I remember Jim stripping down to the waist, pinning me up against a wall and pretending to mug me 
Photographer-turned-actor Paddy Considine first made an impression in Shane Meadows' A Room For Romeo Brass, before going on to star in Last Resort, and as New Order manager Rob Gretton in 24 Hour Party People. He crosses the Atlantic for Jim Sheridan's semi-autobiographical tale, In America.
Your character's story is very much the story of director Jim Sheridan. What was it like portraying him on screen?
When I read the script I didn't know it was about [Jim Sheridan's] life, I read it and just thought it was brilliant as a story. But I remember [Jim] said to me very early on, "You're not playing me." There's a lot of pressure trying to be Jim Sheridan!
Was it difficult to pick up the Irish accent?
I just hung around with Jim for a while, went to the races, lived the Jim life! No, we did have a good voice guy also who came to our houses. And just being around anyway, when you're working with an Irish crew and you're living in Dublin for a few months, you just develop it. As actors you're always soaking things up anyway, we mimic, we're chameleon-like in some ways, and it's just part of the skill that you've got. But accents should just be like the clothes that you're wearing, they shouldn't be the point, it should be secondary.
What was it like working with Sarah and Emma Bolger, who play your kids?
I just fell in love with them, I loved them to bits. I was having a particular period in my life, I'd just lost my father, and to go to work was hard - they never stopped working, they never bowed their heads. As a professional actor there are times when you think, I want to go now, and there was none of that as far as discipline goes, they were amazing. I'm reading reviews and they're putting "the scene-stealing Bolger sisters". I remember looking at them on set one day and saying, "You can't fight this, it's just nature, they're tornados." But the thing is they were so blissfully aware of how brilliant they were.
What was it about Jim Sheridan that made you want to work with him?
I've grown up watching Jim's films - My Left Foot, In The Name Of The Father - and thought they were fantastic, quite pivotal films for me. Jim's just got this incredible intelligence, he's able to go straight to the heart of what's going on. He creates a very safe environment, you never feel you're going to fall flat on your face. I remember rehearsing scenes with Jim and the actual actor standing aside while Jim rehearsed their part with me. I remember Jim stripping down to the waist, pinning me up against a wall and pretending to mug me, and I thought, This guy's ****ing nuts! I've never been with a director who's had that actual emotional involvement.
In America is released in UK cinemas on Friday 31st October 2003.
