#FL truther hot takes

[2o3dinge]

Colin & Jared hot takes: They could’ve actually met in Dublin in 1995.

There’s this funny synchronicity: Jared, at 23, is staying in Colin’s hometown for "two or three months" shooting his first ever movie with a leading role in which he pretended to be a 17-year-old black-haired Irish boy in the 1970ies.

Colin, at 19, was that kind of boy in real life in the 90ies. Like Jared's character he was also kind of in-between phases, not sure which way to go, but already contemplating acting. After dropping out of secondary school prematurely (according to himself), he'd been in Australia for a while in 1994. Back home again he jobbed as a model (e.g. on an Irish daytime TV show wearing a red thong and not much else), waited tables and took a lot of ecstasy (according to himself). This was before he listened to his brother Eamon and tried his luck at the Gaiety drama school in '96.

Jared was in town shooting his very first movie "The Last of the High Kings" which is an adaptation of a coming of age novel by Irish writer Ferdia MacAnna. Miramax produced. Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Rea, Colm Meaney were in this, too, all established Irish actors. And Jordan Catalano from "My So-Called Life", who was neither established nor Irish, but very hot news! According to a post by the Irish Film Institute, people do remember this well. They tried to get hired as extras.

Would Colin and his three older siblings, those upper middle class kids who were all into performing arts (and who all found their destination there eventually) have missed this? Their uncle being an established musical actor in London, Eamon the director of an arts school in Dublin, Catherine enrolled at the Gaiety acting school - wouldn't they have known about it too, maybe try to nab a job in this?

Fun fact: the exam scene was shot in Castleknock college, a private school that Colin went to for several years (and was kicked off)

Who else does remember the summer of 1995?

Jared does. Unusually expressive when reminded of it. Over the years he’s said these things…

But a big part about music is getting out and sharing it with people, and we’re very much a live band, so it’s important for us to be on the road. We’re psyched to be able to come back to Dublin, which is a very close place to my heart too. The first time I was in Dublin was in 1995, so it’s been a long time. I talk with Irish people and I feel like I need to just shut up.

Hot Press (February 24, 2010)

"The Last of the High Kings was my very first film. It was an Irish movie, and I played a young man from Howth. I've had a long love affair with Dublin, and to be able to come back and play a show with my band in the O2 recently meant a lot to me. It was a pretty amazing experience being in Ireland for the film in 1995, and coming back in 2010 was great."

Irish Independent (March 7, 2010)

He would get his first movie break in Ireland when he starred in the lead role of a young Dubliner experiencing a sexual awakening in the late 1970s. The Last Of The High Kings was based on the Ferdia MacAnna novel of the same name, and Leto remembers the movie with affection.

"I spent some great months in Dublin in the summer of 1996," he says. "It's such a beautiful city, so different to any place I'd been."

Few American actors can nail a contemporary Irish accent, but Leto managed it. "I'm getting a bit nostalgic just listening to your accent, man," he says. "I got really into the role and spoke with an Irish accent 24/7 while making that movie. Friends would call me from the US in the middle of the night and wake me up and they'd think they'd got the wrong person because I would speak like an Irish guy even when I'd just woken up and wasn't conscious of what accent I was speaking with." [...]

He would get his first movie break in Ireland when he starred in the lead role of a young Dubliner experiencing a sexual awakening in the late 1970s. The Last Of The High Kings was based on the Ferdia MacAnna novel of the same name, and Leto remembers the movie with affection.

He's had to content himself with small parts in other fine films -- Fight Club and American Psycho, among them -- as well as the odd turkey. Oliver Stone's Alexander is often cited as the worst big-budget film of the decade, but Leto prefers to talk about the fun he had with Colin Farrell.

"I don't know if you've spent any time in Colin's company, but that guy is just so amazing. His zest for life is infectious. I consider him to be a good friend and hopefully if he's in Dublin when we're there, we'll get to hang out."

Irish Independent (January 25, 2008)

... it's still a theme in 2022 ...

While world-famous now, Leto’s first leading role in a movie was Irish film Last of the High Kings, which was shot in and around Howth in Dublin in the mid-90s. His face lit up as he recalled his first experience making a movie in the Irish capital, which is now a hub for international productions.

“That was my very first movie that I’d starred in. And of course, Dublin was a very different town. ”But even before we all had the internet, there seemed to be unfounded rumours of celebrity deaths. There was a rumour, I guess, it was reported on the news that I had died. So people would come up to me on the street and be like ‘I thought you were dead’.

“And I’d be like, 'Oh my god, that’s hilarious, but no not yet'. That was bizarre, that happened all the time filming,” he recalled which much laughter. “Then when the movie came out I was mentioned on the news, I believe, as an ‘upcoming Irish actor'." Leto, who has since performed here multiple times when touring with his band, clearly has very fond memories of the film, which co-starred Gabriel Byrne.

“It was a beautiful experience, it changed my life," he said. "I love the country, any time I see someone from Ireland I have a warm feeling, I feel like family. It’s a great place, a very special place, I miss it."

Buzz (March 28, 2022)

re: a "long love affair with Dublin"