The Actors

O'Malley (Michael Caine) is a vain and ageing classically trained actor who laments the fading of his glorious past', and plays a self styled mentor to Tom (Dylan Moran), a young and aspiring thespian whose career is going nowhere more exciting than failing a humiliating audition for a bad sausage ad.

Stuck in a rut and earning a pittance in a hilariously misconceived Dublin production of Shakespeare's Richard III, the pair are rooted in the grim realities of a business based on illusions, and are at an all time low.

One night, O'Malley reveals to Tom that he has been frequenting one of Dublin's more notorious pubs, supposedly seeking inspiration for his performance as the evil Richard III. Here he has met Barreller (Michael Gambon), a gormless and fairly harmless criminal. O'Malley has learned of a debt owed by Barreller to a London gangster, the mysterious Magnani, whom Barreller has never met.

Spotting what he considers to be a foolproof swindle, O'Malley proposes that Tom masquerades as one of Magani's hoods and intercept the money owed by Barreller.

Tom is appalled at the idea until a freak accident reduces his house to a pile of ash, leaving him with little choice but to rise to the challenge.

But the situation is further complicated when Tom falls for Barreller's beautiful daughter, Dolores (Lena Headey) who starts to see through their plan. And if that wasn't enough, the ruthless gangster Magnani (Miranda Richardson) makes the trip from London to Ireland in an attempt to establish the whereabouts of her missing cash.

Appearances belie reality and as the madness gains momentum, hilarity ensues in this classic comic farce of mistaken identities.

The Actors is based on a story written by producer Neil Jordan, who explained: "It was a kind of challenge, to see if I could come up with a plot which forced an actor to imitate as many different people as possible. "

Young Irish stand-up comedian Dylan Moran was delighted to get the part of Tom, his first major film role: "This was a fantasy script for an actor. It was such a trip to bugger about and pretend to be all these different people. The whole thing really made me laugh, the sheer lunacy of it."

Having taken a number of serious roles, Caine was delighted to get his teeth into a comedy. "You always look very carefully at a script when it's a comedy - for every ten dramatic scripts you only get one good comedy. Conor (McPherson, director) is such a clever writer, he writes terrific dialogue."

He continues: "The script made me laugh out loud and that hasn't happened since Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The combination of a great script and the team involved made this film irresistible."

The character of Barreller was written especially for Michael Gambon, who said: "Normally I play quite nice people, gentle people, reflective people. This is a classic farce portraying actors as they used to be - rogues and vagabonds!"

Having secured two acting legends and a comic madcap, the rest of the casting fell into place. The women in the script called for very strong characters in stark relief to the bungling antics of the men.

"The women in the script really hold it together, especially Dolores who ends up fooling everyone who thinks they are fooling her. The men are all a bit stupid," said director Conor McPherson.

Miranda Richardson said she found the story "immediately visual and I found that very appealing," while Lena Headey was thrilled to get her role. "I read the script and loved the character of Dolores. The comedy is really fresh. I don't think it has any contemporary equals."

May 15, 2003 11:00