Roma with brother Fr John, daughter Reilly and sisters Ann and Jacinta.
US-based Derry actress/producer Roma Downey has not ruled out making a blockbuster film in her home city.
Roma is back in Derry to receive an honorary degree from the University of Ulster at a ceremony in the Millennium Forum this afternoon.
Speaking shortly before receiving a Doctor of Fine Art (DFA) degree for her outstanding contribution to acting and philanthropy, the actress said she was delighted and humbled to share the stage with the other graduates who, she stressed, had “worked very hard” for get their degrees.
Although based in Los Angeles, she said her home city was never far from her heart.
She said: “You can take the girl out of Derry, but you can’t take Derry out of the girl.”
Roma with daughter Reilly.
Roma is currently enjoying phenomenal success in the US following the release of the mini-drama The Bible which she co-produced with husband Mark Burnett and in which she starred as Mary, mother of Jesus.
The series broke sales records in its first week of home video release, selling 525,000 units to become the top-selling TV mini-series of all time.
The couple produced a highly successful movie version of the series, Son of God, released through by 20th Century Fox, which received a private screening in Derry’s Playhouse in aid of the Foyle Hospice which Roma attended.
Speaking to Derry Daily today, she said she was hoping the film would go on general release here in the near future.
Filming of AD, a follow-up to Son of God, will begin in Morocco at the end of the year followed by the mini-series The Dovekeepers in South Africa. Based on the New York Times bestseller by Alice Hoffman, will be aired by CBS.
After that will come the couple’s most ambitious project to date, a remake of the 1959 classic Ben Hur.
Pointing out her films and mini-series were Biblical “epics,” which required desert-like backdrops, she did not rule out making a film in Derry.
Roma Downey: delighted to receive honorary degree from University of Ulster.
She said: “Never say never.”
Roma got her first big break playing role of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis in the 1991 U.S. TV mini-series A Woman Named Jackie which won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in 1992.
She received two Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her role as the kind-hearted angel Monica in the TV series Touched by an Angel.
She is also an ambassador for Operation Smile and author of three books for children and producer of the children’s series, Little Angels.
Along with her husband, she received an honorary doctorate degree in Malibu.
The couple have also received honorary degrees from Pepperdine University in 2009.
Roma has a Masters Degree in Spiritual Psychology obtained from the University of Santa Monica.
Fergal Keane, BBC Foreign Correspondent, will receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) for his outstanding contribution to journalism at tomorrow’s graduation ceremony.
Roma with daughter Reilly and and Professor Deirdre Heenan, Pro Vice Chancellor and Provost of the University of Ulster at Coleraine and Magee.
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