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Q & A Ian McShane
SI: Your father,Harry (below), played for Manchester United for four years during the 1950s.How good was he?
McShane: He was aclassic Scottish left winger. Five-foot-seven, and he could run down the fieldat 90 miles an hour. Later he was a [public address announcer] for ManchesterUnited at Old Trafford. He used to announce the team and play records.
SI: Are you goingthrough World Cup withdrawal?
McShane: Yes. Thewonderful thing about the World Cup is you get to be xenophobic for a month[laughs]: F--- the Portuguese. I hate the f------ French. And I loathe theItalians, but they do look better than anybody else, don't they? They have thebest kits. I think they're designed by Armani.
SI: Are you overEngland losing?
McShane: I'm justsurprised they lasted that long. They were terrible. [For England's loss toPortugal] I had my agent, Duncan Heath, here from England. I made himbreakfast, and we both cursed the screen.
SI: What did youthink of the TV coverage?
McShane: Iactually called ESPN and ABC to complain. Brent Musburger should be sent backfrom whence he came.
SI: Has there everbeen a great soccer film?
McShane: Well, Idid a soccer film called Yesterday's Hero. It was written by [Hollywood Wivesauthor] Jackie Collins and based on the life of George Best. I used to drinkwith him in a club Jackie and her husband owned in London in the 1970s. Georgiewas a sweetheart. It was not bad, but football films just don't work. To looklike a professional soccer player is pretty impossible unless you are one. Butour film was better than Victory. You had Sylvester Stallone playing agoalkeeper and Michael Caine as the most overfed prisoner of war I've everseen.
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MARK SULLIVAN/WIREIMAGE.COM (MCSHANE)
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DENNIS OULDS/CENTRAL PRESS/GETTY IMAGES (HARRY MCSHANE)
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DOUG HYUN/HBO (MCSHANE IN DEADWOOD)
