Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 23, 1995 TAG: 9505230070
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: IAN SPELLING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In recent months the ubiquitous Meaney has squeezed in a season's worth of ``Deep Space Nine'' episodes, as well as the CBS-TV miniseries ``Scarlett.'' He also found time for film roles in ``The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain'' and the upcoming drama ``Sydney.''
``I like to do different things, I have to do different things,'' Meaney says during a conversation at a Manhattan hotel. ``Fortunately, [``DS9'' executive producer] Rick Berman has always tried to make it work.
``He'll juggle the schedule if there's a project I really want to do,'' Meaney adds. ``He'll rewrite episodes to let me out for a few weeks, which I really appreciate.''
Meaney's latest film release, ``Englishman,'' in which he stars opposite the red-hot Hugh Grant, concerns two World War I-era mapmakers (Grant and Ian McNiece). They visit the Welsh village of Ffynnon Garw to measure a local mountain.
When they declare it a hill, the proud townsfolk, at the urging of the local innkeeper Morgan the Goat (Meaney), band together. They add soil and sod to the hill to turn it back into a mountain. A charming film that's earning rave reviews, ``Englishman'' could become this spring's sleeper hit.
``It's great fun,'' Meaney notes enthusiastically in his familiar Irish accent. ``I read the script a year and a half ago and I just really wanted to do it.
``My character was easy to play because it was so well written. Hugh was committed to it, and [director-writer] Chris Monger did a great job.''
Meaney adds that despite its modest $5 million budget, the film makes a great impression visually.
``It shows what can be achieved when you get talented people and apply a bit of common sense,'' he says.
As for ``DS9,'' Meaney's character, Miles O'Brien, figured prominently in several third-season outings, notably ``Fascination,'' ``Visionary'' and ``Through the Looking Glass.'' Still, Meaney jokes that the chief operations officer is the lowest-ranking man in space.
``He's the maintenance man,'' says the 42-year-old actor, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife Bairbre and their young daughter. ``That's how it has evolved.
``What's nice is the fact that he's married [to botanist-teacher Keiko, played by Rosalind Chao] and has a kid [Molly, played by Hannah Hatae]. Sometimes the story lines I get deal with issues of trying to live a normal married life in space.
``That's unusual for `Star Trek,' so I like that element, because relationships are always interesting.''
It's common knowledge that ``DS9'' has detractors who consider it too dark and too limited by its space-station setting and who believe the main characters fight too much among themselves.
Meaney stresses that the show is caught in a Catch-22, for if it had followed the ``Trek''-classic and ``Next Gen'' formula, it would have been deemed repetitive and uncreative.
``We tried breaking the mold and going in a different direction, and I think that's one of the great things about our show,'' he says passionately.
``While it may upset a few diehard fans, `DS9' also introduced a whole new audience to `Trek.'
``In equal amounts I've heard positive and negative comments. People hate it because it's so different and people love it because it's so different.
``We're only trying to do good work every day.''
Meanwhile, the busy actor just finished shooting a cameo in an upcoming independent feature called ``Sydney,'' which explores the world of gambling and casinos in Reno, Nev. During the current ``DS9'' hiatus he hopes to film ``The Van,'' based on the third novel in Roddy Doyle's ``Commitments'' trilogy.
Come July, it'll be back to the future and ``DS9.''
``I've stumbled onto a very nice work balance, and I say stumbled because I don't know at all how to plan a career in this business,'' Meaney concludes. ``My commercial work is the series and I get paid very well for it. But I also can do all these other projects that interest me.
``To have that balance is very attractive and very unusual.''
by CNB