Jordan gives 123 boxes of memories to State
A POSTER recruiting extras for the movie Michael Collins, a letter from Hollywood actor Christian Slater… and 123 boxes of memories were handed over to the National Library of Ireland yesterday as movie director Neil Jordan donated part of his archives to the Irish people.
For the director of such works as Interview With The Vampire and Breakfast On Pluto, the trip to the library was a return to t he past, as he explained that he used to carry out research at the building.
‘ It occupies a very special place,’ said Jordan, who will benefit from a €2.2million tax break thanks to the move. ‘So I was thrilled to be asked to donate to the library.’
The collection of pictures, scripts, drafts and letters doesn’t represent Jordan’s entire body of work: the collection relates only to his work since 1994 as he previously donated a tranche of papers from his career prior to 1993.
However, it does cover the blockbuster Michael Collins and cult favourites such as Interview With The Vampire and Breakfast On Pluto, and features fascinating glimpses on the past.
One letter from 1990s is written by teen idol Christian Slater who was cast in Interview With The Vampire after the death of River Phoenix. Slater, who played Malloy opposite Tom Cruise, writes: ‘Although I wish the circumstances under which I was cast could have been different, playing the role of Malloy could not have been a more rewarding experience for me.’
NLI director Dr Sandra Collins said the library would catalogue the collection through 2019 and make it available to the public. We look forward to making this generous donation accessible,’ said Dr Collins.