Q: Can you talk about the Irish Film Festival?

MM: Dublin.

Q: What’s the feeling on that for you guys? That’s gotta be cool.

MM: I’m really looking forward to it.

CF: Yeah.

MM: ‘Cause whenever there’s even just an Irish actor in a Hollywood film they really get behind it.

CF: There’s an amazing sense of pride at home.

MM: Yeah, I think it’s so unusual in what’s technically, I guess, a Hollywood film for two Irish actors to use their own accents-

CF: Yeah, yeah.

MM: and then me, you know, I’m Irish background and all that; so Irish director, Irish writer, two Irish leads. I hope they are gonna love it, plus there’s an archaic spirit to the film which I think is going to speak to them.

CF: speak to the more rebel nature of the Irish military, absolutely.

MM: I am really looking forward to that night.

CF: It’ll be cool.

Q: Did these religious themes sort of pop in right away or as you wrote the story?

MM: Probably pretty early on. As soon as I came up with why they were there, yeah, it was an easy one to explore. “How would I feel if I had done something so heinous?” So yes, as I was able to explore-certainly explore, not come to any solutions about, but explore what I believe in having been brought up Catholic and having rejected that, but still having those kind of tendrils of faith or what you were taught as a child still in your head. “Where am I now? How do I think about those things?” I still don’t have any solutions or final thoughts, but it was fun to explore. I think we all kind of found that even in the rehearsal process.

CF: Yeah. “Tendrils of faith” is a good one man.

MM: Is that okay?

CF: Yeah, ‘cause faith in absolution is not really faith at all. It’s kind of- I don’t want to say it’s idiocy because I’ll insult a lot of the population around the world including some of my family members, but surely faith should be based on a certain amount of skepticism almost in questioning.

Q: Is there something in the character that you identified with yourself?

CF: Is there something that I identify with myself? Grey hair! (Laughter)

Q: What did you think the differences are and not put in the character?

CF: I don’t think he’s as vain as I am (laughter) or self-conscious or whatever you want to call it. I don’t know. He just didn’t seem like the kind of cat to have earrings.

Q: What about a sense of humor? I mean he didn’t have a real great sense of humor.

CF: Ray? Yeah, great sense of humor. I mean I have to point the finger at him (points to Martin McDonagh) for that you know. He kind of created him and wrote him and I sang it. Yeah, just wicked, but a sense of humor that’s, like if I’m having a laugh with mates I kind of know I’m having a laugh like most of us seem to, but we also love those characters we meet in life every now and then that have no idea how funny they are and you aren’t ever laughing at them. You are totally laughing with them and they might be bewildered as to why you find them so funny and they genuinely don’t understand it, but they just have a kind of a more unusual outlook on life or perspective. Ray was definitely one of those. He has no idea how funny how funny his outlook is, but it’s such a skewed look on his environment and the world around him and so lovely. There’s such purity to him, you know? He’s very childlike as well, perfectly honest. There’s no self-censorship or any of that good stuff.

Q: And he’s fascinated by midgets (laughter)

CF: How are you gonna argue that? If what’s called “Normal-sized” people are fascinating, I mean God, little people are just genius!

Q: I’m really interested if you put in that line about “He swears a lot”?

CF: Aaargh. No. No in joking or nothing cute about it, no. It was just the way it happened. The irony wasn’t lost on you was it? (Laughter)

Q: No. (laughter) You’re being good today.

CF: Am I?

MM: Yeah you are. Now he’s going to be like the sex pistols. (Laughter)

Q: You keep talking about the Irish. What is this Irish-ness you describe because I am not sure.

CF: I’m still searching darling. I’m not sure either.

MM: If we could put our finger on it we’d make a fortune.

CF: A fortune!