Depicting Northern Ireland’s troubled history on the screen has always been a tricky proposition for the entertainment industry — particularly when the events are being dramatised.
Just as crucial is picking the right actor to portray our politicians — a naff Northern Irish accent is enough to immediately put local viewers off.
In Say Nothing, Disney+’s nine-part series covers one of the Troubles’ most distressing events — the abduction and murder and secret burial of Belfast mum-of-10 Jean McConville in 1972, who would become to be known as one of the IRA’s ‘Disappeared’.
The series, despite criticism from Mrs McConville’s family, including her son, Michael who said, “My mother’s death is not ‘entertainment’ for me and my family. This is our reality, every day for 52 years”, has garnered positive reviews from critics and viewers alike.
It features a young Gerry Adams, played by British actor Josh Finan, who brings to the small screen an Adams in his early 20s. Finan, however, is far from the first actor to depict the controversial Sinn Fein leader who has always denied being a member of the IRA.
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In fact, the first actor to portray Adams was Belfast’s Conor Grimes who effectively provided the voice of the Sinn Fein leader during the 1988-94 broadcast restrictions — a pragmatic decision made by media outlets after Home Secretary Douglas Hurd announced that the voices of anyone believed to be advocating paramilitary action during on-air interviews would be muted in the wake of the 1987 Enniskillen bombing.
Arguably, the actor that physically looked the closest to Adams is Pierce Brosnan, who was originally slated to play the republican leader in a biopic provisionally titled, Adams: Nobody’s Fool. The project never materialised, but the ex-Bond star did depict an ex-IRA man turned government representative in Netflix movie, The Foreigner, co-starring Jackie Chan.
Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan in the 2017 film The Foreigner
Adams’ late political partner, Martin McGuinness has also been given the big screen treatment. In The Journey, a screenplay by Bangor author Colin Bateman tells a fictional account of how Martin McGuinness and the late Dr Ian Paisley — previously sworn adversaries turn into The Chuckle Brothers. In it, McGuiness is played by Colm Meaney while Paisley’s Ballymena accent is depicted by Timothy Spall.
The Journey: Colm Meaney and Timothy Spall as Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley
Turbulent times in politics makes for compelling drama, and not surprisingly, the United States has been at the forefront of depicting the occupants of the White House since the emergence of Hollywood. Most recently, Sebastian Stan plays Donald Trump — albeit pre-2016 — as a young businessman in New York. Dennis Quaid, who has said how he is “politically independent”, depicted Ronald Reagan in the self-titled biopic about the 40th president.
The impact of the Covid pandemic has also led to television series about the British government’s handling of the crisis. Michael Winterbottom’s This England saw Belfast’s own son, Sir Kenneth Branagh physically transform into Boris Johnson for the Sky Atlantic series.