Banshees Of Inisherin star Kerry Condon admits she knew little to nothing about Formula One before her lead role in the Brad Pitt F1 film.
Kerry stars alongside Pitt in the new blockbuster F1, opening in Irish cinemas this week. The 42-year-old received an Oscar nomination for her role as Siobhán, the long-suffering sister of Colm Farrell’s character, in The Banshees Of Inisherin.
She is also known for playing Octavia in the hit HBO series Rome (2005–2007), Stacey Ehrmantraut in Better Call Saul (2015–2022), and as the voice of the AI entity F.R.I.D.A.Y. in various films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But she says the learning curve for her latest role was so steep, she thought she would have to go and get a degree in aerodynamics.
‘I didn’t know anything about Formula One, not a thing at all. I only knew about the podium and the champagne celebrations… That was the height of my knowledge. ‘I had to learn a lot… about the engineering side of making the car and the physics of it. I got to a certain point where I said, “I have to go to college to learn this properly!”
But instead, Condon wisely focused on ‘the particular scenes that I was in’ and explaining ‘to the audience what was going on, so if you are not a Formula One fan, you’ll understand what is happening in the movie.
‘So trying to walk that fine line between being very normal with a lot of the terminology, but yet in a way that people will understand.’
Over the past 20 years, Condon has established herself as one of the most sought-after character actors in Hollywood, but the Tipperary star said she only now feels comfortable in her new role as a ‘leading lady… acting opposite Brad Pitt’ no less.
Speaking this week ahead of the release of F1, Condon said she felt confident taking on the leading lady role in what is set
to be this year’s big summer blockbuster.
‘I can be a character actress, but I can also be a leading lady… It wasn’t a fluke I got an Oscar nomination [for Banshees], and I felt I was up for acting opposite Brad Pitt. I think I’ve enough experience. I think I know what I’m doing,’ she said during an
interview with the US showbiz platform Entertainment Tonight. In F1, Condon plays Kate McKenna, race director of the fictional APX GP team and the first female technical director in Formula One.
Her character is influenced by Northern Ireland’s Bernie Collins, a former Formula One strategy engineer. Condon has also revealed she and Hollywood A-lister Pitt share ‘a bit of romance’ in the movie.
Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week, she shot the host a suggestive look when he asked if depicting a romance with Pitt’s character was ‘part of the draw’ for her to take part in the new movie.
‘They scheduled it for half eight on a Thursday morning,’ she said of her call time for those scenes with Pitt. ‘I was like, “Ah, come on.” So I had a vodka orange juice for my breakfast that morning. ‘We were supposed to be in Vegas on a night out or whatever,’ she added, before telling Colbert: “You’re giving it all away!”
And at a red-carpet event this week, the down-to earth Thurles-born star gave a rather Irish answer when asked to reveal her most memorable moment during the high-profile, global blockbuster shoot.
Instead of nights out or parties with fellow cast members, which also include Javier Bardem and Damson Idris – Condon recalled walking around casinos in Las Vegas at 5am when filming had finished, ‘drinking tea’ that cost $15 (€13). She also rubbished reports circulating online that she is about to return to The Marvel Cinematic Universe in a real-life reprise of her F.R.I.D.A.Y.
character in the upcoming Disney series, Vision Quest.
‘It’s not true!’ Condon said emphatically. ‘I saw [the reports], and I was like, “Who’s saying this?!” It’s not true, no, no, no…
‘I wouldn’t say absolutely “no chance”, but at the moment it’s not in the cards for me.’
