It’s Okay to Talk, Daniel!

Irish Voice Entertainment

It’s Okay to Talk, Daniel!

February 28, 2008

By Cathal Dervan

DANIEL Day-Lewis may be the flavor of the month in Hollywood right now after his Academy Awards success on Sunday night, but the man of the moment bored me to death for almost an hour the day before he got his hands on another golden gong.

The English-born Irish citizen was the guest of honor on the Marian Finucane radio show on RTE on Saturday morning, a prelude to what the presenter and her producers rightly hoped was going to be a great weekend for the Wicklow resident.

The interview was shockingly uninteresting, aside from one brief moment when Marian informed Daniel that he had previously won an Oscar for playing Christy Moore. Now, even I know that he won his first gong for his brilliant performance as Christy Browne in the wonderful My Left Foot all those years ago.

And seeing as how Daniel is someone who likes to get into character 24-7 when he’s shooting a movie, I can only imagine how he would get on as Christy Moore, complete with the obligatory string vest, pot belly and the shovel he keeps telling us never to forget.

Anyway, why was I listening to Marian and Daniel bore the pants off each other and the rest of us on Saturday afternoon, just hours before my departure for Croke Park and a rather heartwarming Irish performance against Wales as we passed the halfway point in rugby’s Six Nations season?

Oh yes, a man with inside knowledge had informed me that Liam Brady was going to be on the show, and I was fascinated to hear what he had to say about Giovanni Trapattoni’s appointment as Ireland soccer manager and his potential involvement in the new set-up, one that has cost more than any previous Irish management team.

Unfortunately the little birdie who told me Liam was going to be on the program was signing off the wrong hymn sheet. Maybe Marian intended to talk to Liamo but was lulled into a state of forgetfulness by Daniel’s increasingly boring answers to all her well-intended questions.

Whatever the reason for Liam’s non-show, I did hear one piece of interesting opinion from Day-Lewis when he suggested that actors should never be allowed to talk about their work or anything else in their life.

His opinion, as far as I could make out, is that actors should talk about their work only to those they are working with at the time of production, be it their fellow actors, the director or the producer.

Our Daniel doesn’t see any reason why his thoughts on a character or a storyline are going to affect our enjoyment of his latest movie, and he certainly doesn’t think his opinions will make it a better or worse movie.

It was an interesting theory from Mr. Day-Lewis, and one which could probably be applied to top sportsmen and women as well, even if it means my job prospects would diminish alarmingly if this theory ever becomes law.

What would happen if Trapattoni decided to ban the Irish players from talking about their efforts on the football field to anyone other than their manager and his backroom staff, now likely to include Liam Brady?

What would be the end result if Eddie O’Sullivan followed Daniel’s suggestion that his top players keep mum on their five try fest against Scotland last Saturday, or their Triple Crown showdown with table toppers Wales on Saturday, March 8?

Would the world be a poorer place? Would the fans miss the few run of the mill quotes from Duffer or Robbie or Dricco or Rog?

Well, yes they would, actually. Part of the beauty of sport is the opportunity to share opinions and often or not to disagree with them.

The world would indeed be a poorer place if Robbie Keane was denied the chance to tell us about his emotions following Sunday’s extra-time win over Chelsea in the Carling Cup final at Wembley.

Our Robbie had tears in his eyes at the end of the game, tears that signified just how much it meant to him to win the first medal of his career as a professional footballer. At the time he told the Sky cameras he had no words to describe how he felt, but I look forward to sitting down with him soon day soon and discussing the moment at length.

Likewise, it was a pleasure to be at Croke Park on Saturday afternoon to witness the fourth Irish try in the flesh when Geordan Murphy’s drive opened up the Scottish defense, but the tour de force was a quick thinking flick of the wrists by Ronan O’Gara that just had to be seen to be believed.

Again O’Gara will take the time out this week or next to explain what was going through his mind in the build-up to a move that proved his hands are as fast as his feet, and we will all listen with baited breath.

So sorry, Daniel. Congratulations on your latest Oscar, but your theory on actors being spoken to and not speaking is really about as interesting as your radio interviews, at least in sporting terms.

We have to hear what our sporting heroes have to say. We need to hear what they have to say. Next!

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