‘I got locked out with Frances McDormand’
Midleton, she ‘was never afraid of hard work’.
And Cartoon Saloon is now one of the most respected animation studios in the world.
‘All the doors are open and they have been for a number of years now. We’ve never had an issue talking to the likes of Disney or Dreamworks or Netflix or Amazon or whatever. But we’re always interested in creating our own films. We have a sense of freedom by working the way we do with coproductions; from working with smaller budgets. We can tell stories that aren’t dependent on shareholders’ profits. We can tell stories that need to be told. For us that’s the big thing.’
Nora is now a member of the famous Academy thanked in every Oscar acceptance speech.
‘I got to watch all of the films before I went and got to judge them which was incredibly difficult at first because you’ve got all these films that are really, really different from each other. But it’s lovely to be part of that.’
This year was her third time at the ‘pretty incredible’ event.
‘Luckily enough because I was extremely busy before the whole thing Laura Jayne Halton had made a dress for me for the Oscars back in 2013 when we were there with Song of the Sea.
‘She rang me up and she still had my measurements and she asked if I was still the same size and she worked away. She made an incredibly beautiful dress that was also extremely comfortable. I was ready to go then,’ she smiles.
‘I’d an amazing woman called Dawn who did my make-up and she had done my make-up for the previous events as well. It was nice to have the chat with her and she kind of calmed me down in the morning.’ Is it daunting? ‘It is and it isn’t. Again, when you get to that stage it is literally just a celebration. Everybody’s smiling and happy – it’s pretty relaxed, honestly. Then you have the whole red carpet thing where your publicist tries to makes sure the film is mentioned as much as possible and you speak to as many journalists as possible.’
Though they didn’t win, ‘to have The Breadwinner on the world stage like that was really incredible’.
Not to mention the networking opportunities.
‘I got to meet Guillermo del Toro as well who is a director that I really really admire. He was there for The Shape of Water, a gorgeous film. But his film Pan’s Labyrinth is one that was a huge influence on The Breadwinner as well,’ she says. ‘I got to speak to Roger Deakins who is the cinematographer of Blade Runner 2049. He was lovely. Again, you’re only stealing moments from people, it’s their big night.
‘I met Frances McDormand and we got locked out,’ she laughs, of the actress who won the gong on the night for her role in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. ‘You’re allowed to go out during commercial breaks but if you’re not back in your seat by the time the commercial break is over, you have to wait until the next commercial break. So we got locked out with Frances McDormand, which was great. Meeting her was a touchstone moment for me. She was asking what were we nominated for and just congratulating us and then afterwards she got all the female nominees to stand up which was a really lovely moment.’ Did Nora stand up? ‘I did, of course! And applauded her loudly. It was lovely for her to share her moment with all of us.’
NORA had already met McDormand’s fellow Best Actress nominee Saoirse Ronan at the nominees’ lunch earlier that week.
‘We were talking about getting back home. She was looking forward to getting back at that point because I suppose the publicity train on films can be kind of long so it’s nice to get home after it all.’
Nora’s husband Michael almost didn’t make it to LA for his very first Oscar experience because of Storm Emma.
‘He eventually managed to get out after I think 48 hours in Dublin airport. Given the time that we’d had during the production of the film it was lovely that we were able to come out and celebrate it.’
It wasn’t the first time one of them thought they might not make the Oscars.
‘For the first one I was seven months’ pregnant with my second child. So I asked my doctor here in Kilkenny did he think it was okay and he said, “Well if you feel fit and healthy then go for it.” So I went and sat there eating cereal bars all the way through.’
An Oscars veteran now, Nora still observes, ‘You don’t really get used to it. It kind of feels like you’re browsing through a magazine but you’re in the magazine as well. It’s an odd one. But, again, I love that the film was taken so seriously – and you get a chance to meet people.’
÷ The Breadwinner is in Irish cinemas from May 25.