Trivia / The Wind That Shakes the Barley

• Acting in the Dark: Cillian Murphy didn't get the last line of dialogue for the final scene between Teddy and Damien in the prison until the day it was filmed.
• Actor-Shared Background: Most of the actors were from Cork, like their characters. Cillian Murphy joked that was the only reason he was cast, as Ken Loach didn't know who he was at the time.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Liam Cunningham jumped at the chance to be in a Ken Loach film, citing him as the reason he became an actor in the first place.
• California Doubling: Averted. The film was shot on location in Cork.
• Cast the Expert:
  • Ex-army soldiers were cast as the British soldiers, and were told to act as if they were investigating insurgents.
  • The man playing the piano at the cinema is Neil Brand - one of Britain's leading silent cinema accompanists.
• Enforced Method Acting:
  • The whole film was shot in sequence, to give the actors a natural feeling of progression.
  • For the first scene where the Black & Tans ambush everyone at Sinead's house, the actors playing the Brits were kept out of sight from the others, and so the shocked reactions of the others would be genuine. They also weren't told that the soldier would emerge from the barn with blood all over his hands.
  • For the scene where Damien discovers Chris is a traitor, Cillian Murphy wasn't told the information in advance - so his reaction is genuine.
• Fake Brit: A lot of the British soldiers were played by Irish locals.
• Fake Irish: Downplayed. Liam Cunningham and Padraic Delaney are Irish but were the only cast members not from Cork - and they affected the necessary accents.
• One-Take Wonder: Micheál's death scene was done in one take.
• Reality Subtext: Damien's execution scene was filmed in Kilmainham Gaol, where many real life Irish rebels were imprisoned and killed.
• Sleeper Hit: An independent Irish film with only one major star (Cillian Murphy) became the highest grossing indie film in the country.
• What Could Have Been: Ken Loach briefly considered including an incredibly horrific real-life moment - where a Major Grant stationed in Macroom sent out an order that any man with hands in his pockets had to be shot.