MARKETA'S FIRST JUMP INTO ACTING
Marketa Irglova had never acted before ONCE, yet John Carney and Glen Hansard knew she was the "one" for the role.
Glen: "I remember John said he was looking for a female character, someone eastern European who could play piano. I said I knew someone, that she could play piano and sing really well, but I didn't know if she could act. John came to see me and Marketa play a gig and he really liked her and he immediately cast her."
John: "Yes, that's right. I never auditioned her. I saw that she was a great singer, a great piano player and had great presence. But I never actually sat her down to see if she could act. For two or three months coming up to the film, I asked her to get a camcorder and get used to being on camera but for God's sake not to take acting classes.
"On the first day of filming, I thought it was going to be a disaster. They were nervous, the camera was right up their noses, they were self-conscious. It was ropey. But I'm good at knowing when to make a U-turn, and I realised it wasn't going to work with the camera in their face. I needed to be on the other side of the street and to use long lenses. There would be no clapperboards and no shouts of 'action'. It was about making them comfortable about being on screen."
my heart was stolen by Marketa, my heart.