HE LOVES MUSICALS, but John Carney hates “shit musicals,” and that includes The Commitments. |
If the promotional screening of John Carney’s Once at the AMC Loews Boston Common back in April is any indication, Glen Hansard has a number of dedicated fans. Many who showed up to see the frontman of the Irish band the Frames were more interested in hearing an impromptu concert than in asking questions about the film; some even shouted requests. I myself had never heard of the Frames before being charmed by the film, which I viewed twice in one day. Joined by Carney and co-star (and occasional Frames contributor) Markéta Irglová, Hansard obliged his appreciative audience by singing and playing a few tunes on his comically worn-out guitar (its holes are legion); that included a duet with Irglová of their film’s aching “Falling Slowly.”
When someone congratulated Hansard for having acted and performed as guitarist Outspan Foster in Alan Parker’s The Commitments (his only prior acting role), the crowd cheered. But the following day, when I asked him about that film experience, he bristled at the memory. “I just don’t like talking about it. Because even now, 15 years later, it’s still a bigger story than the Frames. So when I do an interview, it’s a cheap shot; it’s like, yeah, so what? That’s what kind of bothers me.”
I was curious as to how Carney, one of the founding members of the Frames (and the first to leave, to pursue his dream of filmmaking), avoided appearing in Parker’s picture. “Oh, I actually went to an audition,” he replied. “Everybody in Dublin went to an audition,” Hansard chimed in.
And Hansard’s last scene in Parker’s film? “I know, I know. That’s the irony, isn’t it?” he laughed, finally lightening up a bit. That scene finds him busking on Grafton Street, and here he is 15 years later, still strumming his guitar on the street in the first scene of Once, busking as if he never left.
Carney stressed that it was just coincidence. “I hate The Commitments. So I in no way wanted to make a sequel in any way whatsoever to The Commitments. That’s a type of film I cannot stand.”
Don’t think he doesn’t like musicals, though. It turns out that Guys and Dolls, Singin’ in the Rain, An American in Paris, New York, New York, and Spinal Tap are “definitely in my top 15 favorite films, and they’re all musicals! But I hate, hate, hate all the shit musicals.” Had he seen the modern musicals that have cropped up in the past few years? “Yeah. And I hate them.”
The film’s publicist told us we had to wrap things up. I hadn’t even had a chance to speak with the lovely Irglová. “Our stories are way too long,” Carney apologized. “We have to get better at this! We’re just shit!”
Later, I bumped into Carney sneaking a smoke under the rainy skies outside and told him how much I had enjoyed Hansard and Irglová in their musical collaboration. “I had great stuff to work with,” he agreed. “I’m just glad I didn’t fuck it up.” He took a long drag on his cigarette. “Alan Parker would’ve fucked it up.”
