Cork actor: 'I knew if the film was even half as good as the pitch, it would be terrific'

Cork actor Dermot Crowley is a giant of stage and screen.

He has performed in theatres around the world, appeared in films including Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi, and starred alongside Idris Elba for five seasons of the BBC hit series Luther.

Now, he can be seen in the much-praised short film Brown Bread, written and directed by two-time Emmy-nominated journalist-turned-film-maker Shaunagh Connaire.

The film follows Áine (Katie McGrath) who returns home from a successful career in New York for a family event, but receives a cold welcome from her mother, who can’t accept that Áine has chosen her career over a life in Ireland.

Crowley plays Áine’s father, while Fionnula Flanagan takes on the role of her disapproving mother.

Crowley has worked with many great directors, so how did he feel about working with a first-time film-maker?

“I had no doubt whatsoever. When I was asked to do it, my agent sent a pack of vision, and I have never seen anything more professional in my life,” he said.

“It summarised the film’s story. It had shots of what it might look like. I knew then that if the film is even half as good as the pitch, it’s going to be terrific.

“The crew that Shaunagh assembled were all on top of their game. She surrounded herself with very good people, which is a very smart move. I absolutely loved working on it.”

While Áine’s mother struggles with her daughter’s choices, Crowley says her father, Seamus, is proud of his successful offspring.

“He’s a feminist. He’s incredibly proud of his daughter. He has been able to let her go, which is a great gift to give to your children.

“Essentially, it’s a film about love and loss, and the effects of emigration, both the successes and joys of it, and the emotional wounds it may inflict on families as well.”

Before moving into film-making, Connaire served as Director of Communications and Media for George and Amal Clooney. What does Crowley think about working on a project that may have caught Clooney’s attention?

“I didn’t realise until I started working with Shaunagh, and it didn’t come from her that she had an association with George Clooney,” said Crowley.

“He’s a highly respected guy, a major industry figure, and if she’s good enough for him, she’s certainly good enough for me.”

Connaire drew deeply on her own experience of emigration when writing the script, resulting in what Crowley describes as a fresh and original perspective on the emigration stories we typically encounter.

“It’s totally refreshing. Shaunagh has lived that life; she’s an immensely successful woman who emigrated from Ireland and has made her mark worldwide. The old way of thinking about emigration is outdated because, on so many occasions, times have been so hard in Ireland that entire generations had to go. Today, it is wonderful to see young people being able to go and make their way around brilliantly in all sorts of ways in the world.”

Crowley can relate to the film as he emigrated for work in 1968.

“I left Cork a long time ago, although I go back a lot because I have a house down in the Beara Peninsula, which is the joy of my life.

“My career took me to London and kept me there for many years, though I’ve returned to Ireland to work. Of course, there are things that happen, if your parents become ill, which, in my case, they did, and that was very difficult.

“You have to balance your career with your personal life. At the end of the day, the personal is more important.”

The actor says the profession is all-consuming, but he takes a different approach to it now.

“Acting is all-consuming, particularly in the theatre. Film and television, you do a couple of days here, you might have a week off there, but theatre is different.

“I did Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus years ago. It played for 18 months, eight shows a week. That was very tough, and I wouldn’t do that again, because working like that is a young man’s game.”

Brown Bread is produced by Cork’s Julie Ryan, and Crowley says he loves to work with fellow Corkonians.

“Julie is such a great producer. Being from Cork is so unique. There is an immediate camaraderie. All you have to do is say one or two phrases, and you both know exactly where you are coming from.”

Crowley recalls his love affair with the Beara Peninsula began while filming Falling For A Dancer, the adaptation of Deirdre Purcell’s acclaimed novel.

“I was born in Cork, but I had never been to West Cork. My dad was from Kanturk, my mother was from Kerry, so our holidays were usually in Fermoy or Killarney.

“When I was offered Falling For A Dancer, it truly took my breath away when I arrived on the Beara Peninsula. During the shoot, we had plenty of time off, which I spent driving around, hoping to find somewhere to buy. I remember calling my wife, Suzanne, and telling her, ‘I can’t leave this place behind’. It had such an effect on me.”

Crowley found the perfect spot and has been going there as often as possible for over 20 years.

“I’m forever grateful to the late, great Deirdre Purcell for writing Falling For A Dancer, which allowed me to buy a small plot right in the heart of one of Ireland’s most beautiful villages and build a house.”

Brown Bread is available to stream on Disney +.