Michael Fassbender has told RTÉ Radio 1's Arena that his Irish "started coming back" to him while making Ireland's Oscar hopeful Kneecap.
The two-time Oscar nominee was on Thursday's show to discuss his experiences while making the hit music biopic in which he stars as Arlo, the Gaeilge-championing father of Kneecap's Móglaí Bap.
He told host Kay Sheehy that as soon as he read the script he was on board.
When the Co Kerry-raised Fassbender was asked whether it was difficult to learn Ulster Irish for the film, he replied: "I felt a little bit ashamed if truth be told, really, about how sort of bad my Irish is - you know, having obviously studied it from the age of six or whenever to Leaving Certificate [at] 18.
"But it started coming back to me. I mean, obviously then you're dealing with the Belfast sort-of-accent version of Gaelic. And also, in some respects, it's just very different pronunciations of the same word, so I did have help."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage PreferencesFassbender said Kneecap's DJ Próvaí had done recordings for him "and then it was just about repetition and listening to it".
"'DJ Próvaí taught me Irish' is kind of a badge you could have!" laughed Arena host Sheehy.
"Absolutely!" agreed Fassbender. "Although he's no longer a teacher, he remains to me a teacher!"
Saluting Kneecap's acting abilities in their first roles - portraying themselves - Fassbender said: "It was never a worry for me that it was their first time, because as soon as I watched their music videos, I just knew they were naturals. They had it."
"Working with them, they were just all super professional," he added. "They're very bright, obviously funny, and very polite, actually!"
Arena, RTÉ Radio 1, weeknights, 7pm
