Castlewellan actress Eileen makes debut with cinema movie stars

Castlewellan actress Eileen makes debut with cinema movie stars

28 October 2015

BROOKLYN is the hotly anticipated movie about a young Irish immigrant torn between home and 1950s New York — and a young Castlewellan actress has a starring role.

Eileen O’Higgins, recently hitting the red carpet at the Dublin and London premieres for the adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s acclaimed novel, plays the part of Nancy.

Nancy is the best friend of the main character Eilis Lacey, who is played by Oscar nominated actress Saoirse Ronan. Lured by the promise of America, Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother’s home. The initial shackles of homesickness diminish with a fresh romance, but her past interrupts and Eilis must choose between the two countries.

Rubbing shoulders with co-stars Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent, making her first feature film has been a life-changing experience for Eileen, a former pupil of Assumption Grammar School and St Malachy’s Primary School, Castlewellan, who went on train at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

“We see Eilis’ life with Nancy before she goes away and when she comes back there is a whole different spin,” said Eileen.

“The feel is 1950s Ireland and it is set in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Colm Tóibín’s home town.

“For one of my scenes — think two girls at a dance, fancying boys, waiting to get chatted up, eyeing up a person, pretending you don’t even see them coming into the room. These are real people that Colm created from this small town.

“I live in London now and when they were casting for Brooklyn they were looking for a young Irish girl with a proper Wexford accent.

“They kept saying there’s the ‘wee one from the north’ when they saw me coming.

“They were just so funny and I felt so lucky. Most of the location work was in Enniscorthy. The production never had so many people wanting to be extras, everybody wanted to have a part.

“All the cast got on so well. I was at the read through and looking down the table at Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent all in a line and I thought, how incredible to be here.

“I cannot believe I am going to be a part of this, something so special.”

A theatre actor, Eileen has also previously had roles in the BBC’s recent adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma and the Enid Blyton based drama Enid with Helena Bonham-Carter.

“The people you meet end up being so down to earth,” said Eileen. “I remember meeting Helena Bonham-Carter in Enid and she was so nice. I was playing the part of a maid and she was always trying to make me laugh as I was coming in with this tray.”

In terms of her own acting development, Eileen said she had also learnt much from John Crowley, the director of Brooklyn.

“He would have a way of working,” she said. “He would whisper something to me and something to Saoirse before shooting. It was different every time. Not improvisation as such but we would have to react to facial expressions. The lines can be the same but sound very different.”

Aside from the major career boost of Brooklyn, Eileen is treasuring a close friendship forged with her on-screen  best friend Saoirse Ronan, well-known for her breakthrough roles in Atonement and The Lovely Bones, and has even had her on a visit to Castlewellan.

“We didn’t do anything too touristy but she is an only child and I one of six so I gave her the whole family experience,” said Eileen. 

For Eileen and many of the young actors who moved away from home to pursue their careers, it is clear Brooklyn rang its own personal chord.

“So many people will have experienced that, that move away from home, that step away from your comfort blanket,” she said. “When I moved to London my sister was very very, young and I thought — do I want to go away and miss that?

“I never wanted to go away from home. I love Castlewellan. I keep saying I am going to go back to Castlewellan.”

Brooklyn goes on general release on November 6.