Ben Affleck says that he explored the Irish-American experience in his new movie, Live by Night, which tells the hard-boiled story of a small-time Boston stick-up man who becomes a gangland kingpin in Florida in the 1920s and '30s.
The movie, directed by Affleck and adapted from Dennis Lehane's novel of the same name, also stars Sienna Miller as a femme fatale gangster's moll and Brendan Gleeson as Coughlin's cop father.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, Boston native Affleck said: "Boston considers itself basically Irish despite the fact that most people there have never been to Ireland or would be able to point to Ireland on a map, there is a very strong sense of Irish community in Boston.
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Watch RTÉ Entertainment's full interview with Ben Affleck and Sienna Miller
"It started around the area in Boston that this movie takes place in. Irish emigrants came over and they were suffering and there was a lack of opportunities in Ireland and people thought there were more opportunities in the New World.
"The Irish came over and did the kerb stone contracts and stuff like that and it's always been a big part of the flavour of the city - the Boston Celtics with the shamrock and everything like that."
Miller as Irish-American gangster's moll and Affleck as gangster Joe Coughlin in Live by Night
Sienna Miller, who plays Cork emigrant turned bad girl Emma Gould in Live by Night, also told RTÉ Entertainment that she put a lot of work into getting her Irish accent right for her role in the movie.
"I worked with a dialect coach, Gerry Grennell, an Irishman who is phenomenal," she said. "He worked with me and Heath Ledger on Casanova. I also had to take into account that Emma Gould had been living in Boston for fifteen years and so her accent would not have been as Cork if she had stayed there. Brendan Gleeson liked it so that's the main thing!"
Live by Night, which is in cinemas now. Read RTÉ Entertainment's review.
