Saipan film-makers: ‘Éanna was a gift playing Roy Keane’

On the eve of the 2002 World Cup, football’s stage set the scene for a uniquely Irish drama: Roy Keane, fierce and uncompromising, clashed with manager Mick McCarthy over what he said were shoddy preparations.

The fall-out was seismic - Keane’s exit reverberated from Saipan to every Cork pub and corner of Ireland. Now, as film-makers Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn bring this epic to the big screen, Cork and the country can relive a saga still debated over pints today.

Glanmire’s Éanna Hardwicke steps into Keane’s boots, and Steve Coogan takes on the role of McCarthy.

Barros D’Sa admits that a football film was never on the cards until the story’s richness drew her in.

“We come from the north, we are living in Belfast, and I didn’t know the story at all, so I read it as pure drama. I read it, willing them to sort it out, to find a way to make this work, because they have the same dream, they both want it so much, they both care so much and are so passionate. They felt like heroes of a dramatic tragedy. There was something in each of them that made it impossible for them to come to any other sort of conclusion.”

Casting someone who could capture Keane’s deadpan sense of humour and his particular brand of energy was no easy task, but Barros D’Sa says that she and Leyburn were instantly impressed by Hardwicke.

“We needed to find someone for the role who could walk into a room and change the energy. That’s what someone like Roy can evidently do. He has this kind of galvanising effect on everyone. Éanna is such a lovely, gentle, and brilliant human, and when he walked into the audition, you could feel it. We knew he could play this powerful character.

“Not only is he a brilliantly talented actor, but he has that charisma, and he’s also from Cork. We were so delighted with the casting.”

Barros D’Sa says Hardwicke’s Cork connection felt like a magical gift. “Being from Cork meant he was very knowledgeable about Roy, having grown up with him as a figure in his life. He understood what Roy meant to everyone and felt passionate about telling the story from his point of view. All of those things just made it seem like one of those wonderful gifts - you get to have an actor like that walk in and say, ‘I want to play the role’.”

The directors say that Coogan was number one on their wish list to play McCarthy, and they were relieved when he agreed to join the film.

“He saw a lot in Mick to interest him. There are some rhymes with Steve’s own family history. He grew up in an Irish family in Manchester, so he was really tuned into that diaspora story and how that relates to identity. He’s very connected with his Irish identity.”

Barros D’Sa says having these two actors in the lead was a luxury. “As I hope you’ll see, the two of them together have such different energies, but both have such power on the screen. We were so delighted with the casting. It’s a real luxury to get your dream cast for a project, and that’s really what we felt we had.”

The film opens on a comedic note, with a montage of news reports and radio programmes showing how Ireland reacted to the infamous incident. Leyburn says it sets the tone for the film.

“We had a lot of fun with that. We always had it in our heads that that’s how we were going to tell the story. There’s something of the Greek tragedy about this whole tale. That archive footage ended up fitting the bill for the chorus, as it were. It is a tale of two islands. They go to this tropical island; they’re disconnected from everything, and yet on another island, 3,000 miles away, everybody’s slightly losing their minds over it.

“So that aspect of the storytelling was hugely important to us.”

The film also stars another Cork actor, Alex Murphy, who Barros D’Sa says was a gorgeous addition to the cast.

“Alex is gorgeous and absolutely wonderful. He’s the most inventive, talented actor, a master of physical comedy, and a joy to have on set. He developed this character, who didn’t have a lot of space on the page, into a fully formed member of the Football Association: Eddie Power. We were all sorry to see the last of Eddie, so maybe we’ll find a way to revive his character.”

The film had its Irish premiere at the Cork International Film Festival, but were the couple daunted by bringing such a Cork story home? Leyburn says it was initially, but people were very complimentary.

Barros D’Sa says a taxi trip reminded them just how important this story is to the county.

“We were coming in the taxi to the premiere. We were talking to the driver, and he said, ‘Oh, you’re not here with Saipan, are you?’ We said, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s our film.’ And he said, ‘Well, I hope you know that Roy Keane is a religion in Cork’. He didn’t say it in a threatening way, but we did feel a little bit like we’d better get this right.”

She says they need not have worried: “We’ve shown all our films at the Cork Film Festival, and it’s always an incredible festival to screen at. The audience is so fantastic. For Saipan especially, it was wonderful that they embraced it, especially for Éanna, a son of Cork. It was a really special night.”