Eileen Walsh

Mark Worden (Standard British accent):

Eileen Walsh is a guest at this month’s “Irish Film Festa” in Rome. She is probably most famous for playing the part of Crispina in Peter Mullan’s 2002 film The Magdalene Sisters, which tells a disturbing – yet true – story of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Ireland. We asked her whether playing Crispina had been a draining experience:

Eileen Walsh (Irish accent):

I had been chasing the part for about two years. I had worked with Peter on a film called Miss Julie. I had a tiny part, but myself and Peter got on very well  and he had mentioned the film and mentioned the actual role that I ended up playing, Crispina, and so I would go and see… go and audition for other films, or… and… and try and find out who was casting it, or, so, by the time I eventually got the part, I was so thrilled at getting it, it… it didn’t matter that it was draining. You know, I know plenty of actors that would have killed me for the role, so I was very grateful to get the chance to do it, but, in saying all that, it was hard ‘cause we were all away from home, all living in a hotel. Peter had threatened to make us all live in the actual convent itself, morning, noon and night, but, thankfully, that didn’t happen! But, you know, still it’s… hard to go home… go back to the hotel at the end of the night and.. and think “Tomorrow’s my hanging scene” or the next day is “my nude scene,” or “the sex scene,”  or whatever, you know. It was… it was unrelenting, but it was also a complete joy to be totally immersed in… in this, you know,  kind of self-indulgent way, you know, to work with somebody so fantastic as Peter.

Mark Worden: And, in conclusion we asked her what she was currently working on:

Eileen Walsh:

I just did a… a film called Snap that David Collins also produced and the next thing I do is… I’m going to be playing Lady Macbeth for the Irish National Theatre, at the Abbey, so, yeah, that’s what’s lined up next.

(Eileen Walsh was talking to Mark Worden. For more on the Irish Film Festa, visit: http://www.irishfilmfesta.org)

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