John voted in top actors at Cannes World Film Festival

John voted in top actors at Cannes World Film Festival

13 April 2022

AMATEUR actor John McIlmail continues to rub shoulders with the best of short film actors 

at the Cannes World Film 

Festival.

The Bright man was delighted to learn recently that he was voted in the top four actors from all of the short films shown at the prestigious film festival last year.

The 56-year-old was featured along with esteemed, professional 

actors such as Matt Roszak, who 

has been in Better Call Saul and 

Marc Duret who was in Outlander 

and Borgia, for his role in the 2021 film Shine. 

Iranian actor Reza was the overall winner but the film makers are proud of John's fantastic achievement to have been selected in the top fur in the world, given that he had never acted previously and this had been his debut performance. 

He was entered into the vote from winning best actor in a short film at the Cannes World Film Festival monthly awards for last August.

And he was also named number one of the top 10 French actors by Screen Junkies.

A butcher by profession who still works on a family farm, John was asked to take part in Shine by his nephew, Declan Curran, who wrote, directed and starred in the film.

Shine tells the story of Nick, a young man balancing working life along with the heavy responsibility of assisting his father as an only son on the family farm.

Nick aspires to be more, but lacks the confidence in expressing his dreams and ambitions to his traditional family and friends.

John played Nick’s father Johnny and used his own donkeys, Maggie and Rose and dog Lola in the film, with Shine was very much a family affair as Declan played the role of Nick.

“Declan asked me would I take the part, so I thought why not? It would be a bit of craic,” said John. 

“I read the and took a few days to digest it. Once I knew all my lines I tried to put as much passion and expression into it as possible.”

John is now looking forward to his next — and hopefully paid role — in a full-length film due to start filming in Belfast in May.

“Acting is something that I really enjoy. It’s also something relaxing and challenging at the same time for me,” he explained.

“Once I read the script and get the expression of the character, then I can deliver. I’m really delighted to have been voted in the top four of actors in short films in Cannes in my first year appearing in a film.”