The more I found out, the more terrifying it became
WHY EX FAIR CITY STAR FELT COMPELLED TO MAKE FILM ON SMEAR TEST SCANDAL
FORMER Fair City star Robbie Walsh was so shocked by the CervicalCheck cancer scandal that he says he was compelled to make a movie about it.
The Michael Inside tough guy actor brings out The Letters this week which tells the story of three fictional women facing their mortality after being given incorrect smear test results.
Walsh, who previously made the films Eden and Split, said it was a heartbreaking experience shooting the picture.
“I don’t know anyone that isn’t affected by cancer. But for this story to unfold the way it did… I think we really need to wake up and make sure it never happens again,” said the Dubliner.
“The film itself is a fictional story inspired by true events. I remember hearing bits of information about the scandal as it was slowly creeping into the public consciousness.
“My ears started picking up and I thought, ‘What! Hold on a second this can’t be accurate.’
“But thanks to people like Lorraine Walsh, Vicky Phelan, Emma Mhic Mhathuna and Lynsey Bennett more and more was being revealed and the more you found out the more terrifying it became.”
The film stars Love/ Hate’s Mary Murray as a single mother of four children whose husband is no longer around and Kathleen Warner Yeates as an older woman looking after her elderly mother who has advanced Alzheimer’s.
Sarah Carroll plays the third woman, a career professional who is socially awkward and reserved and has nobody to lean on.
Responsibility
Cardboard Gangsters star John Connors and Red Rock’s Chris Newman play family members while Walsh, who wrote, produced and directed the film, is an arrogant government minister refusing to accept any responsibility. Fair City star Aisling O’Neill plays his publicist.
“The film follows the women who are all in separate walks of life and shows how they interact and how the misdiagnosis affects their lives,” says Walsh.
“They are not wealthy or have power or influence. One scene shows actress Kathleen Warner Yeates trying to get her mum into a s hower and it i s heartbreaking.
“The film addresses the hopelessness, the powerlessness of their situation and the realisation that they face their own mortality on a daily basis.”
The Letters can be seen in selected ●
cinemas around Dublin and Galway from Friday.