10) Fionnula Flanagan

Legendary Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan to host Acting Masterclass at 2014 Galway Film Fleadh

The 26th Galway Film Fleadh, in association with Hubbard Casting and Screen Training Ireland, has announced that legendary Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan will be delivering this year’s Actors Masterclass.

Fionnula Flanagan was born in Dublin in 1941 to a family devoted to the Irish language, literature and culture. The eldest of five, she studied acting at the renowned Abbey Theatre before heading off to make her mark on Broadway, playing Maggie in Brian Friel’s Lovers, in 1968. During the U.S. tour of Lovers she met her husband, Dublin-born psychiatrist Dr. Garrett O’Connor, and the couple made their home in Los Angeles.

Fionnula was raised speaking both English and Irish and her favourite author is James Joyce, “When I was growing up I thought Joyce was a good friend of my parents, because they were always saying, “Joyce said this, Joyce said that.” When I was finally old enough to read Joyce for myself, the characters were like old friends.” Joyce has since been a major factor in Fionnula’s career. She wrote, adapted and produced James Joyce’s Women for the stage and went on to develop and produce it as a feature film (Universal 1985). In the critically acclaimed James Joyce’s Women she plays six women from the life and works of Joyce. For it, she has received the Los Angeles Critics’ Award, the San Francisco Critics’ Award and a DramaLogue Award. She adapted and directed Ulysses on Bloomsday, for the Los Angeles Celtic Arts Center and staged Brian Friel’s Freedom of the City for Los Angeles’ Theatre West for which she received a Drama League Award as Best Director. Fionnula has worked extensively on stage and screen, with many appearances on Broadway including; The Incomparable Max, Mrs. Alving in Ibsen’s Ghosts and Molly Bloom with Zero Mostel in the 1974 production of Ulysses in Nighttown directed by Burgess Meredith, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.

One of the few Irish actresses to make it in Hollywood, Fionnula Flanagan’s legacy spans five decades and includes roles in films as diverse as The Guard, Waking Ned and The Others as well as television productions such as Lost, Brotherhood and Defiance. Fionnula is the only Irish actress to play guest roles on three different Star Trek series: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise.

Winner of two IFTAs and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, the acting veteran shows no signs of slowing down.

The Actors Masterclass will be hosted by John Hubbard of Hubbard Casting and will provide an intensive interactive environment in the skills, methodology and aesthetics of film acting aimed at actors working or wanting to work more in film. The masterclass will cover such topics as:

  • Starting out as an actor
  • Dealing with casting directors
  • Securing an agent
  • Preparing for an audition
  • Working on set
  • Relationship with the director
  • and many more…

The masterclass costs €50 and will take place on Friday the 11th of July from 3pm – 6pm in the Radisson Hotel, Galway. For further information or to apply for a place, contact Brónagh Keys at 091-562200 or email: masterclasses@galwayfilmfleadh.com

The closing date for applications is: 1pm Friday July 4th, 2014