Colm Meaney is a national treasure. This week Jarlath sits down with him for a one of a kind conversation about his early life, work and struggles. For the first time, we hear his experience of being Irish in the UK during the Troubles (31:00), getting his big break in the 1980s in America (38:00) and why juggling Star Trek with features such as The Van, The Snapper and The Commitments worked for him (51:00).

From joining Sinn Féin as an 'anti-establishment' 13 year old (12:00), to and how Margaret Thatcher once 'fucked the whole thing up' with regards to funding and the arts (30:00), the Hollywood culture of telling people what they want to hear (50:00), the series of incredibly unfortunate events that killed the prospects of one of his proudest acting projects (56:00) and much more, this is a fascinating and rare conversation with a true Irish acting legend.

To hear about the chaotic nature of filming Alpha Papa alongside Steve Coogan, Colm's thoughts on how the film/TV industry is changing, the art of finding the essence of a character, Con Air and more become a patron of An Irishman Abroad for just the price of a pint on www.patreon.com/irishmanabroad. 

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