Kerry Condon was thrilled to hear that writer-director Martin McDonagh wanted to return to his Irish roots with The Banshees of Inisherin. The actress reunited with McDonagh for the film after working with him on Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri as well as his plays The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Cripple of Inishmaan.
Speaking at Deadline’s Contenders LA3C panel, Condon discussed reteaming with the director on a film that encapsulates a range of deep-rooted emotions.
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McDonagh had been working on Banshees for several years, even speaking with Condon about the concept before she appeared in 2017’s Three Billboards. When he decided to circle back to the script and make it his follow-up to the Best Picture Oscar-nominated film, Condon knew it was a fairly ambitious undertaking.
“After Three Billboards, he was trying to debate what he was going to do next,” she said. “That’s the thing you don’t think about, like when something does really well it’s kind of like, ‘Oh, now I have to follow this.’ That’s kind of a tricky position to be in. He said, ‘I think I want to revisit that Irish script again,’ and obviously I was thrilled because I knew there was a part for me in it. And because the Irish plays, I felt, were so brilliant and not a lot of people had seen them.”
Her co-stars Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell had worked together on McDonagh’s 2008 film In Bruges, making Condon the newcomer of sorts — though she’d already worked with the director on other projects.
“I was working with Martin before he was so famous,” she said, joking. “In fairness, the plays are harder work and you get paid way less, so I earned my place to be there.”
Her character, Siobhán, the sister of Pádraic (Farrell), who serves as a steadfast voice of reason when these two men are reconciling with the end of their friendship. Reflecting on the emotional layers of the film, Condon said: “I suppose what it brought up for me first of all is the loneliness. I think a lot of people are really lonely, and I think it can be lonely in a couple too. … Loneliness is kind of part of being human. But like, God forbid you say are lonely. It’s cheesy. You know what I mean? It’s so normal to do those things.”
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She continued: “It’s just so beautiful that it stays with you, all of it. And it’s done in such a humorous way because I think if these messages weren’t in a funny way, it would be like, ‘Oh man, another heavy movie to add to my heavy life.’”
Check back Wednesday for the panel video.