Second Opinions with John Crown
Jun 26, 2026 · 53 min · 11 segments
John chats to Lenny Abrahamson, best known for directing such films as Adam & Paul, Garage, What Richard Did and Room and TV series, Normal People. We hear about Lenny’s early life growing up in…
Lenny AbrahamsonGuest
John CrownHost
Just the brief was, the original idea, the ad that came to us written was just football footage with the jerseys changed and commentary.
What would it be like? in this city if ireland actually won the world cup and that was a great brief just a lot of fun
do you remember your first moment sitting in a cinema or an auditorium anonymously in an audience with one of your screens on the film and wondering how the crowd were reacting
yes i i have i've had bad ones and good ones the very first one was a short i made called three joes And it had done really well, won some prizes, but I remember watching it in a cinema in Dublin.
And the couple in front of me who were waiting for Delicatessen did not like the movie, did not like mine.
And I remember the pain of hearing their sort of tuts and sighs, but then when I showed Room at Toronto, which was just one of the great moments of screening, which really lands with the audience.
But I went to see Room and I thought, I'm going to be uncomfortable in this movie.
And, you know, it was a... you know i won't say happy ending but you know there was there was redemption in it as well i mean it was just stunningly good movie making well done on that thank you lenny you've been really involved in cinema at an extraordinary time in our cinema i mean i'm again without going on about i'm older than you and i mean i can recall the time in the 60s or 70s when the only irish presence in hollywood appeared to be no personal And occasionally Donna Hurley, whereas now every movie now seems to be dominated by young Irish actors.
And in fact, one could argue that Hollywood is specifically dominated by the Gleesons.
How have you tracked that change yourself? You really, I guess, were at the beginning of this renaissance.
Just the brief was, the original idea, the ad that came to us written was just football footage with the jerseys changed and commentary.
What would it be like? in this city if ireland actually won the world cup and that was a great brief just a lot of fun
do you remember your first moment sitting in a cinema or an auditorium anonymously in an audience with one of your screens on the film and wondering how the crowd were reacting
yes i i have i've had bad ones and good ones the very first one was a short i made called three joes And it had done really well, won some prizes, but I remember watching it in a cinema in Dublin.
And the couple in front of me who were waiting for Delicatessen did not like the movie, did not like mine.
And I remember the pain of hearing their sort of tuts and sighs, but then when I showed Room at Toronto, which was just one of the great moments of screening, which really lands with the audience.
But I went to see Room and I thought, I'm going to be uncomfortable in this movie.
And, you know, it was a... you know i won't say happy ending but you know there was there was redemption in it as well i mean it was just stunningly good movie making well done on that thank you lenny you've been really involved in cinema at an extraordinary time in our cinema i mean i'm again without going on about i'm older than you and i mean i can recall the time in the 60s or 70s when the only irish presence in hollywood appeared to be no personal And occasionally Donna Hurley, whereas now every movie now seems to be dominated by young Irish actors.
And in fact, one could argue that Hollywood is specifically dominated by the Gleesons.
How have you tracked that change yourself? You really, I guess, were at the beginning of this renaissance.
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