The Commitments star Robert Arkins spoke to David Hennessy ahead of some special UK screenings of the film when he talked about making it and the film’s enduring appeal.
London and Manchester are about to host special screenings of The Commitments.
Released in 1991, Alan Parker’s The Commitments remains one of the best Irish films ever made and many would say the very best.
Based on Roddy Doyle’s novel of the same name, it was the story of the hardest working band in Dublin, the working class kids brought together by Jimmy Rabbitte to play soul music and try to get out of the unemployment and ‘urban decay’ of a pre- Celtic Tiger Ireland.
The film would also launch careers like those of Maria Doyle Kennedy, Angeline Ball and Bronagh Gallagher.
Andrea Corr and Glen Hansard, who went on to have huge success with their respective bands, would also be seen first in The Commitments.
Recently honoured with a lifetime achievement award, recognisable actor Colm Meaney was also part of the cast.
The film rested on the lead performance of Robert Arkins as Jimmy Rabbitte.
A chancer with the gift of the gab, Jimmy was the man who could get that pirate video or bootleg music you were looking for.
But he found his mission when he was tasked with putting together a band, giving a group of wayward musicians some direction.
The film quickly became iconic. Just like the book before it, people loved it’s authentic depiction of Dublin. Again this was owed to its casting of jobbing musicians to play the parts.
Robert was one of these being spotted leading his band, Housebroken.
The upcoming screenings will be followed by a Q and A with Robert and Dave Finegan who plays Mickah Wallace, and a performance of Robert and his 8 piece Commitments band playing the hits of the film.
Although a career in acting presented itself after the success of the film, he stuck with music.
In more recent years Robert has started doing bits of acting but it is something that comes to him rather than him seeking out.
Next year it will be 35 years since the film was released.
Robert chatted to The Irish World ahead of the special screenings in London and Manchester.
Are you looking forward to the upcoming screenings?
“Yeah, I can’t get enough of the film.
“Of course you can overdo it a bit as someone in it or even as a viewer but people still love it and they don’t forget it and that’s a great thing from my perspective.”
Can you believe it’s 35 years since you were making it?
“It is a long time.
“It does seem bizarre as well, very weird because it just keeps popping up.
“I just saw it on TikTok ten minutes ago.
“I guess there weren’t too many music, band movies out besides the famous one, Spinal Tap.
“There was so few of them and I guess it stands up, people still love it.”
Do you remember a moment when you knew you had something special in it?
“I think it was from the premieres: The people’s reaction not even just in Ireland but in the states where we started off first, I think people were kind of surprised and in the States, they thought it was a real band.”
Well, I guess it did have that authenticity because you were all musicians and that’s what made it work to an extent, wasn’t it?
“Yes, there weren’t too many actors in the main cast and I guess it feeds into the authenticity.
“But it’s also (Alan) Parker. It was Parker’s style.
“His favourite director was Ken Loach who was pretty similar.
“He’s definitely responsible for its major success as well.
“Obviously Roddy Doyle as well.”
Was that part of the thing that made it so special? I can’t imagine there were too many notions like anyone talking about going to Hollywood when you were making The Commitments..
“It’s funny you say that because in my head, no because I was on the set all the time but some of the others only spent a couple of weeks of the three months on set so they had lots of time to conjure up a plan and yeah, they did surprise me.
“Quite a few of them thought, ‘We’re going to LA and we’re going to be big’.
“I was like, ‘What?’
“I guess I didn’t have time to think and even when it came out, I wasn’t assuming.
“Of course I knew Alan’s films and stuff like that but I didn’t put my hand up to be in it in the first place so I wasn’t expecting anything to be honest except to have fun making a film with a great director.”
How did you come to be in it without putting your hand up?
“Somebody told the Hubbard casting about the band and they had us come in but I never believed at any point that I’d actually end up in a film at all.
“I was just like, ‘Okay, I’ll go along (to the audition), go along with this and see what happens’.
“I wasn’t expecting anything so much so that right after they finished casting, I went to Copenhagen and I wasn’t there too long before I get a call telling me I had to come back because I got the part.
“It was something that I never would have expected that I would ever be in my life.
“And then all of a sudden this guy, this well known director, is going, ‘I want you’.
“And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m in’.”
Was the film’s success, and the attention that came with it, all a whirlwind?
“You probably wouldn’t know but I’ve spent my whole time hiding.
“I hid from the press.
“Even in the premiere here, I jumped out the back door and then I had to go and deal with people needing tickets.
“I was very young.
“We were all young.
“But I tended to hide in the background and avoid it (press attention).
“I don’t know whether it’s because I was only 21 or whatever but I kind of ducked and dived away from the press, so I didn’t have to get involved.”
I’m sure you still recognised for it and there are many who would a picture with Jimmy Rabbitte though..
“If people realise, there’s that, and there’s no harm.
“It’s still voted the number one film for the last 35 years here.
“It’s beat Intermission. It’s beat My Left Foot. Banshees of Inisherin. All the big, huge films that have come out since.
“But at the time of The Commitments there was hardly any industry at all in Ireland.
“I think The Commitments was the first one since then to put Ireland on the map, especially for cinema and just entertainment.”
You did go to Hollywood yourself but found it not for you, is that right?
“It was tricky.
“Again, I was too young and I didn’t know how to take people at face value.
“I didn’t know who was telling the truth.
“It wasn’t easy for me because I didn’t have a manager.
“There was too many things, juggling trying to meet managers for the band, trying to meet agents for acting, trying to deal with the studios, trying to deal with the fact that I was signed.
“It got tricky.
“But to be honest, I should have stayed there.
“Any time I went there, I only spent a couple of weeks there and I left because it was a bit of hassle but I should have stayed.
“It would have been a lot different if I didn’t and just slogged it out for a while and see what happened.
“I did have to make an album.
“I did have to fulfil the contract that I had which I did and I recorded in London with Dave Allen from The Cure.
“It was a great experience but unfortunately we ran out of money and that album did not get released.
“Then my band broke up straight away after we got back from London so there was good things from the film and there were bad things.”
So you think you should have stayed in Hollywood then..
“Yeah, I think I just ran away because I could.
“I thought, ‘Yeah I could just hop in a plane, get out of here’.
“And I did, and I should have stayed.
“I’ve heard that it’s a great place when you’re working, it’s not so great when you’re not.
“I guess it’s like any city but I didn’t get to that stage and I didn’t stay long enough.
“I definitely have regrets now.”
Did you enjoy your time in London?
“I did.
“I do like London even though it’s mental and I’m sure it’s even more mental than it was back in the 90s.
“But after recording the album, I spent some time with Guy Chambers collaborating with him but then myself and my partner got pregnant around ’94.
“He was born in November ‘94 so I moved back then just because I thought it would be easier for me to bring up a kid and then 10 months later, I was actually bringing up a kid on my own at the age of 25.
“He’s now 30, so it’s strange how life goes.”
Wasn’t there talk of you playing lead singer Deco (the role that would eventually be played by Andrew Strong) early on?
“I’ve seen things online and stuff like that that keep popping up.
“My truth is I didn’t know.
“I had no idea what was going on and, as I said earlier on, I didn’t expect anything.
“I was called back a number of times and each time, I was just happy to meet Alan and just hang out.
“I don’t think anyone knew but I have seen that written online over the years.
“I was really surprised then when all of a sudden I have the non-singing/ musician, Jimmy.
“You just take it with a pinch of salt and move forward.
“I think Glen’s friend Dave Wilmot, who is a great actor, brought him along by accident.
“Alan did tell a story that the night before, he had all the photographs of everyone on the ground and he was moving them around so it was right up to the line of who’s going to play who.”
Wasn’t there talk of Van Morrison playing a role?
“I don’t think that would have worked.
“I would say it would have ended in tears within a week.
“And besides he’s not an actor.
“Johnny Murphy was an actor and I think that made a big difference.”
I know there are other members of the cast who, even for a time, wanted to get away from The Commitments ie didn’t want to be asked about it etc. Was your journey like that at all?
“No, it’s fine.
“You certainly can’t hide it, that’s for sure.
“Being part of it, I can’t avoid it.
“It was an honour.”
What was it like to work with director Alan Parker?
“He had no airs and graces and that was great about him.
“He kind of came down to all our level,” Robert laughs, “just to create the comedy between us. “
It has since become a musical, wasn’t there an attempt to get you involved there?
“They asked me to play to Joey ‘the Lips’ because I’m a trumpet player and I was probably the same age as him at the time.
“I don’t know what I was doing but it just didn’t fit in at the time. It didn’t work.”
Watching the film now it is so evident that it is pre- Celtic Tiger Ireland. A very different Ireland, wasn’t it?
“Ah come on, we still have north siders and we still have working class and there’s a proletariat and all that.
“We haven’t disappeared.
“We’re still here.
“And there’s still north side/ south side divide.”
You think not all that much has changed..
“For Ireland, yes.
“We’ve become the mega this that and the other but a lot of people are still living the same lifestyles as back then and unfortunately, it’s even worse now because inflation is crazy, you can’t rent, you can’t buy.
“I live in Ringsend, maybe it’s on the southside just about but all decent people, very similar to the way it was back before the ‘90s or before The Commitments.
“The ‘80s was pretty crap and for some people, unfortunately it’s still pretty crap.
“There might be money in the country but it’s certainly not being spread around.
“You’re in the UK. In London there’s a gazillion people, there’s billionaires but you’ve got how many million still living on 50 quid a week or whatever it is on the dole? Or can’t get jobs, can’t rent, can’t find anywhere? Homelessness?
“It’s the same here.
“It’s massive.
“We never had homeless during the 80s and now we’ve got massive amounts of homelessness.
“I think now we’re possibly worse than we were during The Commitments time financially for certain people.”
I guess musicians like those depicted in the film are struggling to even exist in Dublin now..
“Unless you’re a classical musician or you’re lucky enough to be as talented as U2, the money in music just disappeared, and the gigs too unless you’ve somehow built up a massive following and charge a fortune in tickets.
“Otherwise, the divide is huge.
“The rest of musicians are not making money.”
Is it good to get together for cast reunions as you have done for special anniversaries?
“Yes, of course.
“We don’t expect it.
“How would we realise that something like this would still have interest and legs? And I guess the 25th showed that.
“It’s not that we travelled far, we only did Ireland and the UK.
“Some of the others including Andrew have been touring the world ever since and we’re talking pretty much every destination you can possibly think of they have covered.
“Parker did the same thing.
“We only did the states for the premieres but he said he was in Iran. He’s sitting there and they’re laughing their heads off. He couldn’t believe it.
“They got it and I guess that’s probably one of the reasons why the film has kept its allure.
“It hasn’t been completely forgotten.”
I bet you’re glad you got that call to come back from Copenhagen?
“Yeah, well I would just have gone on with my life and maybe my band wouldn’t have broken up.
“That was my focus.
“I’ve been a musician since I was a kid.
“Any Irish kid gets a tin whistle shoved in their mouth and for some reason, I took to it and started doing feis cheoils at the age of seven and then I joined the Artane Band.
“I started playing the trumpet and then I ended up in a show band for about three years.
“Then I went through trumpet, bass and then I ended up as a singer and then I set up my own band at 18.
“And by 20, all of a sudden I’m in a film.
“I assumed I was a musician and a singer and then all of a sudden, here I am acting.
“And who would have believed that? I wouldn’t have.”
The Commitments- A Celebration of The Irish Saviours of Soul is at Manchester Recording Studios on Friday 24 October, Dovehouse Theatre in Solihull, Birmingham on Saturday 25 October and 229, London on Sunday 26 October.
For tickets, click here.
