Meaney: One Chance

Colm Meaney is appearing in One Chance, a movie about Britain’s Got Talent singing sensation Paul Potts.

Meaney has taken on the role of Potts’ father Roland in the movie.

One Chance is a positive movie which viewers will enjoy. “I was just thrilled with it,” said Meaney. “You laugh, you cry – which is always good – you walk out with a smile on your face. It’s ultimately a very uplifting film and anyone going to see it is in for a treat.”

“I know people are having tough times and economically we’re still in the doldrums,” said Meaney, “a lot of it of our own making, but this story – I wasn’t familiar with it; I’m not familiar with British television – I didn’t know the Paul Potts story. I thought he was a Cambodian dictator! It’s really an uplifting story. The guy went through an awful lot of adversity and there were times he came close to giving it all up and quitting. And that’s why the payoff at the end of the film is so big, because the guy has been through so much.”

Some may consider Paul’s father non-supportive, but he’s just being realistic, according to Meaney. “It’s a classic situatio,” he said. “A working-class kid from a working-class background, and he decides he wants to be an opera singer. I can actually relate to this because it’s a bit like me telling me da in Finglas: ‘I want to be an actor’. And he’s like: ‘A what?’

“And I think people see the dad in the movie as the bad guy, in a way, but in fact it’s a perfectly understandable reaction. You want to make sure that your kid is alright. You want to make sure that he has a job. And also, just from an emotional point of view, you don’t want him going out there and setting himself up for ridicule.

“You’re trying to knock some sense into them. ‘Look, man – do your singing in the shower or whatever, but get on with it and get a job, and look after yourself.'”

One Chance opens in the UK today.

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