Steve Coogan reveals why he didn't want to understand Roy Keane's perspective while making Saipan

As football bust-ups go, it's hard to think of many that have crossed over into the news cycle to quite the same extent as the infamous spat between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy ahead of the 2002 World Cup.

The argument – which ultimately led to Keane missing out on his only chance to play at a World Cup – stemmed from the legendary midfielder's issues with what he perceived to be a lacklustre preparation for the tournament, and sparked huge debate among fans.

That debate continues to divide people to this day – especially in Ireland – and so when RadioTimes.com exclusively spoke to star Steve Coogan, who plays McCarthy in new film Saipan, we asked if he tried to see both sides of the argument or if he looked at things entirely from the manager's perspective.

"Objectively, I – Steve Coogan, the actor – can look at both those points of view and go well, actually, I can see both," he responded. 'They're both compelling, and they've got a certain about of credibility.

"[But] as an actor, I almost deliberately wanted to not see Roy's point of view because playing Mick, I wanted to get inside [his] head and it doesn't help me to have lots of empathy with Roy's point of view."

Coogan added that he reached out to McCarthy and chatted to him, attempting to "get more of a feeling of what was driving him or what made him tick". And it was only afterwards, while watching the film, that he truly began to get a sense of the two sides of the argument.

"That's the joy of it," added Éanna Hardwicke, who plays Keane. "It's getting to watch it and for that to be revealed. Like, I was very much staying in my lane. We did have a few script chats before we started filming, and I learned a lot from that.

"[But] I think I, probably quite lazily, just [thought] I'm going to stay in the lane of this thing, and then afterwards, you get to see the film, and you get to see the kind of richness of how opposite their perspectives were, actually."

Coogan also pointed out that the idea was for cinemagoers to shift their own opinions while watching, claiming that " you don't want the audience to think it's even Stevens all the way through."

He explained: "You do want people to ideally sort of think, 'Well, actually, I think I agree with him, and now I agree with him.' You want people to be constantly shifting. Whichever way they end up at the end is sort of academic. But [we wanted] to make it a little more that your empathy is in motion when you watch it."

For his part, Coogan admitted that he walked away from the film with a changed view on Keane and his persona – and particularly his notorious temper.

"I think it's just humanising it, because everyone's aware that he is a force of nature," he said. "But it's knowing where that comes from. I mean, I have to say, watching the film I understood Roy Keane more than I did before.

"Because my view of Roy was like, you know, he's a bit of a tinderbox, [an] effective player, but a bit of a coiled spring, and maybe a little crude. Powerful, but crude. And watching this, I saw that there was much more substance to his anger."

Saipan is now showing in UK cinemas.

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