Jim Sheridan is a warm, 54-year-old Irishman standing about 5’5′, with a bulbous nose and a rosy complexion. He kisses lasses on the cheek when he meets them and again when he says ‘Goodbye, darlin’.’ He is a first-rate storyteller who weaves tales as well in conversation as in his movies, which include the Oscar-nominated My Left Foot (1989) and In the Name of the Father (1993).
‘All stories carry their own belief system,’ he said, sitting down for a round of interviews at the Ritz Carlton to promote his latest, In America. Sheridan compared moviegoers’ faith in cinema to the way Catholics have faith in such rituals as communion. ‘It’s a story. If you don’t believe the story, you don’t have faith, and you’re not going to get the miracle.’
On his no-frills filmmaking approach, he quoted Albert Einstein, who said, ‘When I’m asking simple questions and I’m getting simple answers, I’m talking to God.’ He explained that as a director, he does not want to be like the guy who approaches a girl and tells her he’s the smartest guy in college. He wants people to understand his films.
‘You want to see an emotional thing. You want to see a vulnerability, I think,’ he said with a soothing Irish accent.
‘The Irish speak English like there’s an earthquake underneath it,’ he says. ‘Part of the structure of the English language is irony and sarcasm and tone.’ Sheridan says his daughters, Kirsten and Naomi, added the tone to his screenplay of In America, which is loosely based on his family’s experiences when they immigrated to New York City in 1981. He said he wrote the first few drafts but that they were too episodic, so he gave the script to his daughters and they added the children’s perspective to the semi-autobiographical tale.
Sheridan initially based a character on himself, but the character disappeared out of the story after his daughters reworked it. ‘It’s a humbling experience to see the kids’ perspective on you,’ he said. There was still something missing after the girls’ draft, so Sheridan incorporated the experience of losing his brother as a child by giving the onscreen family a dead son, a decision he admits was ‘pretty weird.’
Sheridan said he created Mateo, the mysterious artist played by Djimon Hounsou. His presence in the film was inspired by a true story: Sheridan’s wife was in the hospital and the nurses took care of their medical bill because Mrs. Sheridan had written them a thank you note.
While filming a scene where Johnny (Paddy Considine) tucks his daughters (Emma and Sarah Bolger) into bed, Sheridan stood in for Considine, he said, because the scene wasn’t working. After Sheridan read the lines, Emma, the 6-year-old playing Ariel, said, ‘Cut. Very good Jim. Much better than Paddy.’
After the uproar of laughter from the crew, the little girl said, ‘I don’t mean as an actor. I mean as a da’. You’re a real nice da’.’