The unsung heroes of Cinema & TV part 26. Gerard McSorley

This list needs more Irish actors so it's time for another one.

Gerard McSorley

You mightn't know his name but you'll definitely know his face and probably call him a bastard when you see him. He's played a few mighty ones in his time. Gerard is far from an unknown but he's an actor you rarely hear much about and rarely hear praised. But he's deserves a lot of praise as one of Ireland's finest actors and he's turned up in some magnificent films.  His cinematic career seems to have faded of late but I still get a buzz anytime he turns up onscreen because you know he's going to be good. 

He was in Ireland's first ever action film (Taffin, watch it, it's awesome). He was in Neil Jordan's masterful debut (Angel) He's been an award obsessed priest. He's actually played a bucketload of priests! A father who lost everything in a Northern Ireland town. A cowardly Scottish lord. A woman beating heroin dealer. The man who threatened to shoot Gerry Conlan's Da. An Irish patriot who died in the civil war. He's been in numerous short films and a handful of Hollywood epics. From Braveheart to the Irish R.M. He's a man who likes to keep it varied. He even turned up in Bergerac. Check out his 35 year long career HERE

The snake of Craggy Island

Greatest hits

Veronica Guerin. Here he plays John Gilligan. Scumbag extraordinaire. The drug dealer behind the one of Ireland's most infamous murders. The malevolence and sliminess drips off the screen when he's on it. A truly horrible person. He's nearly too effective in the role because I call him a bastard anytime he turns up in anything else. He's excellent in this.

The Boxer. Plays Harry, Mr IRA, in this very underrated Daniel Day Lewis drama from the late 90's. Another vile character who's comeuppance near the end of the film provides a seriously cathartic moment that's badly needed after all the darkness beforehand.

Omagh. This time he was on the other side of the Troubles. He plays Michael Gallagher, a father who lost his son in the 1998 bombing. A sympathetic role for once and a hard one for him personally because he grew up in Omagh too. He won an IFTA award for best actor here and richly deserved it.

Father Ted. Father Ted Unctious. "Friend" of Father Ted and another in a long line of the snakey characters he does so well. See the pic above. Have you ever seen a more priestly head?

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