Comedy legend Pat Shortt had one of his ribs broken by a co-star in his new movie, Dark Lies the Island.
The former D’Unbelievables funnyman, 51, plays a tyrannical father in the Irish black comedy while his co-star Moe Dunford, 31, plays his downtrodden son.
There is a huge fight at the end of the movie involving both men and also Love/Hate star Peter Coonan, who plays Moe’s brother, and Charlie Murphy, their young step-mum.
Shortt and Coonan’s characters are battering each other when 6ft Dunford joins in.
Movie director Ian Fitzgibbon revealed that this was the moment Pat Shortt got injured for real.
He said: “He gets a good kicking in the end and he actually broke a rib, poor fella, in that fight. He was very game.
“It was Moe, because when Moe comes he actually jumps on him. It got a bit hairy. We had a very good stunt co-ordinator, she was brilliant, but these things happen.”
Speaking in a Q&A after a special IFTA screening of the film, which opens on Friday, Fitzgibbon said he was astonished by the acting talent in the movie.
He added: “What I’ve noticed being away from Ireland for so long is what an incredible generation of actors we have.
“They are very together, very professional, they come on set, they are ready, they are prepared, they’re committed to what they do.”
The director said the first star he signed up was comedian Tommy Tiernan who plays a straight role in the film as a mysterious stranger who arrives in a small Irish town.
He said: “Screenwriter Kevin Barry and I were very keen not to explain anything about that character. That was one of the very first decisions we made.
“We wanted something mysterious, we wanted the audience to decide themselves who the hell this guy was.”
The director also had huge praise for Shortt for pulling off the role of a brutal and controlling father wracked by insecurities.
He added: “Pat gives a really fine performance because it’s a very fine line. He’s got such natural comedic instincts I kept encouraging him to really internalise everything and explore stillness and vulnerability.”
Dark Lies the Island is the fifth film of Fitzgibbon who also made Perrier’s Bounty and Death of a Superhero.
