'Fifty Dead Men' touched a nerve for its star

September 10, 2008 Rose McGowan so sympathized with the senior Irish Republican Army operative she plays in Kari Skogland's "Fifty Dead Men Walking" that, had she lived in Belfast during Northern Ireland's Troubles, she'd have joined up with the Republicans. The true-life thriller features McGowan as a strong-willed IRA leader who works alongside an IRA infiltrator played by Jim Sturgess, who secretly provides information to Britain's Special Branch. Canadian director Kari Skogland, who adapted Martin McGartland's 1998 autobiography to make "Fifty Dead Men Walking," said former IRA volunteers provided security and logistic support for her Belfast shoot.

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