Sean Connolly :: Actor & Voice Artist

Sean Connolly :: Actor & Voice Artist

Monday 29 February 2016

Sean Connolly cast in lead role in Psychological Thriller 'BROKENHEAD' ...

Putting the disappointment of The Oscars for 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE' behind me, news of more exciting times ahead!

In fact last week we finished the FIRST PHASE of filming on the feature 'BROKENHEAD' ... 'BROKENHEAD' is the latest film by Birmingham writer and director STEVE RAINBOW. It tells the story of the STEFAN, who's time as one of the country's last lighthouse keepers is coming to an end. This psychological thriller will be Steve's third feature project. I've been very fortunate to work with Steve on his two previous features in supporting roles but in 'BROKENHEAD' I have been cast in the lead role of Stefan. The film is being produced in partnership with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

I can report that last weeks filming on the Dorset coast went wonderfully well. Here's a few pictures of our beautiful surroundings ...

Our location for the week was the Old Higher Lighthouse on Portland Bill in Dorset. There are actually three lighthouses in the vicinity; the Old Higher Lighthouse (unsurprisingly on a high point!), the Old Lower Lighthouse which is nearer the coastline and then the famous Portland Bill Lighthouse itself which replaced these two ...

The view from the lamp room at our location shows the Old Lower Lighthouse (left) and the iconic Portland Bill Lighthouse (right). 

I think Portland Bill Lighthouse deserves closer inspection to truly show it's spectacular setting. We had a few hours to go down to the lighthouse towards the end of the shoot, it was certainly worth it! As you can see we were blessed with stunning weather, not bad for February! We even waited for it to go properly dark so we could see the lighthouse do it's magnificent job, casting it's enormous beams out to sea. I have to say standing so close to a lighthouse, at night, doing what it does, was actually quite an emotional experience!

It was a great week working with a terrific crew in a beautiful part of the country, here's to the next phase of the film .. can't wait!!

Sunday 28 February 2016

Shaun the Sheep - Forever the Bridesmaid ..?!

With the 2016 Oscars a matter of hours away, can 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE' be triumphant in the last of the big awards and win the Best Animated Feature Film Award?

So far the film has lost out to Disney/Pixar's brilliant 'INSIDE OUT' at all the major film awards. Tonight's 88th Academy Awards is the final and arguably most prestigious one of them all.

The all-conquering 'INSIDE OUT' looks the big favourite ahead of the ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

All the red carpet action kicks off around 7pm in Hollywood and the ceremony begins at 8.30pmSo that means in the UK, it all starts around midnight with the ceremony itself begins at 1.30am.

Of course there's no shame in loosing out to 'INSIDE OUT' but how wonderful would it be for Team Shaun to grab the golden statuette against all the odds!!

I'm going to get some shut eye soon before following the action live on social media, not having the means to 'watch' it live!!

Good luck to all at Aardman Animations, you deserve it!!

The full list of nominees are:

'ANOMALISA'
Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran

'BOY AND THE WORLD'
Alê Abreu

'INSIDE OUT'
Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera

'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE'
Mark Burton and Richard Starzak

'WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE'
Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Sunday 14 February 2016

It's the BAAAAFTA Film Awards night for 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE'.

Well tonight's the night when 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE' finds out whether it can the bring home the BAFTA for Best Animated Film. As you can see it is up against two films; 'MINIONS' and the all-conquering Disney/Pixar 'INSIDE OUT'.

You can watch THE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS this evening on BBC 1 at 9PM. Host for the evening is as ever STEPHEN FRY.

Next SUNDAY, the culmination of the AWARDS SEASON in Hollywood ... THE OSCARS!!! 'SHAUN' will be there also!!

Saturday 13 February 2016

'HOOD - NOBLE SECRETS' - BBC Radio 4 Extra on Saturday 13th February 2016


Following on from SPITEFUL PUPPET'S nomination at the 2016 BBC Audio Drama Awards and their victory at the 2015 Awards, BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA is to broadcast ALL FOUR PARTS of the 'HOOD' series for the next FOUR SATURDAYS ...

The first feature length episode 'NOBLE SECRETS' will go out on Saturday 13th February at 6am and 4pm.


As a sneak preview here's me playing BROTHER TUCK, a role I reprise across the adventures.
 


Go on give it a listen, it's the ROBIN HOOD tale as you've never heard it before!

Friday 5 February 2016

'THE FARMER'S LLAMAS' released on DVD 8TH FEBRUARY 2016 ...



Great news ... one of the big television hits over the Christmas period 'SHAUN THE SHEEP: THE FARMER'S LLAMAS' is released on DVD on MONDAY 8TH FEBRUARY 2016. So proud to have played Hector (above), I think it's probably the first time that I've been 'on the telly' at Christmas!! It already seems such a long time ago ...

The reviews have been more than positive, here's a flavour:

The Telegraph: "Aardman was back with another riotous and irreverent seasonal one-off – the perfect antidote to the sentimental fudge invariably clogging the schedules this time of year."

"The true stars were Hector, Fernando and Raul, a trio of zany llamas bent on destruction. Honest-to-goodness belly laughs were to be had as the llamas thunked the sheep at football and accidentally toppled a barn on a quad-bike rampage."

The Radio Times: "And as ever the homespun animation by Aardman is top-notch."

"This dialogue-free story is realised through a series of well-realised slapstick set pieces, with great physical comedy throughout and some surprisingly pulse-pounding scenes."

"The Farmer’s Llamas is a lot of fun and kids will love it. Why not take a (sheep) dip?"

The Evening Standard on-line: gave it FOUR GOOD REASONS TO WATCH:

1) It’s brilliantly, stupendously British ...

"Everything about Aardman Animations if undeniably British – the offbeat slapstick humour, the countryside aesthetic, the worn and home made feel, even the use of plasticine as an animation medium
."

Forget Downton Abbey, the Farmer’s Llamas is the most British thing on TV over the festive period."

2) The animation is incredible ...

"The quirky joy of Aardman’s stop-motion animation style is a joy to behold – loving and hand-crafted, but full of texture and detail."


3) It’s perfect for all ages ...


"While the classic Wallace and Gromit adventures don’t have a huge amount of speech, Shaun the Sheep is entirely dialogue-free. The humour is all slapstick and visual, too – so it’s perfect for kids both young and old."

4) It’s the only TV special you’ll see about brainwashed llamas ...

"Undeniable, this one. The Farmer’s Llama’s sees Shaun sneak across to a country fair, where he manages to get his farmer to accidentally bid on three troublesome llamas who go out of control when they can’t hear their owner’s placating panpipes.

"However, the Llama’s arrival at the farm soon brings trouble, and it’s up to Shaun to sort it all out
."

Some lovely stuff written there about 'THE FARMER'S LLAMAS', it's a fab 30 minutes of Mossy Bottom fun!!

Tuesday 2 February 2016

BEARD & BEER! - Short film 'DEPARTURE' is now available on VIMEO ...





'DEPARTURE' is a short film I did towards the end of last year with writer/director DAN EBERY. I think he's done a terrific job in what was essentially just an afternoon shoot! Opposite me is the excellent TOMMIE GRABIEC.

Well done to Dan and his crew for making such a great short film ...