I GOT AMAZE-ING TIPS FROM REAL WARDENS
Star Barry reveals secrets behind the success of IRA prison escape movie
Ward and Tom Vaughanlawlor in a scene from the movie Maze incarcerated so I had no nightmares. If anything it made me a happier person, because it makes you appreciate what you have.”
Barry added a group of real wardens from Cork Prison came in to give the actors some advice.
He said: “I asked them practical things, like the daily routine and where they might stand in any given situation. They told me about little tricks they had for asserting authority.
“I have a bit of a scuffle during the escape so I was asking them how they might tackle a guy who is running at them, what fighting technique they would use.
“It all adds up. You pick up little details The high-security Maze prison in Co Antrim Barry as Gordon Close Tom and Barry
here and there and you try to gather them altogether so it definitely helps to talk to the real guys. “Some of them had horror stories as there were a lot of incidents in the cells.” One shocking scene shows an IRA hit team trying to kill Gordon while he is out shopping with his wife and daughter. Barry said: “That was the reality for those prison wardens, they had it tough. “As the movie suggests, they were prisoners of their own position and prisoners of society at large, not only within the cells but when they went home. “It’s a tough job. I had empathy when getting into the part. You could totally see their side of the fence. “There were a number of prison wardens killed up there throughout the Troubles.” London-based Barry said he hopes Maze is released in the UK on top of its Irish success. He added: “People are loving it and it’s controversy free. It stands up as a very good thriller, a very good drama, and whatever your politics, it’s a very balanced view on events giving both sides.” news@irish mirror.ie