Éanna Hardwicke explains how playing Roy Keane was more about capturing an "attitude" than impression

There haven't been many footballers in the past few decades with a larger, stronger presence than Roy Keane.

The legendary Manchester United and Republic of Ireland star – who is of course now an opinionated Sky Sports pundit – was something of a major force, known for his deeply competitive spirit and occasionally hot-headed temperament, both on and off the pitch.

Both of those qualities are very much on display in new film Saipan, which dramatises Keane's infamous bust-up with Ireland manager Mick McCarthy in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup, a spat which ultimately saw the iconic midfielder miss out on what was his only opportunity to play at football's most prestigious tournament.

The film sees The Sixth Commandment star Éanna Hardwicke take on the role of Keane alongside Steve Coogan – no stranger to playing real people – as McCarthy. And speaking to RadioTimes.com for an exclusive interview ahead of the film's release, Hardwicke explained how he approached the challenge of playing such a well-known figure.

"I think we were really on the same page with this, and I've loved and admired so many of Steve's real character portrayals," he revealed, adding that deciding how to approach a real life character tended to depend on the particular film or TV project in question.

"The extent to which the physical accuracy, the vocal accuracy, is important, and then the extent to which you're just trying to capture the essence or soul of someone in your own way," he explained. "For me, it was probably the latter in this. We're telling a story about an event rather than a biopic. So for me, it was always about capturing a spirit, an attitude."

He explained that there were certain projects – such as Coogan's portrayal of Jimmy Savile in 2023 BBC series The Reckoning – where "pinpoint accuracy" and "precision" are more important, but that in Saipan he felt "freed from the biopic-ness."

With Keane having been a public figure now for almost three decades, Hardwicke added that there was so much material at his disposal, and so he had to pick one or two things to hone in on when crafting his performance.

"For me, it was that well of anger and where that comes from," he continued. "And I think there's something quite brilliant about anger when it's justifiable or when it comes from a real place. And so it was about channeling that, but finding my version of that.

"Then the second thing was about commitment and dedication, what is it like to be that disciplined? Because I don't have that very much in my life. So it was about channeling that. Those are the two things I tried to keep as the touchstone.

"And then the other thing was just remembering that you put away the public figure and to try imagine and figure out what it's like behind closed doors. I'm so grateful that that was in the script that we both got to explore, like those sort of private lives of those characters, because I think that grounds it and brings into other territory, you know."

Saipan is released in UK cinemas on Friday 23rd January.

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