What drew you to the story of Clodagh and her extraordinary promise?
We have always been fascinated by priests housekeepers in Ireland. They are so crucial to the church and to the community but rarely have families themselves. We liked the idea that Clodagh’s dance ability offered our housekeeper Mrs Kelly a chance to take something for herself. Of course the problem is that everything comes at a cost and in order to fully commit to Clodagh and embrace her extraordinary promise, Mrs Kelly must battle a moral and spiritual conundrum.
How did you approach directing a period piece set in Ireland?
The film is not a period piece, although it does look like it, as the majority of the film takes place in rural ireland and the buildings Mrs Kelly works in – churches and rectory’s – have a dated, timeless aesthetic which really added something to the film. A lot of people have asked if it was a period piece, actually.
I think that’s a mixture of the art design and the use of 35mm film which gives that wonderful rich, grainy look.
What challenges did you face working with both experienced actors and young actors like Katelyn Rose Downey?
We wrote the line ‘Clodagh dances as if touched by God’ in the script and we then realized that we had to find a 14 year old girl who could act and dance like a dream. That was when the unicorn that is Katelyn Rose Downey walked into our lives. She is a two time world Irish dancing champion. And it turned out this was not her first gig… she had asked her mom for some acting classes over zoom during Covid and since then been cast in ‘The Princess’ (Disney), the ‘Nun 2’ horror and has just wrapped on the Amazon TV show ‘Bladerunner 2099’ so she is a total pro. I was, however, incredibly impressed with her abilities, having only started acting a few years ago.
Bríd Ní Neachtain, who plays the film’s protagonist Mrs Kelly, is such a seasoned actor, wonderful, subtle, nuanced, powerful – she has worked in the theatre, film and TV for the last 40 years so I was very impressed that Katelyn managed to hold her own in their scenes together. Bríd and Katelyn had a lovely natural chemistry and felt evenly weighted in their roles on screen. The other dancing girls in the film were not actors, but were all fellow students of Katelyn’s at of the Watson Twin Academy, so they are performers in their own right. It helped that they were all friends so they had a good time on set together. I think the whole experience on set definitely cured them all of any desire they may have had to act professionally…. There was, as there always is, a lot of waiting around back stage!
Can you talk about the collaboration with choreographers for the dance sequences?
The dance sequence is a huge part of the film, it is the moment Mrs Kelly is shaken to her core by witnessing a dancer dance as if touched by God – which is a tall order. Luckily we were able to collaborate with the amazing dancers and teachers at the Watson Twin Academy in Dublin. Teachers Lisa Watson and Éimhear worked with Katelyn (who plays Clodah) to create a dance sequence in the ancient Sean Nos style. This is an older form of Irish dancing, older than the one we see today which is very straight arms and Poe faced. Sean Nos is more free, arms and hair moving, face smiling… it’s more passionate and more expressive and really helped make Clodagh stand out amongst the other girls in the class.
What impact do you hope Clodagh will have on its audience?
Clodgah is a story about joy, faith and artistic inspiration. It’s about what happens when you think your life is going one way, then someone comes along and turns it upside down. I hope people can identify with Mrs Kelly’s choice of whether to go with your heart or her head. We have all been there and it’s never an easy call!
