Portraying someone in an upbeat celebratory biopic is one thing. Portraying someone in a not-entirely celebratory biopic that the someone in question would rather “fuck off” is something else entirely.

Which is why Éanna Hardwicke tried not to think of Toronto-bowing feature “Saipan,” in which he plays famously hot-headed ex-Manchester United soccer star Roy Keane in one of his most famously hot-headed moments, as a biopic at all.

“It’s about this event which sort of captures something about the Irish Zeitgeist at the time,” explains the actor about his first leading film role.

The event in question is a period of five days before the 2002 soccer World Cup in South Korea and Japan, when the Irish national team witnessed a bitter — and very public — falling out between captain Keane and manager Mick McCarthy (played by Steve Coogan). While training on the tiny island of Saipan and reportedly furious at the shoddy conditions — and McCarthy’s competence — Keane gave his manager an angry verbal tirade in front his teammates, told him to “stick your World Cup up your arse” and flew home (McCarthy later claimed he’d fired him).

“In the grand scheme of things, it was a minor event globally, but in Ireland it was seismic,” notes Hardwicke, who was only 6 years old at the time but still clearly remembers the 24-hour rolling news coverage. “I think because it exposed all these kind of fault lines of a country in flux.”

Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy and Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane in ‘Saipan’

Hardwicke plays the role with near-terrifying aplomb, embodying Keane as not just the intense, no-nonsense and ultra-focused athlete he was, but someone who could dominate a room without even saying a word. As he notes, “There’s a sense of the air changing a bit when he’s around.” To maintain this headspace on set, Hardwicke almost went a little method. “We did have a laugh, but I’m usually at the biscuit table, and I thought, well, that’s got to go, for the biscuits and also for the chats.” Keane — as “Saipan” very much underlines — would not be seen dead at the biscuit table (at least not five days before a World Cup).

Hardwicke, who in a very early role starred as Paul Mescal’s school friend in “Normal People,” has portrayed real-life characters before. Indeed, he underlined his fast-rising credentials in the acclaimed BBC drama “The Sixth Commandment,” playing a master manipulator and murderer who preyed on the elderly (earning a BAFTA TV nomination in the process).

But Keane is a different kettle of fish entirely. While his glittering career as one of the best defensive midfielders of all time may have come to an end, he’s still a significant figure in public life, a soccer pundit on U.K. TV screens known for his sometimes scathing analyses of performances. But what of his analyses of his own on-screen depictions? (Variety understands that efforts by the production team to have him involved in the film were met with an expletive-filled rejection). There’s a very good chance “Saipan”— and Hardwicke’s portrayal of one of his country’s sporting heroes at arguably his un-finest hour — will cause a stir (and especially in Ireland where the incident still very much divides public opinion).

“I’ve never made something before about a cultural moment like this, so I kind of know that people will talk about it and have strong opinions about it either way,” says the actor. “And at the start there was bit of me that was, ‘Oh god, there’s gonna be a lot of noise.’”

But instead, Hardwicke is channelling his energy into celebrating “Saipan” as a film, and the sort of film that is rarely made about Ireland.

“We don’t tend to make films about our recent history or something that speaks to the place that the country’s in. So I’m really excited about that,” he says.

As it happens, the last major film to hit the festival circuit that did this was 2023’s “Kneecap,” made by many of the same producers as “Saipan.”

“We actually went to the premiere of that film in Belfast the day before we started shooting on ‘Saipan,’” recalls Hardwicke. “And it was just so inspiring — it’s one of the most creatively inspiring films.”