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You acted in Disco Pigs as a stage play for a number of years before it was made into a feature, how different was the film process?
I'd had two years off between when the play finished and the film commenced so I'd gone off and done other things in the mean time. I think it changes a person in the intervening period and I didn't want to bring any of the baggage or any decision or notions of the play into the film and because it was Elaine and Kirsten there was a totally different creative team involved. I just wanted to go with Kirsten's vision really.
Your character in Disco Pigs, Pig, is an intense and volatile person, was it a difficult persona to become?
I think for those extreme characters there's a part of every one of us that we don't really know very well or don't really investigate much and it was an opportunity to open doors that you wouldn't possibly do in your every day to day life. The thing about Pig is there's no point in being mad for the sake of being mad or just being crazy, there's reasons behind it, it's not just random. So when you have a motivation behind it and you have a really good director and really good environment it's not that hard to do.
Disco Pigs is an uncomfortable film to watch and the language is quite poetic. Do you think it will reach a wide audience?
The biggest hope would be that it gets some sort of reaction, whether it be negative or positive or painful or joyful I don't really mind. I think it's a love story and people are always interested in love stories, so hopefully it won't be that exclusive.
What was it like working under Kirsten Sheridan's direction?
She's a really special person and a brilliant director. She's so passionate it's incredibly infectious the way she directs, really all-consuming. She gets it out of you, you'd be exhausted going "I can't really do it again" and she'd get you to do it again and do it better. She's fantastic.
You are currently working on a film 28 Days Later... with Danny Boyle who directed Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, what kind of character do you play?
I suppose again it's a little bit dark. The character is caught up in this sort of post-apocalyptic world and it's about his struggle to survive, really.
What's it like being part of this new wave of young male Irish actors who are making inroads on the international scene including Colin Farrell and Stuart Townsend?
I know Colin, he's a really nice fella. Very grounded and down to earth and taking the fame thing in his stride.
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