Mel Gibson to attend as Trim celebrates Braveheart

RTÉ News​

a day ago

Mel Gibson and other members of the cast of Braveheart are set to attend a celebration of the Oscar-winning film in Trim, Co Meath this weekend to mark 30 years since its release.
Eric Lawlor of the King John's Summer Prom Festival in Trim has said that the team were "lucky to have Mel Gibson himself" as well as a few other coast members coming back.
He said that people in Trim have very fond memories and always talk about the excitement that came over the area when Hollywood came to town.
The crew stayed for several months, and a lot of local people were hired as extras in the film.
"The film itself is actually a Scottish story, we just hijacked it.
"We celebrate it though, there's no celebration in Scotland this weekend.
"We decided to put this together and celebrate one of the biggest milestones and blockbusters to arrive on Irish shores at the time.
"And it encouraged director Steven Spielberg to shoot all of the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, and he used the same soldiers that were used in Braveheart," Mr Lawlor said.
He added that everyone in Trim at the time helped Mr Gibson with any facilities he needed which made the film such a success.
David O'Hara who played Stephen of Ireland in Braveheart was described as a good friend of Mr Gibson, and was the one who persuaded him to come along and join in the celebrations of the milestone.
"It was the genius of Mel being able to recreate these historical martyrs in Scottish history," Mr O'Hara said.
Reflecting on the film, he said that the sun came out and it was a really special time.
"It was a beautiful time here and it was a gorgeous place."
He said that returning to the scene of filming was like coming back to the set.
He added that being remembered by some of the locals who were children at the time of the film who are now adults was a wonderful feeling.
"It's still so picturesque it's almost not real, but it is real."
Mr Lawlor, whose brother also starred in Braveheart, said that later this evening there will also be a world premiere of Ireland's Music and Song, developed by musical director Niall O'Sullivan as part of the festival.
He said that viewers would be in for a treat after describing being blown away in rehearsals.
'Like a carnival' on set of Braveheart
A fashion designer who worked in the costume designer on the set of Braveheart has described the experience as being "like a carnival".
Kelvin Feeney told RTÉ's Liveline about how he got involved with filming.
He explained that over 30 years ago, he was in college at the time and the college was contacted by the team looking for male designers to assist with the extras.
He said that he and his friend Adam Stewart were "quite lucky" to be chosen, but it just so happened that he had won a young designer award only some months earlier.
"We got asked to go down and work in The Curragh for the summer.
"It really opened up our brains, there was so much potential there to have fun".
He said it was such a huge thing at the time, and there were thousands of extras coming through.
"It was high energy, and we were running on adrenaline.
"When the extras were on set, we'd have to make sure they keep their costume as they should be.
"It was a massive thing and amazing, but at the time, you didn't know how super the film was going to be."
He said that it was "quite wild" seeing Mel Gibson behind and in front of the camera as he both acted and directed.
He described it as "like a big carnival" being on set back then, and it felt like a fun community event.
He spoke about ducking and diving behind bushes not to appear in scenes but still trying to keep an eye in the condition of the costumes.
Other extras also told Liveline about their experience working on set.
Shane Wallace, who was a member of the reserve defence forces at the time and was one of 1,500 extras who took part in Braveheart.
He said that sometimes he would be a British solider, while on other days you'd be Scottish for the battle scenes.
"It was a good experience," he said.