Brendan Gleeson (Martin Cahill) is one of Ireland's foremost leading actors, often referred to as "the Irish Depardieu," began his acting career only in 1990 after many years as a school teacher. Brendan's film, theater and television career included his recent success as Bunny in Paddy Breatnach's "I Went Down" which took awards at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, his internationally acclaimed role as Hamish alongside Mel Gibson in "Braveheart," and his much loved performance as Michael Collins in Jonathan Lavis' "The Treaty," for which Brendan received The Jacobs Award.

"The key phrase in discussions with John before we started this," says Gleeson, "was that we would humanize Cahill without romanticizing him. Given the nature of the project it was really important that we saw eye to eye and John's vision in terms of his decency and his own humanity and his own feeling for the subject matter was just something that I could respect and admire."

In the film Brendan's character Martin Cahill organizes a number of daring and carefully planned robberies with his notorious gang. Noel Curley, played by Adrian Dunbar, is Cahill's right hand man and in some ways his conscience, and next in line to Gary played by Sean McGinley. Brendan also portrays Cahill as a devoted father and husband to his wife Frances, played by Maria Doyle Kennedy. Her sister Tina is played by Angeline Ball, with whom Curley also fathers children. "It is such a cliché on the ensemble thing but it very special when it happens, you feel everybody going in one direction and there is generosity almost everywhere you turn."

"No matter how evil the deeds or how repulsive, I think in order to understand him you have to go a bit further. I think he was tragic in the sense that his life was a tragedy, I do believe that he was firmly convinced that his marginalization was not accidental, that people in his own community were marginalized deliberately and systematically. In the end people make their own decisions, he lashed out, people got hurt but certainly he was aware that the world didn't care too much about Martin Cahill and so it must have been difficult for him to care too much about the world."

Prior to Brendan's more recent success, his roles have included Bubbles in Neil Jordan's "The Butcher Boy," Tom in Jim Sheridan's "The Field," Thomas in Michael Winterbottom's "Love Lies Bleeding," Leister in Stephen Frears' "The Snapper," Tobin in Neil Jordan's "Michael Collins" and the lead role in Stephen Bradley's "Sweety Barrett."

Brendan is currently filming "Lake Placid" with Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman and Oliver Platt, written by David E. Kelly and directed by Steve Miner.

Adrian Dunbar (Noel Curley) made his first screen appearance in 1983. His prolific career has since included his acclaimed performances in Peter Chelsom's "Hear My Song," Chris Menges' "A World Apart" and Michael Winterbottom's "Cracker." Adrian's film roles have also included Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game," Jim Sheridan's "My Left Foot," David Hayman's "The Near Room," John Irvin's "Widow's Peak" and Patrick de Wolf's "Innocent Lies."

Sean McGinley (Gary) graduated from University College Galway and went on to become a prominent actor in theater, television and film. His theater credits include James Tyrone's "Long Day's Journey Into Night" at The Abbey Theatre and The London National Theatre, "Whistle in the Dark" at The Abbey and Royal Court London, "The Glass Menagerie" at Druid Theatre, and Sam Shepard's "Simpatico" at the Royal Court.

Among Sean's film and television credits are Michael Winterbottom's "Family," Neil Jordan's "The Butcher Boy" and "Michael Collins," Jim Sheridan's "The Field," Thaddeus O'Sullivan's "The Border Country," Pat O'Connor's "Good Girls" and Mel Gibson's "Braveheart." Sean is currently playing the lead in the RTE television drama "Making The Cut."

Jon Voight (Inspector Ned Kenny) a formidable talent on the world stage for over thirty years, is reunited with his friend John Boorman for the first time since Boorman's Academy Award nominated "Deliverance" in 1972. Voight's performance in "Midnight Cowboy" won him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and a Golden Globe award for Most Promising Newcomer in 1969. "Catch-22" then paired Voight with director Mike Nichols in the 1970 dramatization of Joseph Heller's classic novel. His acclaimed performance in "Coming Home" won him an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1979 and was followed by "The Odessa File," "Conrack" and "The Champ." Hal Ashby's "Lookin' To Get Out" (1982) marked Voight's debut as both producer and co-writer. He was recognized by the Academy again in 1985, when he was nominated for Best Actor in Andrei Konchalovsky's thriller "Runaway Train."

On television, Voight was seen in "Chernobyl: The Final Warning," "Return to Lonesome Dove," and an episode of "Seinfeld." Voight made his directorial debut in 1995 with the children's film, "The Tin Soldier" for Showtime. His other films include "Out of It," "The Revolutionary," The All-American Boy," "The End of the Game," "Table for Five," "Eternity" (which he wrote), "The Last of His Tribe," "Rainbow Warrior," and Convict Cowboy." Voight's more recent film credits include Micheal Mann's "Heat" with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, Brian De Palma's "Mission Impossible" where he starred opposite Tom Cruise, Francis Ford Coppola's "The Rainmaker," John Singleton's "Rosewood," and Oliver Stone's "U-Turn." He is currently playing the title role in the mini-series "Noah's Ark."

Maria Doyle Kennedy (Frances), an actress and musician in equal measure, is a singer/songwriter of considerable talent. She has toured extensively with The Hothouse Flowers and The Black Velvet Band and continues to write and record in Ireland. Her acting debut in Alan Parker's "The Commitments," where she and her "General" co-star Angeline Ball first worked together, led to roles in Thaddeus O'Sullivan's "Nothing Personal," and Robert Dornhelm's "A Further Gesture."

Angeline Ball's (Tina) film and television credits include her role as Blanche in Karolly Mark's "The Gambler," Mariette in Des McNuff's "Cousin Bette," Maggie in Howard Zieiff's "My Girl" and Imelda in Alan Parker's "The Commitments." Ball first worked with Boorman as Simone in" Two Nudes Bathing."