As fans of DC's The Batman eagerly await the Penguin spin-off series, fans of Colin Farrell can catch him in another project that fires on all cylinders. It's no secret that writer-director Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin is getting rave reviews. And it's no surprise either. The filmmaker, and partner of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, has been knocking it out of the park for years. Movies like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Seven Psychopaths, and In Bruges have cemented McDonagh as one of the best filmmakers of his generation. His eagerness to collaborate with great actors is easily part of the reason why.
The Banshees of Inisherin is about a hilariously broken relationship between former Irish buddies Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson). Both actors have thrived working with Martin McDonagh before, particularly Farrell. The same is true for Ray Donovan star Kerry Condon, who had a small role in 2017's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kerry Condon went into detail about her experience being cast as Pádraic’s sister, Siobhán, as well as what it was really like to work so closely with Colin Farrell.
Kerry Condon On Joining The Cast Of The Banshees Of Inisherin
Aside from working on Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri with filmmaker Martin McDonagh, Kerry Condon also starred in his 2001 play, The Lieutenant of Inishmore. According to her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, this was her very first professional theater gig.
"I never went to drama school, and a lot of my training came from that time period, just being around Martin at that young age. There is a confidence that I have when I’m doing his work; when I leave that job, I always feel like I can do anything," Kerry Condon explained to The Hollywood Reporter of her collaboration with the acclaimed filmmaker. "Also, the [characters he writes] are quite like me. I’m not going to lie: I’m an Irish girl from the countryside who loves animals. There are strands of me in all the characters, so it’s easy for me to lean into what he’s looking for."
This was one of the big draws for Condon when it came to The Banshees of Inisherin. But while there was a familiarity with the character of Siobhán, there was also something completely foreign about it that attracted Condon.
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"It was very different than the parts that I’ve done in his plays because they were wild, those women," she admitted to The Hollywood Reporter.
"From the very first read, I didn’t see all of the things that I could bring to it," she continued. "There were so many [aspects] to Siobhán; she has to be jaded but hopeful, childlike with Pádraic but a mature woman. Then I started to think, “This is maybe a little trickier than the other [roles] because I have to find the stuff in myself.”
Kerry Condon's Relationship With Colin Farrell
In her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kerry Condon explained that she and her Banshees of Inisherin co-star connected swiftly on the set. Much of Condon's connection with Colin Farrell was based on parallels between their brother/sister characters and the real-life relationships with their siblings.
"I’m very close to my brother and Colin’s very close to his sister, so we both had a relationship [to base our characters on]," Kerry explained to The Hollywood Reporter.
'When you’re with your brother, there’s nothing s*xual about you at all. That’s the fun about being with a sibling: It’s very like it used to be when you’re young. I had to take away any element of that [s*xualization], yet at the same time, she’s still a young woman, and she’s reading all these books. Maybe she’s imagining romances, and there’s a private life that she’s not sharing with anybody," Condon explained of her character.
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Kerry Condon worked with Colin Farrell before The Banshees of Inisherin in a movie called Intermission. During an interview with Seth Meyers, Condon explained that she also sort of knew him over the years. They had a friendly report which put her at ease when she arrived on set for the McDonagh movie.
"You know, when someone's quite famous, you know, I'm always a bit nervous about imposing on them," Condon admitted to Meyers. "So, I think if it had been someone [other than Colin Farrell] I would have been -- I would have taken my time approaching him, where it was easy because I knew him for so long."
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"[Colin's] a pretty approachable guy," Seth Meyers added. "As far as a famous person goes, I do find that Colin's a pretty approachable fella."
"Yeah, but still, you don't want to be annoying people," Condon replied. "You know what I mean?"
Fortunately, this didn't end up being the case between Condon and Farrell, who only strengthen their relationship while working on the movie.