Liam, Big Jim and a very big ship. . .
Saturday October 15 2011
Could actor Liam Cunningham's future be in politics?
With the race for the Áras in full swing, one of the best speeches we heard this week was not from one of the nominees but from Liam on the set of Titanic: Blood & Steel.
The East Wall man plays 'Big Jim Larkin' in the TV mini-series, which tells the story of how the ocean liner came into being.
But over a hundred local extras, playing Belfast Harland & Wolff shipyard workers, who gathered in Dublin's St James's Gate last Monday to hear Liam address them, said they were bowled over by his powers of oratory.
"I had a little help from Jim himself. Some of my speech is based on what Jim Larkin said to the workers in Belfast to unite them back in 1907. It's nice to be using some of his words," Liam admitted to me.
And if you're wondering where the Titanic is, the answer is in Windmill Lane.
The Dublin post-production facility has recreated the ship using CGI effects.
Titanic: Blood and Steel has a budget of $30m (€22m), more than half of which is being spent in Ireland, thanks to tax reliefs created by Section 481.
Tudors director Ciarán Donnelly and producer Paul Myler, of Epos films, are key figures in the Italian/Irish co-production.
Originally published in
