Actress Caitriona Balfe admitted that she enjoyed throwing plates at her co-star Jamie Dornan while filming Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. The Outlander actress spoke at the BAFTA Awards about her role as Ma in the semi-autobiographical film about a working class family as they navigated life in the 1960s.
Jamie Dornan, who played Axel von Fersen in Marie Antoinette and Christian Grey in Fifty Shades Of Grey, starred alongside her as patriarch Pa.
Throughout the film the deo share many dramatic scenes together and one in particular seemed quite therapeutic to his fellow Belfast actor. The scene was, Ma and Pa are discussing the family’s financial situation which quickly escalates to a full blown argument and then resulting in a few plates thrown by actress at Dornan’s character.
She further admitted at the BAFTAs: “I mean there so many things that attracted me, on the page, what I loved about her [Ma]. Not just a mother, not just a wife. She had this beautiful internal struggle.” The actress continued: “She really felt that in this corner, in this part of the world, she was confident and understood the place. But to step outside into the unknown, it must have been such a massive fear.”
Caitriona called her a “great” character to play and said that Irish mothers are “very fierce” in admiration.
She also admitted: “It was lovely to [play her] and to throw a few plates at Jamie Dornan!”
The 42-year-old has revealed previously that she found the experience “freeing” as it was something that would be a “step too far in her reality”. She compared the two actor’s work styles and called their approach “very similar” as they both tend to be “very well prepared” but “very free”.
Kenneth allowed them a lot of “freedom” with their scenes as they both like to work in “an instinctual and organic way”.
Caitriona sang his praises as a director and called the 61-year-old “great” as he has an idea of what he wants, but is also “willing to let the actors find things on their own”.
Dornan also called the plate throwing scene “mad” and said that he felt “lucky” to work with Balfe.
