Kevin Godley has shed some light on The Gate, the feature film he is writing and directing about teenage Orson Welles’ time in Ireland in 1931.
The film depicts Welles shortly before his death in 1985 reflecting on his arrival in Galway. He hired a donkey and cart and traveled around the west coast, sleeping under the stars. A trip to Dublin and a visit to the Gate Theatre launches his professional career.
“He wormed his way backstage to meet [Gate founders] Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir and introduced himself as the star of the American stage, Orson Welles, and he was only 16 so he had brass balls from the off,” Godley told Ireland’s RTE. ” They were impressed by him and they allowed him to audition which was crazy. The audition was insane, but he passed the audition and got a part and that memory of his reception for playing that role on his first night stayed with him all his life as one of the finest and most triumphant moments of his career.”
Godley, a Welles fan, said the late filmmaker “managed to kick a hole in the way things were and it was a shame that they just closed the hole around him.”
“Welles was an inspiration,” Godley said. “The thing that drove him was ignorance. He didn’t know the rules. Because he wasn’t a filmmaker, he kind of made it up as he went along so he had no fear… I’ve tried to follow that, it’s sort of creative ignorance if you like. Don’t be dominated by what’s already there. Just think of your own ideas. There’s always a way to bring a dream to fruition and I’ll always follow those dreams.”
Godley, best known for his work with 10cc, has directed more than 80 music videos working with the likes of Band Aid (Do They Know It’s Christmas) Frank Sinatra and Bono (I’ve Got You Under My Skin) and The Beatles (Real Love).
The project is being produced by Laura De Casto (former managing director of Tartan Films) and by Andrew Bentley, former CFO Virgin Music Group and EMI International. It received development funding from the Irish Film Board.
The Gate will be shot in Dublin and the west coast of Ireland.
Orson Welles Sketch Book: Recalling his start at The Gate Theatre
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