Love/Hate Kicks off at Tolka Park
The gritty RTE drama Love/Hate has returned to the streets of Dublin as the fourth season continues to be filmed around the capital. The locations being used to shoot the latest instalments of the multi-IFTA award winning show are closely guarded secrets but it is suspected that the producers, Suzanne McAuley and Steve Matthews, will retain the original cast including the power-hungry Nidge, (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), gangster Tommy (Killian Scott), Nidge’s wife Trish (Aoibhinn McGinnity), Fran (Peter Coonan), Elmo (Laurence Kinlan) and Tommy’s missus Siobhan (Charlie Murphy).
This week however, we were granted limited preview access to the production and we can now reveal that series director James Flynn has taken the radical step of enlisting the acting talents and stadium of League of Ireland Premier Division football club, Shelbourne FC in the ongoing filming.
Of course, the Drumcondra outfit are no strangers to the world of showbiz; a decade ago the club ground and personnel starred in an episode of the British football-drama, Dream Team. This time around, Shels’ commitment to the project goes much further. It seems that a number of leading figures from the famous Northside club are set to follow in the footsteps of Vinnie Jones, Eric Cantona and OJ Simpson and really make their mark as screen idols.
The cameras were rolling over the Easter weekend on location at Tolka Park, the home of the ‘Real Reds’, and despite extremely tight levels of security on the set we were able to catch up with some of the club’s budding thespians, including manager Alan Mathews, League veteran Robert Bayly, ex – Drogheda and Shamrock Rovers centre-half, Graham Gartland and new signing, Pat Flynn. They gave us a tantalising glimpse of what to expect in the new season of the award winning crime drama.
Manager Alan Mathews, although absolutely refusing to give away any plot secrets did tell us that “I can’t really reveal much but I can tell you that I’m playing the role of an IRA man turned gangland boss in the new series”. The reds coach, never one to suffer fools gladly in the world of football management, said that he was well suited to playing a no-nonsense, authoritarian mastermind: “All I have to do is act naturally, really. Before I was involved in football I worked in Ulster Bank and that really helped me with the Northern accent I needed. I was able to try it out at half time in the Directors’ box in Derry last Friday night; they all said it was very convincing”. Not so convincing however, was the performance of his team, who were hammered 4-0 in a disappointing third defeat of the new season. When asked about this Alan would only comment: “Well, for five days running before the Derry match meself and the lads were on set for 15 hours each day. It was pretty gruelling. The makeup and costumes take ages, too, and of course, there’s the open bar and the ‘dolly girls’ and groupies to help us wind down, for Jaysus’s sake, but I don’t really think it affected our performance on the pitch.”
Ex-Leeds United star Robert Bayly also spoke to us about the challenges of balancing life in front of the camera and his on-field commitments to Shelbourne. “Well, me and Garto [Graham Gartland] were having a sleepover in his gaff there a few weeks ago and we were watching a video on youtube about method acting. Method acting is where you have to live the role – you have to become the character that you’re playing, for real!” This had bizarre ‘art-imitates-life’ consequences in subsequent matches for the player: “Of course, I can’t give any plot secrets away but in the new season I’m playing a hit-man – all I do is kill and maim. Unfortunately, I was taking my role so seriously that I was still in character out on the pitch!” Chuckling, the midfielder cum movie star went on: “It was mad! I got sent off against Mervue and booked against Bray and I got really angry at some fans at the end of that match, too! It was like I was still in Love/Hate! It’s a good job I didn’t have a baseball bat in me hand like I had in the show!”
Sitting next to Bayly, Graham Gartland agreed: “The role just kinda takes over. One minute I was in front of the camera breaking legs and wasting scumbags with me Glock. The next minute I’m supposed to shut up and take it when the ref gives out to me. You can’t just switch off like that!” he giggled, recalling his own red card in the match against Dundalk.
Pat Flynn also revealed that he, too was finding it hard to adjust when the camera stops. “I’m playing this total f***king lunatic in the series, you know, like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas? I mean, I’m supposed to be a total psychopath…how am I supposed to just ‘play football’? Do you think Robert De Niro just ‘plays football’ when he’s between shots, I mean, seriously, darling?” Indeed, so demanding has his on-screen role been that in just two pre-season starts Flynn has received two straight reds!
Another player who did not want to be named told us that training sessions in Tolka Park have taken a new direction since the cameras started rolling. “Alan [Mathews] begins each session by putting us in a circle, getting us to close our eyes, while we keep humming and visualising a piece of fruit until we become that piece of fruit. It really helped when we went 4 down in the Brandywell last week. I just retreated into my ‘Inner Banana’ and the horror of how Derry were ripping us a new as$h0le just faded away!”
So there you have it, folks: if you thought Nidge and Darren were terrifying, wait until the Shels hit our screens in Season 5! As Shelbourne fans are quickly discovering this year: in Tolka no-one can hear you scream.
Originally Posted by born2bwild
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