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The Public Nuisance Podcast
Host Sean McComb interviews various guests
The Public Nuisance Podcast
The Public Nuisance Podcast #012 “Some Bloke In A Pub” with Rich Peppiatt
Welcome to a new episode of The Public Nuisance Podcast with me, Sean McComb.
This week we welcome Kneecap Director, Rich Peppiatt to the podcast
We cover Kneecap, The Oscars, Belfast Humour, Pints, Journalism, Getting Arrested in Australia, Sledging, The Troubles, Politics, Smoking on the Plane, Acting Classes and much more.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Sean McComb
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmccomb/
Killen Studios
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/killenstudio/
Website: https://killenstudios.com/
That Prize Guy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatprizeguy/
Website: https://thatprizeguy.co.uk/
JFH Social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jfh_social/
Website: https://www.jfhsocial.com/
Chapters
00:00:00 - Podcast Introduction
00:00:55 - Oscars Anticipation
00:02:02 - Living Life at a Seven
00:02:56 - Overcoming Challenges
00:04:02 - Personal Story: Arrest in Australia
00:05:17 - Turning Negatives into Positives
00:06:06 - Cultural Humor and Sensitivity
00:18:32 - Irish Language and Identity
00:19:30 - Grassroots Movement for Rights
00:21:10 - Community Vision in Politics
00:22:08 - Education's Role in Community
00:25:33 - Sundance Experience Reflection
00:35:11 - Acting and Authenticity
00:38:30 - Careers Beyond Music
00:39:40 - Emotional Impact of Success
00:41:16 - Oscar Nomination Impact
00:42:24 - Success as Filmmaker
00:45:06 - Campaigning for Oscars
00:46:14 - Reflections on Success
00:48:11 - Closing Thoughts
The public nuisance. Sean McCullough, Welcome to this episode of the Public Nations Podcast, sponsored by Killin' Studios. We can get all your content creation done, from photo shoots to podcasts. Just let us know, we'll do the rest. Today we have a very special guest, Rich Papiat.
Speaker 2:Very special am I? Yeah, oh Jesus.
Speaker 1:Writer director here with us. Thanks for making time for us, by the way, mark.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, I've dragged you all the way out of that wonderful studio of yours and dragged you to the pub.
Speaker 1:We make it work. We've got the belt with us and we've got the same with us.
Speaker 2:No, I appreciate you. I appreciate you coming down with us and we're going to make a fucking cut.
Speaker 1:No, I appreciate you coming down. Oh, and that's another nice pint of gin, that's right.
Speaker 2:It's really hard sitting in a pub without a drink at all.
Speaker 1:But yeah making me thirsty. Busy skies, aren't you, Fred?
Speaker 2:Well, it's weird Right now, this very second, we're sitting here. In two hours' time we find out whether we're going to the Oscars or not. So it's been a weird morning. It feels a bit like Chris I was saying to her last night to my wife, it's like, it's almost like it was like Christmas Eve, but you don't know whether you're going to wake up and there's going to be any presents under the tree.
Speaker 1:Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:So it's like this morning you're trying to get on with just normal life a bit away with it.
Speaker 1:It's always there, yeah, exactly, and.
Speaker 2:I try to be honest. I'm someone who tries to live life at a seven right. I don't get too excited, I don't get too down, I just take all news as just news, just news, it's just. There's not a single thing that's good news, bad news, it's just news. Right Because ultimately you know in the moment you think of the worst things, in hindsight actually some of the best things. Right, because you have no context In the moment. You feel something is a good thing or a bad thing. But actually how life works is you weave your way and actually go well, hang on. If that hadn't happened, then this wouldn't have happened, which meant this amazing thing wouldn't have happened right.
Speaker 2:So when you try it, I try and just calibrate everything to that and go. Well, this has happened, but I don't really know whether it's good or bad, and you never know where they come.
Speaker 1:You never know. I love that approach to life, like because in the moment, you may think, oh, that's what's going on and it never, ever does it's just it always just like when bad things happen. You sort of get like anxious, thinking you're going to lose near enough probably everything you've worked for, if it's in that context, but then it turns out that people don't even care well, I read a book um that I've gone back to a few times in life.
Speaker 2:I did philosophy at university and I've always been interested in philosophy. But I read this book called the obstacle is the way right and basically it kind of is a very accessible book about. It uses philosophical teachings from like the ancient g, ancient Greeks and things like that to put in a modern context and what it says is that actually you should invite things into your life. When bad things happen, you should be grateful for them, because what that is is a test. It's a test for you to say can you overcome them? You should thank the world for giving you a test to prove, because what it means is that if you can overcome that, then you're stronger to overcome the next thing.
Speaker 1:This is my life, this is me, the madness, I attract the madness and I love it.
Speaker 2:It's a great. It really is a very good book. That just sort of goes okay, actually. You know when the way that he sort of puts it, you that just sort of goes okay. Actually, you know when, the way that he sort of puts it, you go, hang on, he's right is that if you don't overcome, behind every mountain is another mountain. The idea that in life it's ever smooth running it ain't right. And so if you get offered a mountain in life, then you should go. Thank you for the opportunity to climb this mountain, because behind that mountain is an even bigger mountain right.
Speaker 2:So now you go, so you've got to keep, you've got to keep sort of forging yourself in um. You know well, you know that you're you're a fighting man and you know that that's, you know, that's probably the most kind of um, the most pure um, pure sort of um. Example of that of putting yourself into test.
Speaker 1:I got arrested in uh, australia, with team Ketland for the Commonwealth Games for the. Northern Ireland Boxing team. My phone was off and I was on the news. It was all over the news, right. Which were the name the public nuisance came from. I was charged for causing public nuisance in the Surfers Paradise area.
Speaker 1:So I turned my phone on. The next morning when I got out of the jail cell and I got the phone and my phone was going crazy. It was all over the news and everyone was having a breakdown like I was like what is going on? Like relax, it was not bad kill someone.
Speaker 1:I think we're like that. I was on the phone what are you doing? Just put an example. And I was like get my head arrested. So I just went focus and put my phone on our pin mode. And then my best mate, I phoned him. He said that's the best thing that's going to happen to you. I was like what he's like? Just think about it. Like look at it, look at the media's behind us, look at the amount of news outlets or yeah, like this is good for you like you want to go pro after comic games anyway yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So this is going this is the best thing that's going to happen to you. Trust, trust me. And then it turned out out, of all the madness that everyone was saying like giving off to me, he was the only one that was right.
Speaker 2:I then turned pro and my nickname in the box became the Public News, and then it turned out negative and then positive, and then it turned out that I got the CCTV footage and I was actually in the red. The charges were dropped, so it all worked out my favourite.
Speaker 1:So that's one of them things you don't panic about the badness, it always works its way. It always works itself out and I was grateful for that. So, as you say, be grateful for the mountains of Cumberland.
Speaker 2:There you go. I didn't think we'd get so philosophical so early. I haven't even had a drink yet.
Speaker 1:Fuck, wait till we do get it Mick.
Speaker 2:I'll tell you what. Give me a glass of water, do you think?
Speaker 1:Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Mouth like Gandhi's flip-flop.
Speaker 1:I'll have two glasses of water, please.
Speaker 2:Well, I knew for ages like Bobby Sandals. Bobby Sandals, it's funny that because it was a, it was a joke that Liam O was very nervous about.
Speaker 2:He was like because you don't know the repercussions well, he did his take was like you can't be taking the piss out of Bobby Sands. And I was like we're not taking the piss out of Bobby Sands. And he's like, well, it's a joke about it. And I said no, no, it's a play on words of using the name Bobby Sands, right, but it's not taking the piss out of Bobby. You know what I mean. It's not taking the piss out of him, it's a play on words, right.
Speaker 2:And there's a difference between that, rather than there's no negative connotation about Bobby Sands about that and so I convinced him around that it was absolutely fine and actually people.
Speaker 1:You're taking credit for this. You're taking credit for it all. Well to be fair.
Speaker 2:It was actually. I think the person who first said it was our editor, Dara. We needed a line there and thank you very much, Cheers man. So Thank God that wasn't Cut him off, Cheers mate, it's not as, oh shit. Start of it. Thank God that wasn't Cut him off. He's had enough.
Speaker 1:He's had enough. Thanks for that wasn't paid. I've been heartbroken.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was our Darren McKegney. He came up with it, and any good writer. You just take claim for it. Yeah, yeah there you go.
Speaker 1:But I think in the support that Liam, ogan, navasinisha and JJ and I have for the Irish culture and Irish language and how, I suppose, if they were to say it, no one would take offence to that because of how much.
Speaker 2:No, and I think.
Speaker 1:How passionate they are about the Irish language, about, maybe, the hunger strikers and about the republicanism. Well, no, absolutely.
Speaker 2:They put their money where their mouth is on it and ultimately as well, I think, in the film and kneecap as well. They've always as much as they're seen as being these republican rappers. They've always taken the piss out of both sides, do you?
Speaker 1:know what I mean.
Speaker 2:In the satire of their music and in the film. It was always important for us to go. Well, look, I think the Republican side get as much of the slagging in the film as the Unionist side, right, and so you know you get some press going. You know this is Unionist hate, it's just like no, if the Unionists watch the film.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're not. Do you know what I mean? Like exactly.
Speaker 2:So you haven't even seen the film like if they watched it. There's plenty in there for everyone. And actually you know I've had people from both communities. You know I've had people and colloquial, I've had people big UDA men apparently freaking, talking about it in the pub going and to me you know one thing about Belfast, both sides of the community, that you know as an outsider who came in is the humour.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the dark humour.
Speaker 2:You know everyone's got it right and everyone's got you know you take a bit of a slag in and you know, unless they're a twat.
Speaker 1:I'm entering this show to tell you about my sponsors JFH Social, where you can get your hair cut across four locations in the North Newcastle Lisburn Road, ormo Road and coming to you very soon at the Davines Complex on E Road. Also, that praise guy doing great, great charity work across the world Fantastic praises at stake on their social media pages. Talking about that prize guy?
Speaker 1:yeah, people always try and feign something. But you will get like a small amount of people that will try and feign something to just bitch about or maybe complain about. But the vast majority of belfast characters understand the same humor as, yeah, we're dark humour and we're just like fucking. I just think like there is people that want to find that they were maybe Matt and Bobby's hands, even though they weren't yeah just people who will look for it.
Speaker 2:There was a funny article yesterday in the newsletter, which is a weird old publication, a newsletter you were, you worked for, did you, did you work for? Dilly. Well, my first career was a journalist, journalist, so I worked, so you were known.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know, yeah, I mean the newsletter.
Speaker 2:the newsletter was funny because I'd never bloody heard of the newspaper. You know, if anyone moved in here you hear about it. It claims it's like the oldest newspaper in the world or something, but no fucking newspaper reads it. I mean, it must have a readership of about 10 people and they seem to just make a living off of writing articles about kneecap. Right, but it's all just stuff that you know. They get some bloke in a pub to go to give an opinion about kneecap and then they write an article going this academic who happens to find someone who identifies as Irish, trying to say something negative about kneecap. And then they write an article being like Irishman, says kneecap are a bad example to the youth. And it's like who the fuck is this guy? Give us a fucking bloke with an opinion. Give us a shit.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, and that's unfortunately how journalism works.
Speaker 2:A lot of the time is you just need someone to open their mouth and say something, and you can spin it up into. But it's a sad thing when you know a newspaper that you know stands up as it's such a unionist thing hasn't got any fucking news to write about without trying to slag, you know this is. The one thing that annoys me about here is that you know kneecap are an export of this city that everyone should be proud of. They're three working-class lads.
Speaker 2:OK who have, who've come from nothing, have built themselves into a global fort and a growing.
Speaker 1:Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:they've got you know they've got a film, they've got music doing well, all these things now surely you know that puts belfast on the map right it helps put belfast on the map the same way that something like dairy girls put there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's a shame that rather than being able to all celebrate that, boys done good, it's like half, you know, you get certain characters in one half of the community want to try and tear them down because they're not saying the things that they want to hear them say. And to me, as I said, I'm an outsider, I claim no Irish heritage, right, you know, I'm English 'm the only one I'm, I'm, I'm english.
Speaker 1:Everyone always claims a small I'm, I'm you know, I've just got the eyebrows. I just got a big pair of fucking eyebrows, I mean I've never done.
Speaker 2:I've never done a dna test, so maybe I am, but not as far as I'm aware I've got no, I've got no. Um, though my, my nan's surname before marriage was dairyman, which I always think, oh, maybe that, maybe that was. But anyway, look, whatever the point is, I came when I first moved here. It was kind of I'd never been to.
Speaker 2:Ireland before I met my now wife, and that was 15 years ago and I'd gone to school and just done. You know, your normal chapter on history lesson right when you do a chapter and go, oh, irish history, ah, there were some terrorists and you know, and the British government dealt with them, and then you move on to the Tudors or the fucking Saxons, and you're just a kid, you know, you're just like whatever right.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, and then suddenly you meet someone who's from it, and then she family, and it was like that thing. You go, ah yeah, I'm the bad guy. You know, like the brit, the brits are the bad guy.
Speaker 1:It was this and it was this full history on them, exactly, and I was, oh shit, and it was this whole like, like re-education going.
Speaker 2:Ah fuck, there was a lot more to this than I thought, right and um, you know, and I became fascinated with learning all about it and reading. And you know, my now father-in-law was very you, a very educated man in terms of you know, knowing, you know, he's just a very smart guy and, yeah, there's a story he told me that was. One of the things that always sticks with me is that when he wanted to propose to my mother-in-law, he walked into town with her and he had to go through the barriers, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, that's right yeah, and, and so she went to the shop and he snuck off and went into a ring right to propose. And then they're coming back out through the barriers and then the soldiers pulled him and put him up against the wall, started searching him and, um, they found the ring. And he looks at them and goes like she's standing's standing right there, like come on. And they took great glee in getting that ring out, showing her going. What fucking piece of shit ring. Why do you want to marry that munt?
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, just humiliated both of them.
Speaker 2:So that was how she found out that he was going to propose Now if that had happened to me, I'd have joined the Rala next day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. Do you know what I mean? I couldn't go over that.
Speaker 2:I couldn't go over that and for him then you know, 20 years later to invite an Englishman into his house and let him marry his only daughter.
Speaker 1:It shows character, doesn't it? Massive character? It's just massive character when you're, I suppose, like there's only I've heard of saying it like what's gone on in Palestine there I've heard of saying it goes like what's wrong in Palestine? There's only so much resistance you can take before like everyone's going to start to just take action and defence. Everyone has a breaking point.
Speaker 2:And you know, but you know, the biggest men, their breaking point is, you know, way down the line, right and they can take a lot. But you know, I don't claim to be that.
Speaker 1:Good good. Don't want you on the streets of Belfast, where I've always had a short fuse a bit and then did that sort of going through the history period where you sort of took an interest in the Irish history, the real side of it and what happened here, and then hearing first-hand stories from the next year, father and all, and stuff, does that make you, does that sort of make you approach kneecap or or this idea? No, not really.
Speaker 2:I mean, I've always been into my hip-hop um, uh, you know one of my and also punk. I've been into my punk when I was growing up as well and one of my favorite bands when I was raging into the machine who was sort this crossover. They had this kind of punky feel but also hip-hoppy. And then I just had my second child literally a week beforehand and I didn't really know anyone in Belfast. So I literally went out on my own to go wet the baby's head and just go and have a pint and there was a gig happening at the Limelight with the lads and actually a bit before that, so I wanted to get a ticket for this gig. I thought I'm going to go out.
Speaker 2:I want to get a ticket for this gig this is a great story. And it was sold out right, and so I was like oh fuck. And then I just went on Twitter and sort of put their name in and then someone was going I've got a spare, I can't go because I don't want this ticket. So I messaged this girl and said, yeah, I'll take the ticket, and she was up in like I can't remember where she was.
Speaker 2:It was quite. You know, it was a good 45 minutes, maybe an hour drive away and the gig was happening that evening and it was like mid afternoon, so I gave it. I called her up and um, and she was like, oh, I'll bring it down to you. I was like, don't be doing that. And she's like, no, no, I want someone. I love nika, I want someone to take the ticket. And I thought let me pay for your petrol. Then, you know, no, no, no, no, and I'll just take the face value of the ticket. So this was a two hour round trip. So she literally turned up at my front door and by this time it was dark and I said thanks so much for the door, thanks so much. I was like, do you want to come in?
Speaker 1:or anything Like take a look or something, just being polite, and she's like, no, I'm all right and then I shut the door.
Speaker 2:My wife was like you can't ask a girl to come in and use your toilet like that and I'm like what do you mean? I was like I'm being polite, she's like you could be some pervert you shouldn't even fucking know you really.
Speaker 1:You met.
Speaker 2:You met you on twitter and then you invited you invited her to come in and use the toilet, and I'm like I wasn't saying it like that, I was just saying like she's just driven an hour, right? Does she want to?
Speaker 1:go. It's a bit of appreciation for you. Do you want to?
Speaker 2:take a piss, you want to drink. You see, you can't go in my bedroom for a drink. And I'm like, oh, you know what?
Speaker 1:This is the politics. That's why I say fuck off.
Speaker 2:How have I got in trouble for this Thought? I'd been a gentleman, but apparently now I'm a pervert Fuck's sake Can't win.
Speaker 1:And then so she came up, dropped the ticker off, you went to the gig.
Speaker 2:Went to the gig and you know it was. It was actually one of those things walked in not really knowing what to expect, just loved the music, didn't have a fucking word what they were talking about, but there was 800 or so young people in that crowd who were, you know, rapping every word back to them and to me. As much as I really like them and their charisma and stage presence, I was blown away by there being this young, vibrant Gaelgore community in Belfast and I was like I didn't know that existed, like in my head the Irish language was something that was spoken very rurally, old farmers or something. Do you know what I mean? And then go oh fuck, it's actually and you know, particularly because you know, legally, illegally, however you want to see it, this is part of the United Kingdom, of course, by fucking law?
Speaker 1:Of course it is.
Speaker 2:And to have people who are born in the United Kingdom, who have rejected the language, who are choosing to speak the original language of this country, to me was quite a revolutionary thing. It was a political thing to do and a very powerful one.
Speaker 2:And I thought it was really cool and um it that made me interested in in just talking to him and just going like why you know what, what the language meant to them, and I think there was also the fact that the irish language act was um kind of going through, um, but it was going so slowly through, um you know, storm on that. There was this kind of like really young, vibrant, grassroots movement and then there was these politicians sitting doing fuck all and then we obviously had all the gathering in the town loads of people gathering and doing yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:We weren't asking for much you know, Exactly Just basics, just basic rights.
Speaker 2:But to me it was like, you know, the idea to stand in the way of a language that was indigenous to this island, a language that predates the even existence of English by thousands of years, and to stand over that in a spiteful way, which is what unionist politicians were doing. Right, and I say that as a man who you know, I try and come at this from a unfamiliar community, but anyone can see that the way that that was approached was spiteful. It was just, you know, the idea to deny, even though the Welsh have their language rights. The Scots have to say that the community here who want to live their lives through the Irish language can't be enabled to, is just negative politics and unfortunately that is one thing that I would say about the unionist community here. They're really underserved by their politicians, because unionism does not seem to me to have any vision of anything positive At all.
Speaker 1:All they know is what they're against. Yeah, exactly that's all they know.
Speaker 2:All they know is what they're against yeah, that's all they know, all they know is what they're against. But you tell me one thing that you miss a positive thing that they're going. This is our vision for the future, other than just telling us why we can't have things and why we want to block this. Stop that.
Speaker 1:It's fucking miserable it's stupidity, it's the hate of stupidity. I wonder with young politicians that are joining, say, for example, the DUP. What are they being taught? There has to be some form of vision as a politician.
Speaker 2:There has to be vision. Why get into it? Otherwise, if you're just there to go, go to war with people all the time and try to do this?
Speaker 1:it's ridiculous. They're not benefiting anyone. No, they're not Particularly their own community.
Speaker 2:And you know it's interesting. Sometimes people say to you you know, it's all this attention, all this money going to these Catholic lads. When's the money going to these Catholic lads? When's the money going to the Protestant? It's an interesting question to go. Why is there not voices you know as many voices or art coming out of the unionist community in quite the same way. Why art, you know, but that's, I suppose that's the question. Why out of are we not seeing quite the level of art coming out of those communities? And is it education?
Speaker 1:I think it's education. I personally believe it's education. That's my own point of view. I think that they are neglecting their education and what they're getting, because I think throughout say, let's talk. 20 years ago they were handed jobs, they didn't need education, we educated ourselves. We had the word of the way to educate ourselves on getting the right credentials to go on the job post, to have not even half a chance, just to have some sort of chance, but they weren't, they were just given it.
Speaker 1:so they neglected education and I think it's just falling down now through the yes, look, I think that's a massive part.
Speaker 2:Well, I think that certainly matches what I've heard from other people. I know that in the Catholic community, education was prioritised massively. Do you know, what I mean and it's still the legacy of that is that, coming from London, the schools here are great. Do you know what I mean. There's a lot of great schools compared to and a lot of them and, to be honest, because my kids go to an educated Catholic system, but particularly the Catholic schools, are very strong.
Speaker 1:If you look at even Republican prisoners that went to jail got all their education away from them. They educated themselves, they went out of their way to create education within them walls and they came out like Bobby Sands would be able to come out and be an.
Speaker 1:MP. That's one example. You know we're all come out educated. There were songwriters Gail Gorey, they spoke just so ahead of the game because they had neglected. Do you know what I mean? That was like a they just neglected because they didn't need it, because, like as I said, we were just walking on the jobs and we were without the right credentials or without the qualifications that we needed.
Speaker 2:I fly back and forth to London quite a bit at the moment for different things and I got on a plane and that Kate Hooey was on it.
Speaker 2:And I was sitting like a row, I was like fuck, I fucking hate this woman. I was so tempted a row of. I was like fuck, I fucking hate this woman. So I was like, oh, it's so tempting to fucking sit there and have it. And I was just like, oh, she really annoys me because she used to be a Labour politician. Yeah, for like 20 years she was a Labour politician and it's like, how do you go from being a Labour politician to throwing your lot in with the biggest bunch of grifting assholesholes and bullshitters in the whole of politics in this place, which you know? That's saying something, do?
Speaker 1:you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:How do you go to be a bunch of people who believe the world was invented 2,000 years ago and the dinosaurs didn't exist? You're right. To me it just feels you know. Have you had such a sea change in beliefs, or is it just that? Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:You can such a sea change in beliefs, or is it just that? Do you know what I mean? It's, you know it's. You can't divert, you can't, you can't. You know years and years of you can't?
Speaker 2:she's a she's a clever woman, and then you see her popping up being the the you know being, say look, we've got this labor woman right, who's on our side, we're not that mad. And it's like why are you being, why are you being the hide idiot to prop up these, these, like you know, it's mad, it's crazy Fucking.
Speaker 1:that's just that's.
Speaker 2:And another thing he hasn't even had a drink yet. I'm this close. I've got the shakes.
Speaker 1:I'm like yes, get the pants full.
Speaker 2:Fuck, it's almost hell.
Speaker 1:There's nothing like a political debate over a nice pint is there?
Speaker 2:There's certainly not.
Speaker 1:And then here you just went to Sundance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a year ago, almost a year ago today.
Speaker 1:What was that like? I'm sure I was fucking serious experience.
Speaker 2:Well, it's actually it is a year ago today of our premiere at Sundance and it's crazy that know this, that now today is obviously the day we find out this Oscar news and like what is? How weird that perfectly a day a year, and it's been the maddest year of my life, like, and I think the lads would probably agree at the time.
Speaker 1:At that time, if you look back to where you were going to the Sundance movie festival, that must have been like a big landmark and you were like a big thing at that stage and in the first 40 years now where you're at and how well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean Sundance is so competitive. It is for independent film kind of the high watermark. If you chose anywhere in the world, you wanted a film to get in for us. We were like Sundance, so to get in there was huge. We were. You know, I was still finishing it a week before it premiered, so it was like I didn't really have a lot of time to reflect on it. It was just head down, get the fucking thing done. And it was funny because everyone was like you know, they need to be kept in a bit of a like let's not fucking go over there, don't get absolutely hammered on the flight. So obviously we get absolutely hammered on the flight, but me and the lads right, it's a funny thing, me and the lads had like these premium economy tickets, right, first of all, we're like we ain't going unless we get business class tickets, that's it we want business class tickets.
Speaker 2:That's it we want business class tickets or we ain't going, and then you know, and then suddenly it was like well, you ain't going.
Speaker 1:Then we were like but we'll take Proven Economy, you know, just tell them we are and just tell them we aren't.
Speaker 2:But you know, our wives and girlfriends were also coming, but they were like they, so all of the women were like down the back. It was like the 1920s or something.
Speaker 1:You were like the smoker. You were smoking on the floor.
Speaker 2:They were all down the back and we were in our pre-reconomy seat. But the funny thing was, sitting next to me was an empty seat, right. So my wife's ex-wife was like just come fucking sit next to me.
Speaker 1:There's no one sitting in there. There's no one sitting in there.
Speaker 2:Like sit up here. She's like you should. I'm like, yeah, fucking gives a shit. So we're all fucking hammered. And then, uh, the stewardess comes up. She's like she can't sit there and I'm like, why? And she's like, well, she's not paid for the seat, it's theft. I'm like fucking theft. What do you mean? It's theft, it's empty, fucking seat. She's like she's theft of service. I'm like what service is she getting that she can't get fucking up down there. She's sitting here having a drink, the same as anyone else. So what's the difference? Anyway, she went back down there and then an hour later, I've drunk a few and I'm like get back down here, come sit with me. This went on all flight again and eventually, if she does that one more time, we might have to get the ties out.
Speaker 2:And I was like fuck sake and I was like we turn up and my wife's been hog tied.
Speaker 1:Oh fuck, yeah, it was like me in America. Fuck, don't even get me started.
Speaker 2:I bring back fond memories.
Speaker 1:I got fucking put on a straitjacket coming back from my last fight fucked off a fight I'm barred from, erlangus, and that and that oh yeah. That's what I mean. The madness follows me. A straitjacket. I was coming back and they put me off a plane put me on a straitjacket and brought me to Jamaica Queen's Hospital after my flight and made me do all these CT scans, and then the next day I went back to the airport and Earl English just barred me off my flight and said you're not flying with us, so I had to go and book a Delta.
Speaker 2:That's not very patriotic of him yeah for fuck's sake.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, gives me a lot of flashbacks, but yeah, I'm sure that when you got it seemed to me like it was just a crazy party. When, like, looking back, on it was.
Speaker 2:It was for the, it was particularly had the rec truck yeah, I mean that was.
Speaker 2:So you know that there was a there's a group called um creative agency, called 10th man, uh, down in dublin, who were really great doing you know, helping set up a load of sort of you know things like the van and and you going down to a little town nearby called Provo and things like that. So we really sort of landed with, like made some noise, and I think that really helped us, and then the lads were just on it for like four days. So we're staying in it. It's one of the most expensive resorts for skiing in America and you know we had these chalets with like hot tubs and everything and it really was it really was living the good life Sitting there with like bottles of champagne and hot tubs going now.
Speaker 2:This is, you know, like out in the snow and it was. It was just amazing Like we're like we've really fucking made it here and the lads were. It was there was a lot more business because there was like the selling of film. And then there was a lot of meetings and you know, kind of for me you know film was my career, right, so it's like for them. They're there for the party, like them you and the.
Speaker 2:Thing with the lads as well? Is that for them, the more craziness they cause? Yeah, the more noise they made for them. There's no downside to that right, because it's like it all plays. It plays in exactly, it plays into it plays into who they are and their reputation, but for me I'm like I still need there to be some career here afterwards, unless I'm joining the band. This is my career, so I need to kind of be the so I, so I had.
Speaker 2:You know I have to try and put on a slightly the sense be the sensible one sometimes I'm certainly not the sensible one behind closed doors, but uh, in in, um, yeah, I had to sort of do a lot of meetings and and things like that. And look, I mean it's, it's been a crazy transformative year for me as a filmmaker and that you're, you know, flying out to hollywood and you're having meetings with, you know studios and you're being offered things that, yeah, you never dreamed that you'd ever be in the conversation with, and you fucking turn them down, I mean I've turned down things that would make me a millionaire yeah, and I said no to them because I go, you know what?
Speaker 2:I just don't think it's the right move. Yeah right and it's like, but there's definitely a man who's never had any, you know, never really have money. It's like the idea of doing something and suddenly you change life, changing amount of money.
Speaker 1:But't the thing is you can't really think about it like that.
Speaker 2:You're not doing it for the money you're doing it for the love of what you do.
Speaker 1:Obviously in old Sian is like do something you love and you'll never work it down in your life. So you wanna be doing something you love, but you don't feel like you're working and maybe the money will come.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Like it's taken us six years to get from starting the film to here, and even if you're doing it with a you know, big Hollywood studio, it can still take two or three years from start to finish. So unless you're absolutely in love with the idea of what you're doing, that's a long fucking time.
Speaker 1:It'll take like a hundred years.
Speaker 2:So it's like, unless the idea and for me I always think that I unless a film's about something, it's trying to say something, then I find it difficult to really engage with it. Exactly I need to feel like I've got a message. I want to say there's something about this film. I think it says something interesting about the world we live in. I want to say that and I will wake up every fucking day and go to bed every night with this in my head, thinking how do I make this better? But if it's just some superhero movie, it's just I don't really give a shit.
Speaker 2:No one cares. Exactly no one cares. There's films I think there's increasingly films that almost made for you to be able to watch while scrolling your phone. Yeah exactly Right, so it right, so it's like. It's a bit like they're so simple, they're so we almost know what's going to happen, so it don't really matter. You can sit there on fucking tiktok whilst watching it, and I don't want to make those films like kneecaps, not a film like that. If you fucking start looking at your phone you're lost, right you missed.
Speaker 2:It's funny, actually there was, um, my kids, uh, five and seven, and uh they're in the film. They got a little scene where they're throwing stuff at Liam Ogue in the doctor's waiting room. I remember and they have been fuming with me. They've not been allowed to watch the film, so they got to come down to the Belfast premiere. You were down there, but then they got let out before the film started and they're kicking and screaming like like, why can't?
Speaker 1:we stay, why can't?
Speaker 2:we stay and they've never let it up, like every week they're on at me, get doing my head in. And then with Christmas, what do you want for you know? What do you want Santa to bring you? We just want to see. The kneecap film Broke my heart and I was like fuck that. And then, at the same time, emirates Airlines. For the airline, they wanted no sex, no drugs, no swearing, and I'm like for fuck's sake Black screen.
Speaker 1:I know, is it a short film? Do you want the induction?
Speaker 2:So I was like I don't know. So I said, look, I'm not touching that because it's going to be like killing your own baby. So you know, someone do it. But so on Christmas Day I was like and this is what El Santa bought you, and it was a DVD or something. You know what I mean and I said this is a kneecap film, and so we sat on Christmas Day and watched it. It made no sense.
Speaker 1:No sense, no sense Exactly.
Speaker 2:Once you take that out, it's just nonsense and I'm like I feel bad for anyone.
Speaker 1:Even the kids were confused. Anyone at Emirates Airlines thinking oh, go watch this film. What the fuck is this shite? Who the fuck says it's been that long for fucking Oscars? What's going on?
Speaker 2:here it's mad. Oh, fuck me, don't want to bother.
Speaker 1:Was it hard? Obviously because, like initially Liam Hogan, I don't come from like an acting background Did they take to it quite easily Because when I watched I said the trouble to my wife. I said fuck, they've played a great, great part in this for never really having any experience in filming at this level and I said maybe, I think, fuck, there's probably a feature for these guys TV of the moment.
Speaker 2:Well, that certainly is. I mean, look it didn't. I think everyone can act right. I think that everyone can act. It's whether you know what acting really is and have the toolbox to understand the process of it, and you know acting is fundamentally about reacting right. Acting is not about talking, it's about listening.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so, once you start getting these ideas in your head, it's all about being present in the moment, right, taking the person you're opposite, or people, and really just engaging, reacting authentically to what they say, what they do, their body language, things like that. Once you start getting that in your head, they start picking it up, and so we did sort of best part six months of acting classes with a fantastic acting coach called Kieran Lagan, and, yeah, week by week, they just sort of went from moth to butterfly.
Speaker 1:Because you obviously have Michael Fassbender and they're in the same scene. There's not really a good place at all.
Speaker 2:No, and I mean that was one of the scenes that, to me, I was worried about, because it's like you know, seeing Nisha there just in a one-on-one, you know, with Michael Fassbender, it could have looked like this guy's fucking won a raffle to be in this film and he'd probably been like you can almost imagine like maybe some personalities would be like fuck, like Well, look, I mean, you know they don't lack a bit of self-belief, the lads and they, you know they always approach things with an idea they can do things and you need that attitude to do it, to get into that car and put the performances they did in.
Speaker 2:They need that self-belief. And look, the film, really, you know, lived or died on the performances they put in. Yeah, right, and, and certainly I remember that, you know there were times when I didn't think they were taking it serious enough. The acting classes, and you know they turn up fucking hung over two hours late and you know it'd be like Goodwill hunting, you know and they're sitting there looking at the clock oh a beer in a minute a beer in a minute.
Speaker 2:And then eventually they'd be like, ah, mate, we need to go in like an hour early because we've got this thing. And I'll be like, for fuck's sake, lads here, here's the thing. Right, this film's gonna be called kneecap, right, that's your band.
Speaker 1:If it's shit, it's your band. If it's shit, you're gonna be.
Speaker 2:You're gonna be the freaking the band with a shit film and that's gonna do your street cred. No good. Everyone's laughing at you because they got this terrible fucking film me. My name's the little one at the bottom.
Speaker 1:I'll be gone right, I can probably, just I can probably move on and you know.
Speaker 2:So just think about that, right? Okay, this is as much for you as it is for me, right? So? And I think you know they did listen to that and they did get their heads down and look the proof's in the pudding. Is that I think as well? Because they're performers, there's an element of you can't really rehearse. When you're rehearsing, you're doing it, it at 60%, you're feeling it through. It's when you get on stage that you give it 100%.
Speaker 1:You have to perform it.
Speaker 2:So for them, they were never really giving it 100% until the camera was rolling. And then bang, they really turned up and they switched on and I was like fuck, they're really good.
Speaker 1:I can almost relate to that. It's almost like me sparring, training, sparring loads, and then you go through the motions a lot of times sparring.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you have to do tactics.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah and then, whenever the bell goes on, it's like fighting it yeah, yeah, yeah. Boom, boom, you're switched on and it's like you know exactly what you're going to do and it's like it's not even close to what you're putting in in. You know what I mean, so I can definitely relate to that.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I mean, look, they have got careers if they want them. And you know there's been agents and all sorts of things They've been trying to sign them. But you know they're so busy with their music you know they're reaching a level now where you know they're in a position to really start making some serious money and I think that they're probably right that to stick with the path they're on for now, because ultimately as well, I think that they would they would recognize that. You know, no one wants to see 50 year old rappers. Exactly right, there is, there is probably there is a life. You know there's a life span on it. Yeah, that, eventually probably they will naturally just um, drift into other things and it's great that they've got something like acting in their back pocket now that they can do it. But you know, maybe they get off. Leonardo DiCaprio gets in touch and goes will you do this film with me? I'm sure they'll fucking. You know I'm going to jump on it.
Speaker 1:We're only looking one part, they'll all be fitting over here I know, but it's definitely something good to have in the locker anyway. But, as you say, the music, obviously when the SSC it was completely so loud it was fucking banging it was crazy. I like the benchmark that just shows you where they're at.
Speaker 2:I found it quite emotional. It was to think it really was a thing that a year ago, two years, they could never have got near that level of 9,000 sort of people even in Belfast. And it was like it really to me was just seeing all these people there. And a lot of them, you know the band would say they're because they've seen the film. They're people who weren't necessarily engaged with the band beforehand To see that it's had that impact. And see, necessarily engaged with the band beforehand to see that it's had that impact and see, you know how they've progressed and how they're growing was. It was amazing. And it's kind of for me, with this stage now that's kind of bittersweet because you know the lads have been such a big part of my life for six years now right, where you've.
Speaker 2:You know, week in, week out, you've been working on this film. You've had this shared vision. You've all been moving in the same direction. Right, we've had our own things going on, but the film was always we were working together on this thing. But it's done now, right, and they're off. Now they're going to go do their Australia tour. Now, once upon a time I'd have gone on that, right, like you're almost like you're almost like a father waving the kids off to university. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:In a way, you're kind of like you know they're off doing their.
Speaker 2:I'm going off to do my thing, and you know, and that's taking me in a different path, and you know. So there is a little bit of sweetness that you go. Oh right, not going to see each other, you're not going to have that as often. Naturally, things drift off and you have your own lives and so, yeah, you give your blessing, go well go well, go well, go far and go well.
Speaker 1:And today, obviously, if you win an oscar today, what does that mean? Well, we don't, we can't win an oscar today, we can get well we're shortlisted already to the 15th.
Speaker 2:We get nominated today. Look, I mean, it's uh, it's the biggest, it's the highest accolade you can get in film and and, um, you know, for an irish language movie, you know that's made for a few million quid to be up there competing with films that are, you know, made ten times that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know it's really an achievement and you know it's one of those things that, for the rest of your life, you know no one can ever take away from you. Even if you don't, you know you don't win it, you're you know't, you know you don't win it.
Speaker 2:You're, you know you're oscar nominated. You know what I mean. You made a film that was oscar is a huge thing that very few people can say and and you know as a filmmaker, one of the things is really the sign of a success is do you get the chance to make another film?
Speaker 1:yeah, really it comes down to that, because, no, a lot of people make one film and they never get to make another one right.
Speaker 2:It's very. You know it's such a hard process to get this to. So if your film is not hugely successful, sometimes you find it hard to do the next one.
Speaker 1:So for me, the fact that I feel very confident that I'll get to make another- film a bigger budget you know that that really I mean, we've already you know, but I mean, but we've already you know we've already and we've got a big, big one tonight. No, but I mean.
Speaker 2:But you are right, you're certainly on the radar of bigger actors and that really is the mark of success for me, career-wise and putting you know food on the table for the kids and the family. Do you know what I mean? It's like I've got you know you can build a career further in this. But no, look, I think it would be a lovely way after the year we've been on, which has just been. I mean, I don't if Carlsberg did years do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:I don't think I couldn't top what this year's been. And it's been hard. It's been a lot of travel, it's been hard on the family, it's been yeah, it's been very difficult but, Jesus, the experiences we've had and you know, the successes. I Never, ever a year, like it again. And if we could just top it off, just tie the whole thing off with the Oscars, you know we'd be crazy, I'll just imagine all you lads at the Oscars in the tuxedos.
Speaker 2:Well, the thing is, we're up for, you know, we're up for the best international film.
Speaker 1:Excuse me, is that?
Speaker 2:it anyway. No, no, no. So the best international film is one of them, Then the other one's best song, oh yeah, and normally best song every year the five get to perform.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's 800 million people watching Fucking hell. But this year they announced last night that the five songs won't get to perform.
Speaker 1:Oh right.
Speaker 2:And we've all gone hang on. Why this year are they not allowing the song to perform and it's made us obviously go.
Speaker 2:It's actually because kneecaps one of them and they're worried that someone's going to pull their trousers down and show a Palestinian flag on their ass. Do you know what I mean? Now, maybe that's not it. Maybe there's absolutely legitimate reasons for it, but it's a bit funny. There's been 97 years I've been doing one thing, and then the one year that kneecap might be on stage at the Oscars, it just stops. They pull it. So you know, we'll see in a couple of hours time whether there are suspicions. There may be just a little bit of concern. You know the Oscars is a very they take it very seriously.
Speaker 1:all they need to do is just keep it the same and if they're down to the last five and they're going to let them perform, just tell them beforehand.
Speaker 2:Oh, that'll work. Just tell them not to do something.
Speaker 1:It's almost, but what if they win it? What if they win it?
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Are they going to prevent them then?
Speaker 2:Well, look, we're not there to make up the numbers. If we do get the nod today and that's a big if, right, if we do get the nod today in any category, we're not there to just make up the numbers, we'll go out to try and win it, right. So I'll be going out to LA next week to campaign and lads will probably come out as well. We will be out there to. You know, the big film called Amelia Perez that you know seems to be sweeping up loads of awards and everyone thinks that will end up winning the category. But the thing is, in a five horse race, lots of things can happen, right, so you know. So you know you go.
Speaker 2:Well, hang on, you know, we, we will see if we can upset the apple cart and and also we're an underdog and people like an underdog story and people like the Irish. So it's like there's, I think, the narrative we have is we're this little film, punchy, scruffy, yeah, like. Oh, go on, you know. You know what would be funny if we actually won the thing. Yeah, right, so I think that'll be what we'll be trying to push is go out there, have a bit of crack, try and see if we can get people behind us and see if we can upset the big netflix machine that is trying to get them the os.
Speaker 1:Well, that's the fuck and that's.
Speaker 2:Fingers crossed, I might be saying all this and then we, you know, turn out with our fricking pockets out in two hours time. So who knows? But equally, that'd be fine too. Like there's. No. There's no sense of us being all crying in our Guinness about it because the film owes us nothing. It's been a huge success. You know we're. It's been a huge success. We're up for these BAFTAs. We've won a load of these British Independent Film Awards. There's a lot of the IFTAs we've got coming up.
Speaker 1:It's already been such an achievement. It's always been a huge success.
Speaker 2:So to fall at the final hurdle, there's no shame in that.
Speaker 1:There's no shame even to get this far, because I'm sure when the film is done, and maybe when he's working on the Sundance, maybe festival like this wasn't even like oh no, not it wasn't even like a proper part of the vision.
Speaker 2:Obviously you just take it as a comment like oh well, that's it, you know you never, ever kind of think to you it's a funny thing about making a film compared to say fighting yeah right is that. Once you've made the film, that's kind of of it, that's it Right. It then has a life of its own. It's like not really down to you how well it does.
Speaker 1:Yeah Right, it's like I'm not every time it's at a festival.
Speaker 2:It's not like me getting into a ring and putting in a performance. It's just kind of like you've done the film.
Speaker 1:It's there. It's there, right.
Speaker 2:There's turn up and you have to get in the ring, and you have to, you know, put in a performance on the day, and and you can win, you can lose whatever based on how you are on the day.
Speaker 2:Well, that ain't it for me, I've already done the work, and there's no real competition between you and other films in a real way, because they've done their work, you've done your work. There's no sort of real sense that you could either of you can stare each other down and get an advantage because it's done and at the time it's not like these are competing against each other when you're making the movie, because you don't even know who you're laughing at.
Speaker 1:You don't even know they exist, so you only focused on making the movie, getting it out there, and then it's up to the rest of the world to do the rest.
Speaker 2:So that's quite nice because you meet other directors sense of like fuck you, fuck you, sort of like congratulations, I hope it goes well and you know, that's it yeah, so I'll leave it to you from here, because I know you have a fucking busy busy schedule as I said before thanks for making it happen and hope all goes well for you.
Speaker 1:My fingers will be crossed. It's almost time for a pint almost.
Speaker 2:I'm.