Miltown, Doolin and Quilty – home to The Yank for three days

THERE is a logical explanation behind any instances of sudden, dramatic outbursts witnessed in West or North Clare this week. Miltown Malbay, Quilty and Doolin have been buzzing with feverish thespians, who are working in Clare for three days this week, shooting The Yank.

The film is described, in the official press release, as a “hilarious Irish American romantic comedy”.

Among the actors in the leading roles are Colm Meaney, Kevin Farley, Niki Spiridakos, Fred Willard and Spencer Jay Kim, who spoke to The Clare Champion in the midst of whizzing around West Clare on Wednesday.

“I play a man named Ricardo. He’s a Korean-American, who comes to Ireland for his friend’s wedding. His function in this is to be a fish out of water, experiencing Ireland’s beauties and quirks,” Spencer Jay explained.

Among the venues used for filming this week were Cleary’s (The Blonds) public house and Bridget Hehir’s Westbridge pub and restaurant in Miltown Malbay. The Cliffs of Moher and Doolin were also used for shooting on Wednesday.

“One word – breathtaking,” is how Spencer Jay described the scenery in Clare.

“I live in Chicago. We don’t have anything like this. Let me tell you that it’s simply stunning. I might have to make my fiancée agree to live with me here at some point,” he laughed.

“I’ve never been to Ireland before. The people have been wonderful. This has been an unbelievable, magical experience,” Spencer Jay gushed. According to the yankmovie.com website, Spencer Jay plays “the Korean version of an Irish man”. He is acting alongside a real Irishman in Colm Meaney and is revelling in the experience. Meaney plays an old-school farmer “whose tongue could clip a hedge”.

“Colm Meaney is a consummate professional and is a gentleman through and through. It’s wonderful to work with your heroes and it’s wonderful when they turn out to be just as you envisaged them. You live with these words on a page and then when you hear someone with Colm Meaney’s talents bring them to life, it’s really inspiring,” Spencer Jay said.

The Yank revolves around Tom Murphy, who is played by Peter Lackey. Tom is a middle-aged Irishman from Cleveland, who can’t find “the perfect woman”. For his parents, he needs to find someone who’s Irish – just like themselves. So when his best friend, Marty, decides to get married in Ireland, his family and friends decide this is his chance to find love in the mystical, romantic Emerald Isle. The problem is no one in the family has ever been to Ireland. Tom’s plan to find the girl of his dreams takes him on a journey of discovery to a land that is not the romantic isle of John Wayne’s The Quiet Man but a functioning cog of the European Union. He also discovers new relations, what it means to be Irish and that the grass isn’t always greener, even in Ireland.

Filming will conclude in Ireland later this month.