Matthew Modine: 'Cillian Murphy is a sweetheart - so kind and soft-spoken'
Actor Matthew Modine attends Netflix's "Stranger Things 2" premiere on October 26, 2017, in Westwood, California.
With a career spanning decades including roles in film and TV shows like Full Metal Jacket, The Dark Knight Rises and the forthcoming Oppenheimer, Matthew Modine is one of America’s most versatile actors.
Soon to appear opposite Cillian Murphy in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated drama, Modine also played Dr Martin Brenner in the TV smash Stranger Things.
The actor will host a masterclass at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh and will also attend the premiere of The Martini Shot. Filmed on location in Ireland, the drama stars Modine as a movie director who begins shooting what he believes will be his final work of art.
It’s difficult to say exactly what my role in The Martini Shot is...it’s the character’s vagueness that appealed to me.
On the surface, he’s a film director trying to make a movie.
But under that thin veneer of who and what the character is up to is a whole universe which is filled with mystery.
What fun to be in a film that aspires to be magical and mysterious!
The script, written by the director, Stephen Wallis, is unlike anything I’ve ever read.
I absolutely loved working in Ireland. It was my first time in the west and every day was a new adventure.
The shooting schedule was 14 days. For your readers, that is impossibly fast to make a feature film. Well, nearly - because we did.
When I wasn’t filming I was memorising the text.
When I see the film now, I’m flabbergasted at how good the entire cast is and the sheer beauty of the landscapes within the photography.
The characters are so funny and the story is so poignant.
None of this incredible work could have been accomplished without a solid script and love and dedication from the entire crew and company.
I’m not sure there is “an environment” that is conducive to making it possible to pursue the arts.
Every journey out is ultimately a journey within. We have to go out into the unknown to discover what is within us.
New York City provided me with the stage to discover that which was already within me - and was finally able to get out.
A film career, any career in the arts for that matter, is like a racetrack. It’s full of curves and high speed.
Artists do their best to navigate the curves and avoid collisions and crashes.
When you do take a turn too fast it’s always a learning moment. Learning moments are invaluable.
Both. Of course, I always look for amazing scripts. Stories that are challenging and fun - and they’re usually in the hands of terrific filmmakers.
Of course. I’m a multimedia artist. Photography. Oil painting. Writing. Directing. Author. Cooking. We’re only dancing on the earth for a short time. So let’s make the most of it.
I just finished over 250 performances playing Atticus Finch in Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird in the West End.
I have a film with Liam Neeson coming this summer, Retribution. Liam’s an old mate. Good man.
Hard Miles is a good movie about a guy who takes four troubled youths on an arduous bike ride to the Grand Canyon.
And Oppenheimer about the US building and deploying the atomic bomb. It’s the second time I’ve worked with Chris Nolan.
Cillian is a sweetheart. So kind and soft spoken. Charming.
I hope the film is a monster success for him and everyone involved. It’s a massive story and incredibly complex, as you can imagine a story like this would be.
I love reading books - mostly non fiction. Love museums. Seeing the world through the eyes of painters and how they interpret people and landscapes.
When you see a lot of paintings over many years you really appreciate how different and unique people can be when they express them-selves.
Long regarded as a showcase for new Irish cinema as well as international features, Galway Film Fleadh runs from July 11th-16th. Here are some of this year’s most-anticipated films to watch out for.
- The latest drama from Thaddeus O’Sullivan (Into the Storm) will open this year’s Fleadh. Set in a working-class Dublin community, it tells the story of a group of friends who set out to achieve a long-held dream of travelling to Lourdes on a pilgrimage. Laura Linney, Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith head the cast.
- Director Lisa Mulcahy’s feature has its world premiere at the Fleadh and is described as a psychological thriller about a gaslit girl’s break for freedom. The period drama is set in an isolated manor, where a young woman named Maud must fight her guardian for her inheritance. The cast includes Agnes O’Casey, David Wilmot, and Cork actor Chris Walley.
- This Irish comedy from director George Kane makes its world premiere in Galway. It tells the story of a troupe of failed clowns as they embark on a chaotic road trip of self-discovery following a mysterious solar event that plunges the world into anarchy. David Earl and Natalie Palamides head the cast.
- The Fleadh hosts the Irish premiere of the critically acclaimed debut from writer-director Celine Song. It revolves around two childhood friends, Nora and Hae Sung, whose lives are upended when her family emigrates from South Korea. Decades later, they are reunited in New York.
- US filmmaker Alison Eastwood trains her lens on pop icon Cyndi Lauper in a documentary about the star. It traces how the trailblazer rose to fame with hits including Girls Just Wants to Have Fun and Time After Time, as well as recent work including the Tony-award-winning Broadway hit Kinky Boots. Contributors to the documentary include Boy George, Billy Porter and Patti LaBelle.
