Room Taken

Directed by: TJ O'Grady-Peyton

Principal Cast: Gabriel Adewusi, Brid Brennan

Country: Ireland

Time: 18:00

Synopsis: A homeless man moves in with a blind woman who doesn't know he's there. A strange bond develops.

It's so wonderful to see Brid Brennan on screen in a short film! She is an award-winning actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for Dancing with Lughnasa, a role she reprised opposite Meryl Streep in the film, and most recently the theatrical production of the The Ferryman. How did you entice her into Room Taken to take on the challenging role of a blind person?

Brid is such an amazing person and actor, and an absolute joy to work with. We sent her the script, and she really liked it and happened to be free the week we were shooting. Part of me thinks the stars just aligned. This was a chance for her to work on a smaller project where she could explore an interesting script with an intriguing character, while also having the opportunity to shoot in Dublin and visit home, as she lives in London. We brought on board a woman from the blind community named Delores Cullen to be our Visual Impairment Consultant. In advance of the shoot, we arranged a coffee meeting between Brid and Delores, which greatly informed Brid's approach to the character. She had the opportunity to ask questions and observe how Delores moved, which significantly influenced her performance.

Gabriel Adewusi looks like a rising star. He has appeared in recent stage productions like Sean O'Casey's Shadow of A Gunman and has been cast in TV series like Foundation. How did you connect?

Our casting director, Dawn MacCallister, found Gabriel. He's an exciting new up-and-comer working in Dublin who recently graduated from Bow Street., an acting school attended by people like Barry Keoghan, Jack Reynor, and Niamh Algar. I actually went there briefly myself. There was something about his casting tape that really struck a chord with me. You immediately felt empathy for him, despite him being a very strong-looking man in many ways. He was instantly likable, which I felt was important for a main character who, effectively, does something very wrong at the start of the movie.

Michael Whelan wrote a wonderful script. How did you team up and what's the key to developing a trusting relationship between the writer and the director?

Michael and I had worked on a commercial in Dublin a few years ago. After the shoot, we spoke about script and film projects. I was looking for a short to bring to Screen Ireland. He had an early draft of Room Taken, which I read and loved. Never had I read a short film script before that made me emotional. The scene when Victoria speaks as Isaac leaves the house was really beautiful and moved me. That line, in particular, was meant to create some foreshadowing, as she is wondering about the presence of her dead husband inside the home.

Room Taken explores themes like migration and homelessness. But perhaps less noticed is the focus on challenges facing seniors, especially those with handicaps. That's a lot of themes to explore in short amount of time. What drew you to these subjects and how did you maintain a balance among them?

Around seven years ago, I volunteered at a homelessness charity in Dublin, where I met many people who were sleeping rough. That experience informed our approach and also contributed to my curiosity about these characters, having met many real people going through that. Furthermore, my father was dealing with an illness and eventually passed away a few months before we started filming, and I was thinking about him and my mom and their lives. Our writer also has a close relative who is blind, which created another strong connection we had as a team to the material. Additionally, many asylum seekers were arriving in Ireland and sleeping rough while we were prepping, so our film felt very timely and relevant to modern-day Ireland. While this was happening, racist sentiments were increasing at home, which perturbed me. We wanted to tell a story about how life continues to change and evolve and not to be afraid of that—how lovely new things can arise despite challenges we face. Telling a story about all of the above felt like we were addressing important and relatable issues that could move people but we aimed to do so in a humorous and engaging way.

You've now directed a few short films. What do you know now that you didn't at the start?

Find great stories. If you don't love the one you're trying to tell, it probably won't turn out as well as you hope. Cast great actors — you can direct them poorly and still get a good performance. Work with amazing crew members — their suggestions can massively elevate your film. The harder you work, the better the film will probably turn out. Try to learn something new and take something away from every project. Send your film to as many festivals as you can; it's a numbers game. Don't schedule your most important scenes last, as you won't get many takes!