Michael Collins - The Cast Prepares

As principal photography began, Neil Jordan wondered if the actors would be overwhelmed by the history and by their characters. "I had no idea what this would do to them, but in some way it seemed to act as a release," recounts Jordan. "They had all this energy to draw on, along with the knowledge they had from their research. I wanted to tell a story that you see through the eyes of the characters themselves, and if you do that with conciseness and energy, then people can come to it from any perspective. Despite the hugeness of it all, and the broad canvas, it's almost like a domestic drama."
The filmmakers were talking to several actresses about the part of Kitty Kiernan before Julia Roberts expressed interest in the role.
Says Stephen Woolley, "Dramatically, Kitty Kiernan has to illuminate the more human side of Michael Collins and Harry Boland. If we just showed these men at work, they would come across simply as revolutionaries without hearts, which would be both unsympathetic and untrue. Julia graces her part with the presence, charisma and charm that Neil wanted."
Says Roberts, "It falls to Kitty to provide the social and romantic dimension to the story. You get a much better idea of the humanity behind the political struggle because Michael has this woman in his life."
Playing a factually-based character was a new experience for Roberts. "It's probably easier when your character is fictional, because then no one can really tell you that you're wrong. There's certainly a greater challenge in trying to find the truth of someone who really lived.
"Michael Collins was incredibly compassionate, strong and devoted to his cause. I think Kitty was very attracted to that. She was a really courageous woman; in a lot of ways she was ahead of her time. But one of the great things about her relationship with Michael Collins was that she insisted on having her own life as well.
"Here was a man who was working and moving twenty-four hours a day in danger of his life, and she would do things like ask him to pick up her dress from the dressmakers when he was coming by! I like that way she had about her, and so did Michael Collins."
Roberts had a wonderful time working with Jordan. "It's been terrific, he's so clever, it astounds me. He's very energetic and just really loved working on this movie." Aidan Quinn agrees. "It seems to me that about once every five years you come across a film like this, where you love the script and it goes exactly how you imagined and hoped it would."
As an Irish-American who grew up on both sides of the Atlantic, Quinn wasn't sure at first if the story would translate internationally. "I was wondering was it just me, because of my Irish parents and having lived here. But I showed it to some American friends who knew nothing about Collins, and they raved about the script.
"Harry and Michael are best friends," explains Quinn. "Initially, Harry has the advantage with Kitty, and then he's selected to go off to America with De Valera as his right-hand man.
"Then everything changes with the Treaty. Harry Boland felt that the Treaty was a disaster -- to get down on your knees to the Crown and to give away the North. And it's possible that he had some personal resentment about losing Kitty to Collins while he was away in America. At any rate, it was a terrible rift, and very sad.
"They were extraordinary men who were very clear and direct about what they were doing," says Quinn. "In many ways they make our lives today seem pallid by comparison ."
For Alan Rickman, the role of Eamon De Valera involved researching the vast amount of archival footage available. De Valera, Collins' mentor and later his adversary, went on in 1932 to become Prime Minister of the Free State of Ireland and, in 1937, put forth a new Irish constitution delaring Ireland a Republic, independent of Britain. The question of Northern Ireland was never settled by De Valera -- and remains today, like the legend of Michael Collins, both a reminder of the cruel nature of violence and an open call to explore the possibilities of lasting peace.
De Valera himself said ruefully in 1966, "It is my considered opinion that in the fullness of time, history will record the greatness of Michael Collins, and it will be recorded at my expense."
"I watched everything on him that was available," says Rickman. "The more you read, watch or listen to him, the more you get the sense of a born politician. Some people are meant for that kind of public stage, that kind of secrecy, and at times that kind of courage.
"The others had their hearts on their sleeves, which can lead to a short political shelf life," comments Rickman wryly. "De Valera never had his heart on his sleeve and, of course, he lived into his nineties. De Valera's single-mindedness is set against Collins' open-heartedness.
"I've loved working with Neil -- he's passionate about the project and that's very infectious," Rickman continues. "The script is so ambitious, both in terms of its scale and the fact that the scenes are relatively short, that you have to land accurately on the heart of each scene, but it's not difficult to be daring with Neil."
"One of the reasons I found this story so interesting is because it's almost like Cain and Abel," reveals Jordan. "These huge historical events were always rooted in personality and character. Through these two characters of De Valera and Collins you can explore those mythic themes."
"Of course De Valera had the burden of having to go on living," comments Woolley, "whereas Collins became this myth, almost like Gandhi, Che Guevara or T.E. Lawrence. We're making Collins' story, but we have to balance those two strong characters against each other."

A Special Note From Director Neil Jordan
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