UK star Cherie Lunghi on Excalibur and her visit to Cork Film Festival 

Cherie Lunghi is in Cork to accept an award on behalf of John Boorman, the director the 1981 epic that had such a huge effect on the Irish film industry, writes Esther McCarthy

Nigel Terry and Cherie Lunghi in Excalibur (1981).

Cherie Lunghi has fond memories of coming to Ireland to film her first major movie role. She’s enjoyed an impressive stage and screen career in the years since, but being cast as a young actress as Guinevere in John Boorman’s Excaliburfelt like a major break.

The sword and sorcery epic that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the round table was a critical and commercial hit. Shot at Ardmore Studios and locations in Co Wicklow and beyond, Excalibur’s 1981 release is regarded as an early driving force which contributed to the thriving screen industry Ireland has today. It showcased the talents of an emerging generation of Irish and British actors, among them Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Ciarán Hinds and Lunghi.