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AP Interview: Irish actor explores homelessness

Can a parked car count as a home?
/ Source: The Associated Press

Can a parked car count as a home?

Irish actor Colm Meaney explores the nuances of homelessness in the new movie "Parked" at the Helsinki International Film Festival.

"It's basically three characters who, for different reasons, and at different stages of their lives, have come to a crossroads, they're all a bit lost," the 58-year-old actor told The Associated Press. "It's a beautiful film."

Best known to U.S. audiences for his 12-year stint in the hugely successful Star Trek television franchises, Meaney plays down-on-his-luck Irishman Fred Daly, who moves back home to Dublin after years working in England. With Ireland in the grip of a relentless recession and Fred having no money, no job and no friends, he ends up living in his car in a parking lot.

Meaney shares the screen with BBC/NBC "Merlin" star Colin Morgan and Finnish actress Milka Ahlroth.

"She has a wonderful playfulness about her," he said, adding he was "hugely impressed" with the 25-year-old Morgan's work, describing it as "a real breakout performance."

Meaney has appeared in dozens of films, but he cemented his place in American popular culture as Chief Miles O'Brien in the Star Trek television series "The Next Generation" and "Deep Space 9."

Meaney was reluctant at first to commit to seven years of "Deep Space 9," but always managed to fit interesting film roles around his sci-fi commitments.

"Parked" was funded with both Irish and Finnish money, an arrangement Meaney calls "the way forward" for the European film industry during tough economic times. He noted wryly that making a low-budget movie in Ireland in January is not particularly glamorous.

"It was a very difficult shoot, the weather was appalling ... there were no luxuries!" he said.

"Parked" is one of the headline movies for year's Helsinki festival. It opens at cinemas across Europe next month.