, ESPACE, COSTUME
INC., LES SERVICES BALDGORILLA INC., LOUIS RENE LAMARCHE OPTICIEN, SAVARD
OPTICIENS, LES ENTREPRISES A & R BROCHU, Transport Desgagnés inc. and the crew boat of
Camilla Desgagnés,
AQPM, AQTIS, ACTRA, SPACQ, ARRQ
PRODUCED WITH THE SUPPORT OF INVESTMENT INCENTIVES FOR THE IRISH FILM
INDUSTRY PROVIDED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND.
PRODUCED WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF SODEC SOCIÉTÉ DE DÉVELOPPEMENT DES
ENTREPRISES CULTURELLES - QUÉBEC
43
A UK / CANADA / IRELAND CO-PRODUCTION
FILMED ON LOCATION IN IRELAND, MONTREAL AND NEW YORK
In Memory of CLARE DWYER
PRODUCED BY BUN AND
HAM PRODUCTIONS
LIMITED
PRODUCED WITH THE
FINANCIAL
PARTICIPATION OF
CRÉDIT D’IMPÔT CINÉMA
ET TÉLÉVISION – GESTION
SODEC
FUNDED BY THE
BROADCASTING AUTHORITY OF
IRELAND WITH THE TELEVISION
LICENCE FEE
44
With the support of the
Media Programme of the European Union
MADE IN ASSOCIATION WITH RTE
THE EVENTS DEPICTED IN THIS FILM ARE FICTITIOUS. ANY SIMILARITY
TO ANY PERSON LIVING OR DEAD IS MERELY COINCIDENTAL.
THIS MOTION PICTURE IS PROTECTED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
AND OTHER COUNTRIES. UNAUTHORISED DUPLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR
EXHIBITION
MAY RESULT IN CIVIL LIABILITY AND CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
MADE WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE BFI’S
FILM FUND
DEVELOPED WITH THE SUPPORT OF BBC
FILMS
No: 49673
© 2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
and TSG Entertainment Finance LLC.
©2015 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED. PROPERTY OF FOX. PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO
NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS TO REPRODUCE THIS TEXT IN ARTICLES
PUBLICIZING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE MOTION PICTURE. ALL OTHER USE
45
IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED, INCLUDING SALE, DUPLICATION, OR OTHER
TRANSFER OF THIS MATERIAL. THIS PRESS KIT, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, MUST
NOT BE LEASED, SOLD, OR GIVEN AWAY.
46