Trivia / Brooklyn

• Actor Allusion: Mrs Kelly berates Eilis for 'abandoning' her family by emigrating - something which Brid Brennan did in the film version of Dancing at Lughnasa.
• Billing Displacement: Domhnall Gleeson gets second billing and yet only appears in the film's third act. He borders on Advertised Extra.
• California Doubling: Montreal doubled as Brooklyn. However the scenes in Enniscorthy were shot on location.
• Career Resurrection: This turned out to be this for Saoirse Ronan, who was launched to stardom after her Oscar-nominated performance in Atonement but had practically disappeared from acting save for some films here and there, most of which flopped (sans The Grand Budapest Hotel). Now, she's back in the critical and public eye.
• Cast the Expert: The singer in New York who sings "Casadh an tSúgáin" is Iarla Ó Lionáird, a famous sean-nós singer in his own right for Afro Celt Sound System, and grand-nephew of famous folk singer Elizabeth Cronin.
• Fake American: As the New York scenes were shot in Montreal, most of the Americans are played by Canadians - such as Jessica Paré. Emory Cohen was actually the only American on set for the majority of the production.
• Fake Irish: Julie Walters is British but has Irish ancestry, playing Mrs Keogh. Jim Broadbent is also British, though is clearly adopting an Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping for his character. This is also the first time Saoirse Ronan has been able to play an Irish character in a film. Though Eilis is from Wexford, while Saoirse Ronan was born in New York but raised in Carlow.
• Fake Nationality: Michael Zegen, who is Jewish-American in real life, plays Tony's Italian-American brother Maurizio.
• Hey, It's That Place!: The beach in Enniscorthy is the same one where the D-day scene from Saving Private Ryan was filmed. Funnily enough, in real life, while it is indeed in County Wexford, it is not in Enniscorthy. Curracloe is closer to Wexford Town than Enniscorthy.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Eilis is an Irish girl who finds a new home in New York. Saoirse Ronan was born in New York but raised in Ireland.
• Playing Against Type: Sheila is considerably nicer than the rough acerbic characters Nora Jane Noone usually plays.
• Promoted Fanboy: Julie Walters was a big fan of the book and she was also the first choice for the role of Mrs Keogh.
• Sleeper Hit: The film only had an $11 million budget and Saoirse Ronan as the only notable name (though Domhnall Gleeson is up and coming too). It grossed nearly $62 million and netted three Oscar nominations. It also had the best local opening for an Irish film since Michael Collins, as well as the widest theatrical release in the country.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Rooney Mara was initially cast as Eilis. Saoirse Ronan was always in mind to play her, but was thought to be too young. The project was stalled for a few years, during which Rooney Mara dropped out. By the time production resumed, Saoirse was now old enough to play Eilis.
  • Sarah Gadon was originally cast in an unspecified role.
  • The film originally included a scene from the book, where Eilis would dream that she was on a cliff and her hometown would be in the distance. It was dropped for being too clichéd.

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