#jamie dornan said ken organized

[brian-in-finance]

Kenneth Branagh's new film Belfast follows a family in a time of crisis, with parents Ma and Pa at odds with each other as they struggle to figure out what to do to keep their children safe during The Troubles.

Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan portray Ma and Pa, respectively, and the actors spoke to Newsweek about the characters and the way they worked together on delivering the dramatic scenes they share.

In the movie, there is one scene in which Ma and Pa argue with each other over the family's finances and it escalates to the point where the matriarch starts throwing plates at the floor by her husband's feet in anger.

Balfe described the scene as "freeing" because it was something that would be a "step too far in [her] own reality".

"I think Jamie and I both approach our work in a very similar way," Balfe explained. "We both kind of like to be very well prepared and yet be very free on the day so we don't really glam things out necessarily.

"I like to work in a very instinctual and organic way and so does he so so much of what was there was on the page, and we just came on set ready to play in a way.

"Ken gave us a lot of freedom in finding those scenes, but what's so great about Ken is he has a roadmap but he's also willing to let you find things on your own."

Discussing the Thor director's approach to the craft, she went on: "Ken would have an idea of which way he'd want to be shooting it so that would dictate certain things, and he'd have an idea of where he'd want us to end up but within that he would let us have a lot of freedom.

"Those scenes are so much fun, getting to throw plates at somebody is just not something I do in my day-to-day life, I think that's a step too far in my own reality, but getting to do it in that environment is just so fun, it's so freeing."

Dornan agreed, saying the scene was "mad" but he felt "very lucky" to be working with Balfe because they approach acting similarly which made it easier to build it.

He said: "That was mad, that scene where she started throwing plates at me and stuff. Ken let us find the movement of that, we did it in one take.

"We never rehearsed or did blocking... when we got on set we shot straight away and part of that was a COVID thing and a time thing.

"The first time we did it we did one where we found this natural movement to Caitriona and I, and we felt like we were on the same wavelength of how that should be and the pace that would be, and Ken was really wanting us to find that rather than him dictating how that should be.

"He liked the shape of it and he was there, but for the most part we found that ourselves and I was just very lucky to have a dance partner with Caitriona in that.

"We always seemed to be on the same page with stuff and seeing eye-to-eye of the tone of every scene together, we always met on the same place with it.

"This isn't always the case, we were just lucky we always seemed to be in tandem with what we wanted to do with those characters and she just made it so easy."

Branagh's movie is inspired by his own childhood, and the cast play versions of his family members, including Balfe and Dornan.

Reflecting on portraying his parents, and if it felt strange to do so with Branagh directing the film, Balfe said: "I think going into it yes, the prospect of doing that was scary and you just weren't sure how much he was going to want you to replicate his exact idea of his mother.

"But, what Ken did for us was such a gift, he gave us this beautiful character on a page and then he made it clear that he wanted us to infuse it with as much of our own thoughts as possible.

"He wanted us to take it and make it our own and that took the pressure off from day one and he made you feel like you were on the right path, you were doing the right thing and you were the right person to play this part."

Balfe added that the fact Branagh showed he had faith in them, which she said is "the greatest thing you can give to an actor".

Dornan added: "I mean, you know what there's a world where that adds a lot of pressure and there's comfort to the process of that, but it was actually the opposite.

"Ken was so amazing at allowing me and Caitriona, Judi [Dench], Ciaran [Hinds], to bring our own flavour to the characters and their own thing, yes it's definitely based on his story but he didn't want us to be playing carbon copies of who his parents were.

Taking inspiration from their own lives

While Dornan's character was inspired by the director's father, the actor also drew on his own personal experience to inform the role.

Dornan's Pa spends a lot of time away from home because he works in England to make money for the family, and this was something the actor related to.

"I can recognize what that feeling is, like right now I'm talking to you from America [and] I want to be with my children all the time but I can't," Dornan said.

"So, I understand what that is. I have the luxury of being able to have a two-week rule, and I've only ever broken that once where I [went] two weeks without seeing my kids. It's easier now, the way travel is it's easier to set those rules in place.

"But, I really recognize what that is to put your family first and always be travelling to do the work and pay for your family, not in a way that your parents have to flee a civil war but I certainly understand trying to protect my family."

Balfe, meanwhile, used her experiences with the women in her life to form Ma's personality, and she said: "I think it's always a bit of an amalgamation of many different things.

"There's definitely parts of my mom in there, I thought about her a lot obviously just because she's kind of from that generation, but I'm from so close to Northern Ireland, there's many Irish women I know and they all bleed into each other subconsciously."

Remember… Ken gave us a lot of freedom in finding those scenes, but what's so great about Ken is he has a roadmap but he's also willing to let you find things on your own. — Caitríona Balfe