Actress Geraldine Hughes says her outlook on her west Belfast upbringing has “completely changed” since moving to New York. The Gran Torino star spoke about her experience moving to the United States at an event in Boston on Friday, and she told the audience that when she first landed in Hollywood, she wore a fake American accent. Ta.
She said: “I grew up in a war zone. I was a little Catholic girl growing up in the worst housing project in Europe at the time. I felt I had nothing to be proud of. But today I’m very proud of the place.”
Hughes grew up in Divis Flats, a working-class housing complex notorious for violence and controversy during the Troubles era.
Her entry into the world of acting was by chance. At the age of 13, she was taken to the Europa Hotel by the nuns who ran the school to audition for a film that needed local children.
It turned out to be the 1984 NBC documentary Children in the Crossfire. She was selected to participate and kept in touch with the team. She saw her acting as a means of “escape” and eventually enrolled at UCLA on a scholarship. She moved when she was just 17 years old.
“I remember getting off the plane and seeing how bright California was. That orange light was magical. It was like landing on a planet that was completely different from the darkness I knew. It was a thing,” Hughes said. She was reluctant to talk about The Troubles until she finally wrote her acclaimed one-man play Belfast Blues.
Things changed when she arrived in New York to perform a play. She was welcomed by Irish Americans on the East Coast. So much so that she stayed there. She currently lives in Belfast with her husband Conor and returns to Belfast frequently to work with her children and contribute to the community.
“Belfast is so beautiful now. The children don’t have to leave anymore. They had to leave,” she said. “But the amount of film and theater that is happening in Ireland at the moment is incredible.”
Mr Hughes was honored by the Irish American Partnership during the event, which was planned as a celebration of Nollaig na M’Ban. She was interviewed on stage by Donnie O’Sullivan, a CNN correspondent from County Kerry, and she was introduced by Joseph Kennedy III, the US special envoy to Northern Ireland.
Mr Kennedy paid tribute to Ms Hughes and her work in Belfast, saying: “All you and your family have done for peace through the arts. We are grateful. Women get things done and women in Northern Ireland know that better than most.” .”
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