Russborough's starring role in film
HISTORIC HOUSE A GREAT LOCATION FOR MOVIE
Steven Soderbergh, left, and Eric Blachford at Russborough House.
Wednesday August 17 2011
RUSSBOROUGH House has landed a starring role in the next movie by Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh.
Eagle-eyed viewers may have spotted a scene from the 18th century stately home among the high octane footage featured in the trailer for 'Haywire', which was released last week.
The movie itself, which features an A-list cast including Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender and Bill Paxton, is not due for release until January 2012.
A spy thriller, 'Haywire' sees covert operative Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) double-crossed by her own company and hellbent on getting revenge.
Eric Blatchford, Chief Executive of the Alfred Beit Foundation which oversees the running of Russborough House and estate in Blessington, was delighted to play host to Hollywood royalty early last year.
After registering as a potential venue with the Irish Film Board, a number of film managers had visited the historic building before news came through that it had caught the attention of Soderbergh, who won an Oscar in 2001 for ' Traffic'.
After visiting Russborough himself, the critically acclaimed director arrived with staff and crew of around 65 people, including leading lady Carano and Irish star Fassbender, in January 2010.
The crew stayed at Russborough for over a week, fine-tuning their scenes and providing staff members with a rare insight into how a Hollywood blockbuster is made.
'It was quite intriguing,' said Eric.
'Steven Soderbergh is incredibly thorough; very intricate. If he shot a scene once, he shot it a dozen times.
'I remember him shooting Gina opening a door and walking upstairs and he must have shot it 20 times.'
While the film industry seems very glamorous to the outside world, Eric said that there's no doubt that making movies requires a lot of hard work.
' They were putting in 16 hour days. They were filming for four or five days and they were on set from 8 a.m. until midnight.
' They took it very seriously and they were meticulous.'
The scenes filmed at Russborough centre around a decadent party in a grand house with the main characters speaking in hushed tones as they go about their secretive business.
While we will have to wait until the movie's release to see how much of the scenes made it into the finished product, trailer footage confirms Russborough's presence in the film.
'It was a very positive experience. We'd certainly do it again,' he said.
