Local charm meets Hollywood glam in Malin Head as film stars are spotted exploring the area.
American actor Aidan Quinn has been meeting locals during breaks from filming his latest major drama, Cry From the Sea.
Quinn, best known for blockbusters such as Legends of the Fall, Michael Collins and Practical Magic, recently popped into the Malin Head Community Centre and Mullin’s Shop. Marykate Mullin, not missing a beat, made sure to tell her celebrity customer all about Malin Head’s star attractions including the Wild Alpaca Way!
Photo: Mullin’s Shop, Malin Head
Ireland’s most northerly point is a hive of activity this month as a huge team of cast, crew and over 100 extras work on Cry from the Sea.
The Irish-Canadian romantic drama stars Aidan Quinn, Sarah Gadon (Alias Grace), Sarah Bolger (In America) and Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia!).
Aidan Quinn at the Malin Head Community Centre. Photo: Malin Head Community
‘Cry from the Sea’, directed by Vic Sarin (A Shine Of Rainbows), tells the story of a lighthouse keeper stuck in a cycle of grief and the three people who change the course of his life: the housekeeper who quietly yearns for him; the beautiful American war widow whose quest for closure ignites something in him; and the hard-line priest, who starts a battle of wills with a man who has nothing to lose.
The film is a co-production by Shinawil and Sepia Films, supported by the Donegal Film Office.
Dominic Cooper meeting SuperValu Carndonagh staff member Sarah Jane Hirrell in August
Malin Head gained international fame in 2016 when Luke Skywalker (i.e. Mark Hamill) and the Star Wars production crew used the dramatic coastline as a filming location for ‘Episode 8: The Last Jedi‘.
The landscape was also featured in A Shine of Rainbows, also starring Aidan Quinn, filmed around Lagg in 2006.
And in 2020, Malin Head hosted crews filming for The Northman, a Viking historical revenge film which stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Bjork and Willem Dafoe.