With Glassland opening on Friday April 17, director Gerard Barrett has criticised some of the media coverage of star Jack Reynor, and says anything Reynor has achieved has been due to the hard work and sacrifices of the actor and his mother, Tara O'Grady.
Barrett and Reynor took part in a Q&A after the Dublin premiere of Glassland at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival on Friday night, during which Reynor explained how he had drawn on his love for his own mother to depict his character John's relationship with screen mother Jean (Toni Collette) in Barrett's film.
Director Barrett then said: "There's a misconception of Jack sometimes in the media, and it's very kind of distressing at times because everyone thinks he's a D4 person and everyone thinks he's this person.
"Y'know, from spending time with you and your mother, like... Jack has got everything he got from hard work and from his mother putting herself out there for him to go to a really good school in Dublin."
Barrett continued: "What I think was fantastic about this film, and why Jack won his Best Acting award at Sundance - and Special Jury Prize and all that stuff - was because he tapped into something, and that's special when you're watching it."
