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Delaney takes the slow road to success  Despite
being one of Ireland’s greatest Hollywood successes last year, star
of the BBC series The Tudors padraic delaney doesn’t want silly
tag-lines alongside his name pointing to his remarkable rise to fame.
The Wexford man spoke to Neil Davey about why he’s in no hurry to
get anywhere fast.
Padraic Delaney laughs loudly and declares “Absolutely!” —
and it’s gratifying to hear.
Well, at least for any men currently hooked on BBC2’s historic romp
The Tudors.
The question Delaney has just answered so positively relates to his role
in this raunchy show set in 16th century life — namely is it as
much fun to make as it is to watch?
And with a knowing chuckle he adds: “It’s always a positive
going into work knowing that you’re going to see some cleavage.
“But it was incredible fun and you’re working with a great
bunch of actors.”
In the show Delaney plays George Boleyn, brother of Anne and sufferer
of the same axe/neck-related fate.
He said: “I didn’t have a whole lot to do in the first series
but in the second, which we’ve just filmed, George has a whole storyline,
with allegations of incest and homosexuality which is what brings him
down.
“But before that he had a whole lot of fun.”
So live fast, die young, leave a headless corpse?
He said: “Exactly! And the show’s doing really well.
“The show’s creator Michael Hirst is delighted. It was [US
TV channel] Showtime’s most successful series ever and it’s
going well on the BBC.
“I know a lot of people were apprehensive but a lot of the big critics
really liked it.
“Yes, it takes some liberties but Michael — who’s one
of the closest things I’ve met to a modern day genius — reckons
it’s 85 per cent historically accurate.
“[And] something that dawned on me about halfway through making
the second series, is that some of the dialogue is verbatim.
“About six, seven weeks ago, we filmed in jail and he gave me this
speech and I didn’t realise until I went online that it was actually
George Boleyn’s last words.
“And Michael does that a great deal through the script.”
Delaney’s involvement is a great contrast to his current theatrical
role in Doubt at Kilburn’s Tricycle Theatre. It’s the first
London production of John Patrick Shanley’s award-winning play and,
while still historical in nature, it’s very different to the romp
of The Tudors.
He said: “It’s set in 1964 in The Bronx.
“It’s set in a Catholic School where the principal, Sister
Aloysius, is very traditional.
“A young progressive priest comes in, Father Flynn my character,
and he’s very excited about the changes that are taking place in
the Church at the time since Pope John XXIII opened the church to the
people.”
Since the play opened last month the response has been mostly positive
with “good houses and good reactions”.
Delaney said: “There’s no happy ending or conclusion.
“There’s doubt. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
“There’s a lovely quote from John Patrick Shanley, who said
something like the final act really begins when the lights come up and
the audience go out and start arguing about it.”
The play has, to some extent, had a mixed history.
After a highly-successful, award-winning run on Broadway it opened at
the Abbey Theatre in Dublin last year but wasn’t quite the smash
some might have expected.
And Delaney suspects he may know why.
He said: “I think in Ireland we’re a bit sick and tired about
the news of clerical abuse.
“There have been a number of enquiries and I think Ireland has
just had its fill.
“It was a good production and it’s not that it didn’t
go down well but it was expected to transfer to the West End.
“Instead it completed its run and that was it.”
Despite this slightly chequered history the quality and reputation of
the piece meant the Irish actor saw this as a great opportunity to return
to theatrical work.
He said: “I’d been looking to do a play for about four years.
“It was never my intention to go away from theatre but lately I’ve
been doing film and TV.
“I’ve got a degree in drama and theatrical studies from Trinity
College and theatre is very much my first love where I came from.”
That wasn’t always the case though.
He said: “I wanted to be a Premiership footballer but I discovered
quite early on that that wasn’t going to happen.”
After that Delaney studied engineering but realised that he wasn’t
really cut out for that either and that’s when acting came into
consideration.
He said: “I got out of engineering quickly.
“I realised I couldn’t do something like engineering, I couldn’t
do the nine-to-five thing.
“I’d already acted in a few amateur productions so I applied
for the course at Trinity and got accepted.
“I knew that it was a precarious profession but all I could do was
throw myself into it.”
Despite some initial parental concerns — “I’m sure for
a while there they thought I was off my head” — the Delaney
family soon got behind their son’s dream.
He said: “Like most mothers and fathers with children who announce
they want to be actors they wanted to make sure it’s what I really
wanted to do and to make sure I knew it wasn’t the most secure profession.
“But I was getting good grades from university and any reservations
they had then were replaced with support.”
The family must also have been delighted when Ken Loach appeared on the
horizon casting a young Delaney as Teddy alongside Cillian Murphy in The
Wind That Shakes The Barley.
He said: “Working with Loach was absolutely wonderful.
“It’s funny, the first few times we met, we just had a chat.
“You get very little information.
“I just knew the year it was set, that I had a brother and that
was it until I arrived down in Cork the first Monday morning.
‘It’s a fantastic method that Ken has.
“There is a script but you only get to see it for an hour or two
and then you shoot and ad lib.
“You get that freedom.
“Ken himself maintained a distance, he’ll only interject if
he feels he needs to do so.
“He never uses the words ‘action’ or ‘cut’
and that promotes a very real, organic atmosphere.
“He just lets the camera roll.
“When it’s done he just taps you on the shoulder and says
well done.”
Since then Delaney’s diary has been packed and it looks like this
year will be more of the same.
He said: “There are a few possibilities, though a few will depend
on whether Doubt transfers.
“It’s due to finish January 12 at the Tricycle and we’ll
take it from there.
“I’ve had an offer to do a show at the RSC but I can only
do that if Doubt doesn’t transfer — rehearsals are due to
start on January 14.
“There’s a possibility of some TV work back home — a
number of American productions for HBO and Showtime are due to be shot
in Ireland next year.
“There’s another movie that might happen in the summer but
in this business, you never know if anything is definite until you’re
on the set.
“But I had a great year (last year) and got very close to working
with people like the Wachowski Brothers, who made The Matrix, and Ron
Howard.
“I’ve made my first steps in LA and no doubt will be making
some more at some stage but I’m a bit busy at the moment.”
Pausing to contemplate for a second or two Delaney said: “And I’m
not in a hurry to get anywhere fast.
“I don’t want any silly tag-lines alongside my name, like
‘meteoric rise’.
“Longevity is the word.
“I want to do good roles and work with good people and keep learning.
I want to keep doing this until I drop.”
n Doubt is at the Tricycle Theatre (269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6)
until January 12.
Performances are Monday to Saturday at 8pm, Saturday matinee at 4pm.
Tickets cost £7.50-£18, and are available from the Box Office
on 020 7328 1000 or from www.ticketweb.co.uk.
For more information see www.tricycle.co.uk.
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