Colm Meaney

In my long-ago youth, Colm Meaney was Hollywood’s go-to Irish actor. It was never a surprise to see him turn up. This was during his O’Brien years, as it happens. His first appearance as the character was in “Encounter at Farpoint,” in 1987. He would be an occasional presence there while also being in such films as The Commitments and Far and Away. Arguably, he was one of the most famous of the regulars on Deep Space Nine when the show began, up there with Avery Brooks. And I will always think of him as Mr. Rabbite, insisting that it’s blasphemy to say Elvis was a Cajun.

I’d suggest he’s definitely the busiest of the DS9 actors. 147 credits, and that doesn’t include stage acting and of course con appearances. Only Michael Dorn has appeared on more Trek episodes over the course of the shows. He’s a steady presence even before his character was given a real personality. As Transporter Chief O’Brien, he made sure people, you know, survived. He was always there, and he was ready for it. Slowly, he was given more of a personality, then a wife and eventually child, and then he was chosen to be the character who helped us with the first Trek that wasn’t set on the Enterprise.

Honestly, Colm Meaney’s appearance in something isn’t necessarily enough to get me willing to watch it, because he’s been in some real turkeys. I am more intrigued than ever by The Serpent Queen knowing he plays a king of France in it, because that is definitely a choice. I am likewise intrigued by the production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof wherein he plays Big Daddy, with Sienna Miller as Maggie and Jack O’Connell as Brick. (Have they moved it to Cork?) But not even for him will I watch Norm of the North.

He can play menacing. He can play genial. He can play Elvis-obsessed. He can play competent. He can play flirtatious. I’ve seen him in a wide array of roles playing a wide array of personalities, and he has more range than I think people realize, because I think most people know him from DS9 memes—not even necessarily the show. And, of course, the continual Irish actor roles. The idea that he’s done as much as he has, plus theatre, would come as quite the surprise to a lot of people. It’s a shame; he’s definitely worth discussing here.

Writing about him makes me want to go rush out and see The Commitments, even though I actually have commitments of my own today and might not have time for a while. That’s a movie packed with fun performances, and Meaney steals every scene he’s in. And while I’m waiting for Tom Cruise to die before I rewatch Far and Away, he’s so much fun in that as well. I’m not sure I’ve seen him in anything where he wasn’t good, even if what was around him was not. Which is of course my highest compliment.

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