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Angela's Ashes  About the Cast 
"What I love about film is that you spend a whole day very, very carefully and precisely defining something that in reality was, like, two seconds of somebody's life. I get such a thrill from that. I love it." --Emily Watson EMILY WATSON:
Angela McCourt (Mam)
She received her second Academy Award nomination in October Films's "Hilary and Jackie," the poignant story of famed classical cellist Jacqueline du Pre, directed by Anand Tucker. Other recent work includes "Metroland," based on the Julian Barnes novel, in which she plays opposite Christian Bale. She recently completed production on "The Cradle Will Rock," directed by Tim Robbins. Emily says of her character: "Angela is a survivor. She keeps going and she must have done something right because she brought up Frank McCourt." "I was attracted to the story because there is humor in the story as well as the tragedy. A lot of it is told from a child's point of view, and it is very funny. And with Alan Parker directing the film? Well, let's just say you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I think it is a fantastic and really interesting story that will travel the globe, especially America." "I think the film is shot with an enormous amount of warmth and love and humor. There is no doubt of the agony present -- it is a time of crippling poverty and people living in appalling conditions. It's very sad as children die and awful things happen. But I think the ending is very upbeat, and the story itself has so much charm." "I read the script before I read the book. I always like to read the script on its own terms. Otherwise you fill in too many details and don't realize what's missing. In the script, the first scene is Angela banging her head against a wall as she has just lost a baby, and I thought, "Can I really go through this again?" I had just done such an emotional role in Hilary and Jackie. But Alan is brilliant and it is a wonderful script and a fantastic story, so I threw caution to the winds and here I am." "I've never been an overtly political person, but the most important thing for me is that a project has some kind of social worth. At base level, acting is such a frivolous thing to do, so you want to try and use that skill on something that has something to say." --Robert Carlyle ROBERT CARLYLE:
Malachy McCourt (Dad)
"What attracted me to the part were several things -- the book and then the screenplay -- it's a magnificent piece of work. It is sad; there is a lot of misery in this piece -- there's a lot of tragedy, but there's triumph there as well. The fact that anyone can emerge from this with any kind of dignity at all is a triumph in itself, and Frank McCourt certainly did that. This film deserves to be seen because it's a time that shouldn't be forgotten, and even though it does contain an awful lot of grief and tragedy there is an awful lot of good stuff in it that should be seen." Robert Carlyle is widely recognized as one of today's finest male actors. His range of characters encompasses the psychotic Begbie in "Trainspotting," the out-of-work welder with a bare-faced idea of how to make money in "The Full Monty" (for which he was showered with Best Actor awards including a BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, and an ALF), the bus driver in Ken Loach's "Carla's Song," good-natured cop in BBC's "Hamish MacBeth," and a Cockney villain in Antonia Bird's "Face." He worked previously with Bird in the controversial "Priest" and has collaborated with Ken Loach for Riff Raff. For many, his trauma-wracked killer in Jimmy McGovern's acclaimed television drama "Cracker" is a vision that refuses to go away. He says of his role: "It would seem to me to be too obvious to paint the guy as a villain. The way I see it, he's as much a victim as anyone else -- his crime was to get addicted to the alcohol. But to paint Malachy McCourt as the villain of the piece I think would be to let the society which allowed these conditions to exist off very lightly." JOE BREEN: Young Frank McCourt Joe Breen makes his acting debut in "Angela's Ashes." Breen, who responded to an ad placed in The Irish Times by the filmmakers, was chosen from among nearly 15,000 boys who showed up at open audition calls throughout Ireland. A farmer's son from County Wexford, Breen woke early on the day of his audition to help his father milk the cows, then traveled two hours to Dublin for the call, where Parker chose him from among thousands of other boys. CIARAN OWENS: Middle Frank McCourt Ciaran Owens recently starred in the film "Anges Browne," which was directed by and starred Anjelica Huston. The film received the Youth Jury Award at the 1999 San Sebastian International Film Festival. Owens's other credits include the feature "The Butcher Boy," in which his brother Eamonn played the title role, and the television miniseries "Eureka Street" and "Amongst Women." The latter miniseries included in its cast fellow "Angela's Ashes" actor Eanna MacLiam. Owens has also appeared in a number of Irish productions with his brother Eamonn. The youngest of five sons, Ciaran Owens is from Killeshandra, County Cavan MICHAEL LEGGE: Older Frank McCourt Michael Legge is a multitalented actor, writer and director. His film credits include "Stumped," "Potential Sins," and "Loons," all of which he wrote and directed; "Sick Time" and "Cut Throats," which he wrote, directed, and acted in; and "Straydogs" and the television production "The Precious Blood," in which he acted. He also stars in the upcoming film "Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?" with Tom Courtenay and Stephen Fry. Legge is from Newry in Northern Ireland.
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