It is the second casting announcement for Moran in as many days after it was revealed that the Co Meath man will also front his own ‘Little Crackers’ short for Sky One this Christmas.
‘Calvary’, a dark comedy from ‘The Guard’ director McDonagh, stars Brendan Gleeson as a Sligo priest who is tormented by his parishioners after he is threatened during confession.
As exclusively announced on IFTN last month, Gleeson and Moran are joined by a strong Irish cast including Gleeson’s son Domhnall (Anna Karenina), Domhnall’s ‘Shadow Dancer’ co-stars Aidan Gillen and David Wilmot, ‘Killinaskully’ star Pat Shortt, ‘Moone Boy’ creator Chris O’Dowd, ‘Sherlock Holmes’ actress Kelly Reilly, ‘The Savage Eye’ comedian David McSavage, Fiona O’Shaughnessy (Alexander) and ‘The Others’ actress Elaine Cassidy.
Marie Josée Crozé (The Diving Bell) and Isaach De Bankolé (Casino Royale) make up the final cast.
Principal photography began in Sligo on September 24 with production designer Mark Geraghty (Ripper Street) and costume designer Emer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh (Becoming Jane) on set.
McDonagh, who previously filmed ‘The Guard’ with Gleeson in Galway, expressed his delight at returning to the west of Ireland with his cavalry of Irish crew: “It is with great excitement, bordering on tumescence, that I am looking forward to collaborating once more with Ireland's greatest actor, Brendan Gleeson, and working with the finest ensemble cast ever assembled in the history of Irish cinema.
“I would like to thank the Irish Film Board, and the BFI, for their continuing support for filmmaking that seeks to escape from the tiresome, rarefied confines of Dublin 4. Up the west!” he added.
McDonagh will shoot in Sligo for three weeks in total before moving to Dublin for a further two weeks.
Production crew includes Chris Clark and Flora Fernandez-Marengo, who will produce for Reprisal Films, with James Flynn of Dublin-based Octagon and Elizabeth Eves. Larry Smith is the cinematographer.
‘Calvary’ will be released in cinemas in 2013, with Momentum Pictures distributing.
