What was your knowledge of Roddy Doyle’s books prior to taking on “The Commitments”?
CM: Nothing, really, because Alan Parker told me about it when we were doing a film called “Come See the Paradise.” He said to me when we were finishing that up, “I’ve got this book, it hasn’t been published yet, but it’s set in Ireland, and I really want to do it, and I’d love you to do it.” And I was thinking about how, oh, you always talk about how you want to work together again, but rarely does it ever actually happen. But Alan put that together very quickly, and within about four or five months, I think, he was shooting “The Commitments.” So we actually started “The Commitments” around the time the book was published, and Roddy was unknown. But I got to meet him during that, and obviously over the years I’ve gotten to know him. He did the screenplays for “The Snapper” and “The Van” as well, and he was a producer on both as well, so he was around a lot. But it’s just genius writing, you know? BE: So did you actively pursue the continuation of playing Jimmy Rabbitte Sr. in the foll
