A man you don’t meet every day - 'Kill the Irishman' - SEE VIDEO

By

CAHIR O'DOHERTY,

Irish Voice Reporter

Larger Text

Print

E-mail

4 Comments

'Kill the Irishman'

Tweet

A former marine, he was polite to a fault. It was “yes sir” and “no sir” until you looked in his eyes and saw a man who would ruthlessly coerce you at the merest sign of resistance.

Because Greene saw himself as the ultimate underdog who had been abused and exploited by others in his own community out to line their own pockets, he took a special shine to Irish history because, with its narrative of invasion and exploitation, in a way it mirrored his own.

“Did he get into all this Celtic warrior stuff? Not so much. It was more a case of seeing how the Irish had thrown off their oppressors. He enjoyed that,” says Hensleigh.

The Irish weren’t powerful, but they had smarts. It’s why Greene made his honchos read Irish history books.

Somehow Greene managed to survive the all the countless assassination attempts made by the mob, and he bumped off anyone who went after him in retaliation. But it was Greene’s utter fearlessness that mystified his enemies, and misjudging him at every turn eventually led to the collapse of the mafia syndicates across the U.S., earning Greene the title of the man the mob couldn’t kill.

Stevenson, most famous for his electrifying performance as Titus Pullo in HBO’s Rome, agrees that Greene drew inspiration from Irish history.

“He used his own money to subsidize the education of orphans, he bought 50 turkeys for the poor on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. But if he found a way to help and at the same time stick it to his enemies, he’d go that route instead. He was a gangster, he wasn’t Robin Hood,” Stevenson told the Irish Voice.

Hensleigh says that in researching the life of his subject he was amazed, time and time again, by the conflicting aspects of Greene’s character.

“Look, this guy was a murderer. The film is not suggesting he was a hero. But we do strike a balance between the things he did for people. He’s a complex, multilayered individual and the film brings that out.”

Moviegoers unfamiliar with Greene’s life and legacy might not be aware of how pitch perfect Stevenson’s performance actually is. The surface details are all exactly like the real man’s right down to the thinning hair, the handlebar mustache and the groovy 1970s shirt collars.

But Stevenson goes far beyond the surface details in an indelible performance that will amaze you. One moment you find yourself rooting for him, even cheering, and the next you want to see him locked away for life.

“Each of the actors in this film are lead actors, but there’s no scene stealing going on. I was amazed by the style and the skill I saw all around me. It was a real collaboration between everyone involved,” says Stevenson.

“ We didn’t tell the story like a documentary; we looked for the truth of this journey and this world. If you believe in this journey then my job is done.”

Shonder Birns’s niece introduced herself to Stevenson at the film’s premiere in Palm Springs last week, which made him realize how close in time the film was to the actual events.

Print

E-mail

Tweet