The Lisa Richards Agency

Fionnula Flanagan melds the two distinct elements of her career into an amazing and continuous flow of masterful characterizations. On the one hand (or you might say “on the one side of the Atlantic,”) there’s the Broadway Stage starring roles and the co-starring performances in such Hollywood-generated films as The Others (teamed with Nicole Kidman) and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (with Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn and Maggie Smith.) Cross the ocean and you see The Abbey Theatre-trained actress’ Irish roots starring roles in such distinctive Irish films as Waking Ned Devine and Some Mother’s Son. The scene-stealing actress starred with Felicity Huffman in Transamerica, which garnered her rave reviews and an Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA) for Best Supporting Actress. Flanagan also recently appeared on the award-winning Irish language television mini-series Paddywhackery for the TG4 channel in Ireland. A recurring character (Eloise Hawking) in the TV phenomenon Lost (ABC), she recently starred in her third season of Brotherhood, the hit television series for Showtime, Flanagan and her husband Garrett currently divide their time between Los Angeles and Ireland. Fionnula is currently appearing in The Guard with Brendan Gleeson and Dom Cheadle on general release and in Kill The Irishman with Chistopher Walken and Val Kilmer on general release in the US.

Fionnula is represented in North America by
IFA Talent Agency,
8730 Sunset Blvd.
Ste. 490
Los Angeles, CA 90069
USA
Phn: 310-659-5522
Fax: 310-659-3344

Her co-starring performance in the surprise box-office smash The Others brought a Saturn Award and Hollywood trade paper accolades designating the characterization as one of the most terrifying servants in film history. It threw focus on Fionnula Flanagan, one of the most varied actresses in film history as did her comedy teaming with Bullock et al. in Warner Bros’ The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Most recent film credits include Slipstream Dream with Anthony Hopkins and Yes Man with Jim Carrey, her voice currently featurea in the animated A Christmas Carol again with Jim Carrey and she starred in the recent feature The Invention of Lying with Ricky Gervais and Jason Bateman and will soon appear in The Irishman with Val Kilmer. She recently completed filming on The Guard, a new independent feature written and directed by John McDonagh and starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle which is set to premier as the opening film at Sundance 2011. She recently completed filming the leading role of Beth in Three Wise Women directed by Declan Recks for Hallmark Channel.

Fionnula Flanagan has made an impact on the stage, in feature films and on the small screen. Born and raised in Dublin, Fionnula Flanagan, the eldest of five children, was educated at Scoil Mhuire Marlborough Street, at Sandymount High School and at Scoil Caitriona, Dominican College. She studied languages in Switzerland at the Universite de Fribourg, worked as an interpreter and translator in Italy and trained in drama at the Abbey Theatre. With a citizens resume that is just as varied as her acting resume Flanagan has worked as a waitress, a factory hand, a chauffeur, a language teacher, a group consultant, a football coach, and as substitute director of a mental health halfway house. No wonder the only “type” she has acquired is that of an immensely original talent who disappears into and then illuminates any role she undertakes.

When no dramatist attempted to dramatize one of the most complex and compelling heroines of 20th Century literature: James Joyce’s Molly Bloom, Flanagan undertook the task herself, writing and then performing as a one-woman stage piece, James Joyce’s Women. Critics noted it as the role that one of the leading Irish actresses of the century was born to play (and as it turned out, adapt and produce).

Flanagan maintains homes in both Southern California and Dublin, busily filming on both sides of the Atlantic.

The intensity and variety if her work can be gleaned from the following listings of her projects in various media; she came to prominence in the leading role in Tomas MacAnna’s Irish language production An Trial (The Trial) at the 1966 Dublin Theatre Festival and two years later originated the role of Maggie the Schoolgirl, in Brian Friel’s Lovers at Dublin’s Gate. She made her Broadway debut with the 1968 production of Lovers, directed by Hilton Edwards. Flanagan has appeared at the Bristol Old Vic as Katherine in The Taming of The Shrew and as Pegeen Mike in The Playboy of The Western World: at the Royal Court as Maria in Twelfth Night: with the Goodman Theatre, Chicago as Miranda in The Tempest, as Ellie in Heartbreak House, as Alice in You Can’t Take it With You, and as the Lieutenant in Soldiers.

On the Los Angeles stage she appeared as Elise in When You Coming Back Red Ryder and as Gaby in Unfinished Stories (world premiere) at the Mark Taper Forum. At Dublin’s Gate Theatre she has appeared in her own production of James Joyce’s Women, directed by Burgess Meredith, played Blanche in Noel Pearson’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire, and Winnie in Happy Days for the 1991 International Samuel Beckett Festival. In 1992 she played the title role in The Countess Cathleen at the International Yeats Festival at the Abbey and in 1994 originated the lead role in the world premiere of Robin Glendinning’s Summerhouse, directed by Caroline Fitzgerald, at Galway’s Druid Theatre.

Flanagan’s Broadway appearances include Lovers, by Brian Friel, The Incomparable Max with Clive Reville, Mrs. Alving in Ibsen’s Ghosts and Molly Bloom with Zero Mostel in the 1974 production of Ulysses in Nighttown directed by Burgess Meredith, for which she won a Tony Nomination.

Working again with Meredith, she wrote, adapted and produced James Joyce’s Women for the stage (1978-1985) and went on to develop and produce it as a feature film (Universal 1985). In the critically acclaimed James Joyce’s Women she plays six women from the life and works of Joyce. For it she has received the Los Angeles Critics’ Award, the San Francisco Critics’ Award and a DramaLogue Award.

Feature Films include James Joyce’s Women, Youngblood, Sinful Davey, Ulysses, Patman, A State of Emergency, Reflections, Final Verdict, the Academy Award winning In The Region of Ice, Death Dreams, Mad At the Moon, Money for Nothing and the critically acclaimed Some Mother’s Son, in which she starred with Helen Mirren. She starred with Ian Bannen and David Kelly in Kirk Jones’ Waking Ned Devine and in Michael Winterbottom’s comedy feature With Or Without You.

Television plays and movies include An Trial (for which she won the Jacob’s TV Award for Best Performance of the Year), Deirdre, King of the Castle, Why Aren’t You Famous for the BBC, Cold Comfort Farm, A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer’s Assistant, and Five Women. Her American television credits include: Scorned and Swindled, The Ewok Adventure, Mary White, Lizzie Borden, Through Naked Eyes, Murder She Wrote, Star Trek: The Next Generation, How the West Was Won (Emmy Nomination Best Actress) and Rich Man, Poor Man (for which she received an Emmy Award). She also starred in the CBS television series, To Have and To Hold.

Flanagan’s achievements in stage are not limited to those in front of the crowd. In addition to adapting and directing Ulysses on Bloomsday for the Los Angeles Celtic Arts Center, she staged Brian Friel’s Freedom of the City for Los Angeles’ Theatre West for which she received a DramaLogue Award as Best Director. Flanagan also has a long association with the Los Angeles based KCRW for which she has directed several projects included many of Chekhov’s Short Stories.

In addition to her many on-screen and stage performances, Flanagan is also known for her lilting Irish intonations on several recordings. She has recorded all three of Maeve Binchy’s three novels, Circle of Friends, The Copper Beech and The Glass Lake as well as two collections of short stories for Bantam Doubleday Books-on-Tape. She recently recorded An Introduction to Moll Flanders for Time-Warner and Samuel Beckett’s novel Murphy. She also performs Molly Bloom’s Soliloquy from Joyce’s Ulysses in its 3 hours entirety bi-annually at Symphony Space, New York.