The following Q&A with Dublin-born actor Jim Norton (Father Sheridan in Sixteen Films' biopic "Jimmy's Hall") is part of the studio's Production Notes for the film, shot in the story's actual locales in County Leitrim. The notes, assembled for the produceers by Benji Wilson, were presented to the entertainment industry trade and news media. We are delighted to share these perspectives with our readership, in cooperation with Sixteen Films and Sony Pictures Classics. 

WHERE 'JIMMY'S HALL' IS NOW PLAYING

Describe your character

Father Sheridan is the parish priest of this small community. He is very rigid in his beliefs, but he is, I think, essentially a good man. He’s doing the best he can from what he knows -­‐ he’s following the dictates of the Catholic Church at that time, which were very tough and obsessed with controlling the moral life of the people in the community.

When Jimmy Gralton returns to Ireland and rebuilds the hall, what does that mean for Sheridan?

Oh, it’s a huge threat to his position because he obviously knows Gralton by reputation and he knows there’s trouble ahead. At that time, the church’s Parochial Hall was the centre of cultural and social life. Suddenly someone is coming back and it was like opening up an alternative entertainment. Not only that, but Gralton is bringing his socialist ideas, which, of course, as a Catholic priest he would have been very frightened of. And then there’s the dancing. The church was obsessed with dancing -­‐ they used to say that dancing in the dance halls and not doing the pure Irish dances was dancing on the hobs of hell. They were afraid of giving these people their freedom, giving the young people the opportunity just to be who they were, to be young.

But you say that you feel that he is a good man at heart?

Yes I think he is, though it’s hard to know; I’m ambivalent about it. It’s always difficult playing someone that you’re diametrically opposed to -­‐ and I am diametrically opposed to everything that he says and does. But I think deep down he does have a genuine vocation and he does think that he is doing the right thing.

Is there also a personal clash with Jimmy, rather than just a moral one?

Yes, I think he’s threatened by him; he’s threatened by the fact that he is a bright, intelligent, articulate young man with very strong ideas. Father Sheridan sees that as in conflict with his authority. It’s hard for us to understand today the power the church had over people’s lives. It wasn’t just about morality and Catholicism, there was also a political element as well, still very much aligned with the government and with the people who were for the Treaty [of 1921]. Gralton obviously was from the other side; he was a Republican and also had been to America and was bringing back ideas and attitudes that the Catholic Church didn’t want.

What is Sheridan’s response?

Father Sheridan is quite devious in the way he goes about trying to find out if Gralton is going to stay. He goes to his mother and says, you know, “Is it likely that he’s going to stay or maybe he’d be better off in London.” He actually offers to get him a job in London -­‐ anything to get him out because he can see trouble ahead. He can see that not only is his authority going to be questioned but what Gralton is bringing in to the parish are not qualities of life that Father Sheridan wants to see.

Yet we do see Sheridan listening to jazz music himself at one point …

That tells us that there is an element, a part of his personality and his emotional life that he hasn’t even investigated. It’s kind of frightening in a way to him to find that he’s responding to this rather wonderful music. He has been told that this music that comes from Africa is jazz and jazz means sex and sensuality. That’s part of his conditioning. Yet there he is, having had a few whiskies and listening to Bessie Smith and being quite moved by it. Maybe in that scene he begins to understand what it is that the young people see. And also begins to realise what he has missed in his life.

You mentioned earlier that it’s hard for people today to understand the complete power of the church in Ireland at that time. Did you experience that yourself?

Well, I grew up in Dublin in the ‘40s and ‘50s and I was sent to what my parents assumed was the best possible school, the Christian Brothers, which was the most hateful, dreadful and deeply unpleasant period of my life. I spent a long part of my life undoing the damage that I felt was done to me by these people who were put in charge of what they laughingly called my education. If education is a preparation for life, it wasn’t, from my point of view, a very good one. It was based on fear and abuse and violence and I ended up as a very angry person when I left school and regretted the fact that I didn’t stand up for myself more than I did. This was in the ‘50s -­‐ I mean can you imagine what it was like in the ‘30s, the power, the condition reflex that people had to the church and to their authority? This is why now in present day Ireland there are young people who would be amazed to know how teenagers at that time were so deeply affected by the power of the church.

This is the second time you’ve worked with Ken Loach …

I worked with Ken 20 years ago; we did a film called Hidden Agenda. It was interesting because I was actually working out in Los Angeles at the time when I was cast. I remember flying in from LA on a really cold, wet winter day and meeting Ken on Albert Bridge. I was dressed in denims, I’d just got off the plane with my suntan and we were there shivering. We went along to his office and we just talked about the film. The next day I was on the set and it was just a magical experience. Even then I was very well aware of his work and a big fan of his, but I just loved the way he worked. I loved the trust he gave the actors and working with my mate Brian Cox we had a really good time -­‐ and it was a good film, as well.

How did the part in Jimmy’s Hall come about?

I was rehearsing Conor Macpherson’s new play The Night Alive in Dublin and I knew that Ken was casting the movie. I also knew a bit about Jimmy Gralton because my grandmother came from Clones in Monaghan. I remember as a child hearing a talk about this man who had been the only Irish person ever deported from Ireland. When I read about the movie in the paper, I said I know that name, so I got in touch with Ken and we had a chat and a meeting and a discussion about Father Sheridan. A few days later  they rang and said we'd love you to do it. At that point, I had no idea who the character was and as we are talking  now, I still am finding out -- that's the great  journey that you make with someone like Ken.

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