• Photos • Cannes feature • The Wind That Shakes the Barley review

But you didn't pick The Wind That Shakes the Barley on the basis of the script, because you didn't read the script before signing on, right?

That is the exception because of the way [director Ken Loach] works. I mean, if you had a big speech, he would give you these scenes maybe the night before or the morning of. And that was a tremendously revealing process for me as an actor to work like that, to make it all instinctual and not intellectual. Events would unfold on film. For example, at the beginning of the movie when the Black and Tans come into the house, we didn't know that was going to happen. And similarly, when I was given information about the traitor within the Flying Column, that happened onscreen. So that was a genuine, natural reaction to the information I was being given. Which was great because film acting can get very self-indulgent, and this is anti all of that.

Since you didn't read the script before signing on, and it deals with the history your own hometown of Cork, were you worried about whether it would be a film you could stand behind politically?

Yeah, I kind of abdicated responsibility there... I tend to agree with Ken's politics anyway. So I knew that I would be in the right hands. I didn't even know it was going to be about the civil war. I just thought it was going to be the War of Independence. And then as we went along, it became clear that it was going to be about the split.

Do you think the IRA violence was necessary?

I think that when a nation or a country is repressed, they will rise up. Someone said, "Sovereignty can't be given. It has to be taken." I believe in that. But it was a lot simpler back then. There's a very fine line now between a freedom fighter and a terrorist, and it's very tricky.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

The Troubles have been the topic of endless art —

I mean, again, it's part of our history. That conflict will always feed us, the Irish people, creatively, and there's nothing you can do about that. You have this nation of poets, in a way, and then this centuries-old struggle. So it's good combination for art, I guess, but not for the people that had to live through it.

Has it affected you or your family at all?

Yeah, I had, like, a cousin who was killed when he was 17, and my grandfather was shot at. That's part of who I am. And the two main political parties in Ireland trace their roots back to this split. And it's never really been dealt with, that specific time. I mean, Michael Collins is the closest, but that was more about the myth of the man, where this is just about real people.

How strongly do you relate to your identity as an Irishman?

Well, I'm not sentimental about it. I recognize it is who I am, and I'm from Cork all the way back. [laughs] It's been undiluted. And I love going home and I love Ireland, but I'm an actor first and foremost, and my extraction is secondary. And I don't think I will ever live in Ireland. It's very pretty and very small. I left there when I was 19, and I was quite happy to be out of there. You just know everybody. I like living in a world capital, because I like the anonymity that it offers, and I like the scope that it offers. I mean, I lived here [in London] before I ever did a film or anything like that. And I just loved it, being able to go and disappear and just go to galleries and walk.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Do you ever think about how your son is growing up in London as opposed to Ireland? Has he started talking with a London accent yet?

Well, he's talking, but it's — I know, yeah. I do think about that. It has given me pause. But his values and everything else come from his parents. He's going to be a Londoner, and I'm okay with that, I think. Listen, the Irish diaspora — it's just like everyone is Irish, almost. And it's just a question of how much or little you wish to be aware of those roots. And I think he'll be very aware. He can go back when he wants, and it'll be his choice.

How are the values different in London?

Well, it's trickier bringing up a kid in a big, big city, obviously. But I just think the values come from the parents. They don't come from the environment.

Would you ever live in L.A.?

Would I ever live there? No. I've worked there and lived there while I was working, but it doesn't really suit me, my temperament. And I'm European, you know. I need to live in Europe. And I love what [L.A.] has to offer in terms of the climate and food and everything else, but it's just too one-industry for me.