The Lead Role - Ruth Peacock
Steve Stone - Director
I remember the phone ringing in my studio and our casting agent Lucy Jenkins pressing me for a decision on who should she approach for the lead role of psychic Ruth Peacock. Lucy was getting frustrated with my indecision. The problem, I alone knew, was that I was lacking the confidence to say who I really wanted because I thought that the actress I had in mind was never going to look at a project with the kind of limited budget we had, let alone an unknown director. In a moment of madness, in that call with Lucy, I blurted out the name Dervla Kirwan. Lucy said she would get straight on it and contact her agent. I wasn't going to hold my breath. I was embarrassed that I had even thought we could get Dervla.
I will never forget the second call from Lucy about a week later that confirmed that Dervla was interested in the role having loved the script. She wanted to meet us.
About six weeks before filming began Rob Speranza and I met Dervla at BAFTA. She confirmed that she loved the script that we had sent her. It looked like she really was going to say yes to the project, which indeed she did. I will always be grateful to Dervla, not only for her performance in Entity but for the bravery and commitment she showed in agreeing to work on a project with a tiny budget and an unknown director. She took a huge risk in doing so and provided the film with a central role that gives an authenticity and gravity that few actresses could have given us. She remains, in my opinion, one of the most distinctive and talented actresses of her generation.
She has a debt of gratitude from her Director, that twenty four days on location with Dervla taught me many things that I will carry with me into future projects. They were lessons well learned.
Salut.