For decades he’s been one of Ireland’s great character actors. Seán McGinley’s appeared on stage, TV and the big screen in a variety of roles. He tells the RTÉ Guide’s John Byrne about his recent experiences.
Sharing a coffee with Seán McGinley in Dublin’s Sandymount Green on a bright, dry winter’s morning is one of the most pleasant ways of discussing the current plight of the Irish economy.
Seán, like the rest of us, isn’t too impressed with how things are panning out in these post-Celtic Tiger years. But the coffee’s good, the conversation’s more about the current state of his career (which is fine), rather than the state of Ireland (which is anything but fine) and I’m fascinated that he’s currently starring in a Canadian TV comedy-drama called 'Republic of Doyle'.
On this side of the Atlantic it’s a Wednesday night staple on satellite channel Alibi, running in tandem with his role on RTÉ One’s 'Single-Handed', and not far removed from the screening of 'Wild Decembers', RTÉ’s big drama over the Christmas period. Busy lad.
"I’m just finished the second season," he notes, when I ask about Republic of Doyle. "So after that I’m taking a break. In the last two years I haven’t had a break at all. The play we did last year [Sam Sheppard’s Ages of the Moon], that went to New York, may have more life in it yet. We don’t know. I’m not thinking too far ahead, anyway."
As for Republic of Doyle, the CBC show stars McGinley and Allan Hawco as Malachy and Jake Doyle, a father and son who partner as private investigators in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. "The first series has been sold all around the world," he says, matter-of-factly. "The second series wasn’t green-lighted until April this year, so I presume we won’t know about a third one until early next year. You never bank on these things until you’re actually standing on the set, reading your first lines, because anything can happen."
McGinley got a call out of the blue about the show, and within a few weeks found himself reading scripts and preparing for the role. He talks very positively about the experience, a sentiment he echoes when we move on to his role as Dennis Costello, Jack Driscoll’s nemesis in the recent season of 'Single-Handed' on RTÉ One.
"Single-Handed was filmed just last summer," he recalls. "It was great. We were shooting down in Leenane in Connemara, and the weather was stunning. It’s no bad place to be on any day of the year but in March, April, May - that time of the year - I was working with a lovely bunch of people and we’d a great time."
At this stage of his career, Seán McGinley has an impressive stage, TV and film CV (The Abbey and Druid; 'Family', 'Bleak House'; 'The Butcher Boy', 'Gangs of New York' - and that’s just for starters), although he avoids reflecting on the past. "I tend not to look back," he insists. "I tend to get on with the next thing, and try and do it better than I did the last. You’re going between theatre, TV and film, and I don’t really watch stuff I do. I just do it and then I’m gone. Hopefully I enjoy the process, but I just move on, really."
Married, with two children, to fellow actor Marie Mullen (who co-founded the renowned Druid Theatre Company, with Garry Hynes and the late Mick Lally), it’s obvious that McGinley’s two girls are growing up with acting all around them. With the RTÉ Guide crystal ball currently out of commission, I wonder what the chances are they’ll follow mam and dad onto the stage? Grinning broadly, McGinley declares: "As an actor friend of mine once said, I hope my kids are well-enough adjusted not to have to do this."
When we both stop laughing, he offers a genuine opinion on the subject. "I think, all joking aside, there are a lot of worse ways you could spend your time, than working with great actors and great writers. But," he adds, with a customary raised eyebrow, "You really have to want to do it.
"At the moment the girls come and see stuff, they have a healthy interest in theatres and movies and music and all that, and if they ever wanted to have a go at it, we’d certainly support them. But you can’t make them do it and you can’t make them not do it."
So what makes Seán McGinley do it? Well, for one thing it’s not knowing what’s next, or where you might end up. And the buzz of performing is obviously a hugely compelling factor. Take that recent stint in New York, performing in Ages of the Moon.
"It was fantastic," he says. "I’ve been to New York before, lots of times. But just being in New York, working - it was one of the great thrills of my life."
And here’s too many more, Seán.
John Byrne
