Actor Alan Rickman has said that he was not happy with the portrayal of Eamon de Valera in the film "Michael Collins."
The 1996 Neil Jordan movie attracted controversy after its release, with some critics saying that it suggested that de Valera, who was played by Rickman, somehow had a hand in Collins’ death. Jordan said that it was not his intention to create that suggestion.
"I suppose with hindsight, one should be more aware that there were going to be external pressures once you've finished the film in terms of how it is cut, and so scenes that we shot did not end up in the movie,” Rickman told Newstalk, an Irish radio station. “I think ultimately those would have altered the tone of the film."
"It was quite clear to me that de Valera was not involved (in the death of Collins). It is not a question of personal bias. He didn't have enough power at the time to have given those orders.
"So it's irresponsible if any kind of corporate entity says that he was (involved). Or it's unfortunate, because he certainly wasn't.
"I wouldn't have been part of a movie that said that," the actor, who’s famous roles include Hans Gruber in “Die Hard” and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies, said.
Neil Jordan, Rickman said, might have been better off telling the epic story of Collins in a 16- week TV series. "To do what he did in two hours was pretty amazing,'' he continued.
"All I can say is that the film was a tremendous experience to be part of, and also alarming from the very first day that I was part of it.
"Arriving in Dublin in a cab knowing that I was that afternoon going to walk up in front of 5,000 Dubliners.
"That was the very first shot in the film. If you ask me what I think of it, I remember things like that as much as anything else," he added.
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