Hollywood heart-throb Aidan Quinn says author Marian Keyes’s work is not just for girls, claiming it’s ‘ridiculous’ to suggest there is nothing in her books for men.
The Irish-American actor plays ‘Daddy’ Walsh in the upcoming RTÉ series The Walsh Sisters, which has been adapted from several of the bestselling author’s most-loved novels. Asked what he would say to men who presume there is nothing for
them to enjoy in a Keyes book, he told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I think they’re wrong.’
Speaking this week at the launch of the series, which will also air on the BBC next year, Quinn said: ‘We all have mothers and daughters and grandmothers and that. I mean, yeah, [the characters] are predominantly female. But you have Jay [Duffy, who plays Luke Costello], you have me, and we’re all part of the family. So I think it’s ridiculous.’
His onscreen son-in-law Duffy agrees, advising men to ‘look past your preconceived ideas’. He told the MoS he ‘really
enjoyed’ Keyes’s 1997 novel Rachel’s Holiday, which he read in preparation for the role.
Duffy added: ‘I probably read it in a different sense, because I knew I was going to be playing a character in it, so I was focused
probably a bit more than I should have been on his arc. ‘But Marian is a gifted writer. She writes such grounded characters with their own flaws that are very relatable, and they’re human. And I think she’s able to blend the lightness and the moments of humour while dealing with dark subject matter, and I really thoroughly enjoyed it.’
The 29-year-old actor, who is the son of Boyzone star Keith, added that he ‘wouldn’t hesitate’ to recommend the book to a male friend, saying: ‘Marian is one of our most accomplished writers for a reason and I don’t think even Marian herself writes specifically for women. So I’d say dive in and give it a go.’
The author said the ‘dynamic’ of her own large family fed into her writing of the Walsh clan. Keyes told the MoS: ‘I’m from a family of five, but two are boys, so it’s more the dynamic of a big, messy family, rather than specific personality types that fed into it.
There’s no way you could say, “Well, that’s obviously so and so”. ‘It’s the overall theme of being held in a group of people that
always have your back, even if they take your spot on the couch.’ The novelist says Stefanie Preissner, who adapted the novels
for TV, is an ‘absolute genius’ for condensing the books.
She said: ‘We’re friends and we used to talk, but we’d never talked about work. And then she’d only ask me very, very tiny questions like “Would Margaret wear this engagement ring?” Or one day, she sent me a text that said, “Would Daddy Walsh vote
Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael?”
‘But she was the one that took each separate book and meshed them all together, and I could never have done that. I honestly think she’s a genius.’
Also at the launch of the series, which debuts next Sunday, was Carrie Crowley, who plays ‘Mammy’ Walsh. The former TV presenter agreed her acting career has enjoyed a resurgence since she starred in the Oscar-nominated An Cailín Ciúin.
She told the MoS: ‘What it does is, [producers] kind of go, “Oh yeah, we might look at her.” Whereas before they might have gone, “What? No, not interested.” The acclaim picked up by the film serves as evidence that ‘you’ve proved yourself, ’ she added.
See more pics from The Walsh Sisters premiere here:
