The award-winning actor on the genius of Fritz Lang, the human cost of Homer’s Iliad and where to find the best live music in Ireland

Born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1958, Fiona Shaw studied philosophy at University College Cork before training at Rada. Her stage roles have ranged from Sophocles to Shakespeare, Beckett to Brecht; she has won two Olivier awards and directed theatre productions and operas including Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. She has also appeared in numerous films, including My Left Foot and the Harry Potter movies, and television series such as True Blood and Killing Eve, for which she won a Bafta. Her latest film role is in Ammonite, a romantic drama about fossil hunter Mary Anning, now streaming and in cinemas from 17 May.