Producers "regret" McGowan IRA comments

Rex Features

Producers of Rose McGowan's Fifty Dead Men Walking have opposed comments the actress made regarding the IRA.

Speaking at the Toronto Film Festival last week, McGowan, who plays a femme fatale in the drama, said that she would have been "100%" behind the terrorist group because "her heart just broke for the cause".

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, producers said they "regret any distress [caused] to people of Northern Ireland and particularly those who were victims of or caught up in the shocking events that existed during the conflict".

It continued: "Ms. McGowan's views were private ones, and as such they greatly saddened the film's producers."

Guy Collins of HandMade Films, one of the production companies behind the movie, said he was "surprised and disappointed by the comments made by McGowan".

The movie's director Kari Skogland added: "Rose's personal opinions of Northern Ireland do not reflect the perspective of the film in any way. Our goal was to present an even, nonjudgmental point of view so the audience could follow the path of an informer with empathy no matter what the politics."