see, and the prospect of magnifying that chemistry in an epic production excited everyone.
Far and Away seemed to be the perfect vehicle. Directed and co-written by former child actor Ron Howard, who had just come off a losing streak with Backdraft and Parenthood , it told the story of two Irish immigrants who come to American in the late nineteenth century to make new lives for themselves.
Tom was asked to play the role of Joseph Donnelly, a young Irishman who left Ireland after being faced with eviction from his father’s farm, and Nicole was cast as Shannon Christie, an aristocratic, head-strong girl who goes to America to escape the blandness of her family life, not to mention a suitor who is obsessed with her.
For Nicole, that meant switching from her newly acquired American accent to an Irish one, a creative process she was getting used to. Tom had a more difficult time. He had made a career of playing himself in movies and changing his speech patterns was not as easy as he had expected. Nicole and Tom eased the transition by hanging out with local Irishmen and picking up their speech patterns. When that proved to be inadequate, Tom employed the services of a speech coach who taught him how to master the basics.
For Nicole and Tom, romantic locations like Dublin and County Galway only intensified their infatuation with each other. When they were not reciting their lines before the camera, they hugged and kissed in full view of the crew, except when they disappeared into their trailer for unexplained absences of two hours or more.
Ron Howard had never seen anything quite like it. Sometimes he would call out “action,” then turn to see the couple clinched in a passionate kiss. Crew members sometimes jokingly offered to pour buckets of water on them. More than once, the scene would be set with Nicole before the camera and Tom’s voice, capped with affectionate awe, would filter over Howard’s shoulder with the observation that, “Isn’t she beautiful!”
Nicole was just as bad, often making comments to no one in particular about his good looks or, when he was filming his fight scenes, extolling the attractiveness of his bare chest. It was obvious to everyone working on the film that she was very much in love, almost to the point of schoolgirl giddiness.
Despite the couples’ honeymoon glow, the film did manage to get made. Far and Away begins in Ireland in the 1890s. Joseph is an impoverished farmer who is fighting a losing battle to make a living on rented land. When his father dies, thugs are sent by the landowner to tell the family that their rent is overdue. The thugs burn down the farmhouse and Joseph goes after the landlord to seek revenge.
When he arrives at the landlord’s house, he falls asleep in the barn, fully intending to murder the man at the earliest opportunity. Fate intervenes when Shannon encounters him in the barn and stabs him in the thigh with a pitchfork. As a result, Joseph is taken prisoner and held against his will in the house.
One night, Shannon climbs up a ladder to his second-floor room and tells him that she is running away. “Perhaps you are wondering why I’m running away,” she says. “I’ll tell you. I’m running away because I’m modern. I’m modern and I’m going to a modern place. . . I’m very smart and very modern and that’s all you need to know about me.”
Joseph is resistant at first, but she perseveres and convinces him to escape her father’s house and then to go with her to America. They catch a ship to America, him posing as her servant, a status he is not too keen about.
Once they arrive in Boston, Joseph becomes a boxer to earn money and Shannon takes a job as a chicken plucker. Life in America is harder than they ever imagined and they are forced to take rooms in a brothel. After a string of boxing successes, Joseph loses a big fight and is beaten senseless. He awakens in the street and sees Shannon’s Irish suitor, who has traveled to
Far and Away seemed to be the perfect vehicle. Directed and co-written by former child actor Ron Howard, who had just come off a losing streak with Backdraft and Parenthood , it told the story of two Irish immigrants who come to American in the late nineteenth century to make new lives for themselves.
Tom was asked to play the role of Joseph Donnelly, a young Irishman who left Ireland after being faced with eviction from his father’s farm, and Nicole was cast as Shannon Christie, an aristocratic, head-strong girl who goes to America to escape the blandness of her family life, not to mention a suitor who is obsessed with her.
For Nicole, that meant switching from her newly acquired American accent to an Irish one, a creative process she was getting used to. Tom had a more difficult time. He had made a career of playing himself in movies and changing his speech patterns was not as easy as he had expected. Nicole and Tom eased the transition by hanging out with local Irishmen and picking up their speech patterns. When that proved to be inadequate, Tom employed the services of a speech coach who taught him how to master the basics.
For Nicole and Tom, romantic locations like Dublin and County Galway only intensified their infatuation with each other. When they were not reciting their lines before the camera, they hugged and kissed in full view of the crew, except when they disappeared into their trailer for unexplained absences of two hours or more.
Ron Howard had never seen anything quite like it. Sometimes he would call out “action,” then turn to see the couple clinched in a passionate kiss. Crew members sometimes jokingly offered to pour buckets of water on them. More than once, the scene would be set with Nicole before the camera and Tom’s voice, capped with affectionate awe, would filter over Howard’s shoulder with the observation that, “Isn’t she beautiful!”
Nicole was just as bad, often making comments to no one in particular about his good looks or, when he was filming his fight scenes, extolling the attractiveness of his bare chest. It was obvious to everyone working on the film that she was very much in love, almost to the point of schoolgirl giddiness.
Despite the couples’ honeymoon glow, the film did manage to get made. Far and Away begins in Ireland in the 1890s. Joseph is an impoverished farmer who is fighting a losing battle to make a living on rented land. When his father dies, thugs are sent by the landowner to tell the family that their rent is overdue. The thugs burn down the farmhouse and Joseph goes after the landlord to seek revenge.
When he arrives at the landlord’s house, he falls asleep in the barn, fully intending to murder the man at the earliest opportunity. Fate intervenes when Shannon encounters him in the barn and stabs him in the thigh with a pitchfork. As a result, Joseph is taken prisoner and held against his will in the house.
One night, Shannon climbs up a ladder to his second-floor room and tells him that she is running away. “Perhaps you are wondering why I’m running away,” she says. “I’ll tell you. I’m running away because I’m modern. I’m modern and I’m going to a modern place. . . I’m very smart and very modern and that’s all you need to know about me.”
Joseph is resistant at first, but she perseveres and convinces him to escape her father’s house and then to go with her to America. They catch a ship to America, him posing as her servant, a status he is not too keen about.
Once they arrive in Boston, Joseph becomes a boxer to earn money and Shannon takes a job as a chicken plucker. Life in America is harder than they ever imagined and they are forced to take rooms in a brothel. After a string of boxing successes, Joseph loses a big fight and is beaten senseless. He awakens in the street and sees Shannon’s Irish suitor, who has traveled to
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