SOUL BROTHER
Ireland’s Chris O’dowd finds his groove in The Sapphires,
Chris O’Dowd recalls what The Commitments’ onscreen soul-sound injection did for Irish pride in 1991.
Based on Roddy Doyle’s novel, directed by Alan Parker and set to a Motown greatest-hits score, the story of a ragtag bunch of young Dublin musicians determined to bring soul music to Ireland — if they can only get it right — was a huge hit.
Now Irish actor O’Dowd is putting soul front-and-centre onscreen again in The Sapphires, a dramedy based on the true story of an Aboriginal Australian girl group who face prejudice and setbacks in their quest to sing for the troops in Vietnam in 1968.
“I think as an Irishman, soul music is inherently important for me growing up because of that film,” reflected 33-year-old O’Dowd of The Commitments, just hours before The Sapphires had its red-carpet premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September.
“It made stars of the county,” O’Dowd said with pride. “It made stars of the writing.”
With roles in Pirate Radio and the Jack Black-starring remake of Gulliver’s Travels, O’Dowd garnered some attention on this side of the pond, but he made his mark with his role as charmingly funny cop Nathan Rhodes in 2011’s Bridesmaids. Roles in indie comedy Friends With Kids and This Is 40, plus a recurring guest slot working a Yankee accent on hit HBO show Girls followed.
O’Dowd is back to his Irish self in The Sapphires playing Dave Lovelace, a work-shy piano player in an Outback dive with a fondness for the bottle. He decides he can transform a group of country-singing gals who end up performing there into Motown sirens.
“What I find fascinating is the music is inherently important to the story,” said O’Dowd. “Soul music and that whole thing of soul music being about loss but struggling through it, and the women coming together to find themselves much more than they were at the start and me finding a family.”
O’Dowd said he started work after the four women had been rehearsing for about three weeks.
“It already felt they were a fully formed family,” he said. “They got on great and a couple of them hadn’t done much (acting) before so it was very natural and very honest and truthful. There’s no bull---t in this whole process.”
O’Dowd admits the storyline is hardly new but thinks The Sapphires adds something genuine to the mix.
“This isn’t reinventing the wheel,” he said. “We’ve seen this slightly tags-to-riches story many times but this is based on a true story and the background to it, the world they are in, is something very fresh.”
Meanwhile, the four young female stars of The Sapphires were just down the hall, enjoying their time in the TIFF spotlight. When they opened the door to their room, it was like stepping into a party.
Actresses Deborah Mailman ( Bran Nue Dae), Australian Idol runner-up Jessica Mauboy and newcomers Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell were having a late lunch before getting ready to hit the red carpet. In between bites of chicken Caesar salad, they all agreed they adored working with O’Dowd, who had earned the title of “honorary Aussie” from them.
As much fun as they had travelling with the movie to premieres at home, Cannes, Japan and Toronto, the actresses were also very aware of how important it was to tell the true story of The Sapphires and the prejudice aboriginals faced and continue to experience. “In 1967, the year before the girls go to Vietnam, aboriginals were (politically) recognized as human beings,” said Mailman. “A lot of my peers think it was so long ago, but my mom was 17 when she was given the same rights as your mom.” Tapsell said they have met the women they are playing, who they affectionately call “the aunties,” and they feel a sense of responsibility to telling their stories. “Whatever happens, I like to think we are able to tell our grandkids, ‘This what I did. This is what your nana did when she was young,’ ” she said.