Working Hollywood: Morag Stewart on ‘The Eagle’

Set in AD 140, “The Eagle,” which opens Friday, revolves around a young Roman centurion (Channing Tatum) stationed in a desolate English outpost who attempts to discover what really happened after his father disappeared with a legion of men in the north of Britain some 20 years earlier. With the help of a British slave (Jamie Bell), the two cross over Hadrian’s Wall into Caledonia, now known as Scotland, to retrieve the legion’s gold eagle standard and to clear his father’s tarnished name.

When the two enter the wilds of Scotland, all the inhabitants speak ancient Gaelic, especially the bellicose Seal People. To make sure the actors had their dialect down, the production recruited Morag Stewart to help tutor the performers in her native tongue.

For more than three decades, Stewart, 53, has worked as a TV, film and radio producer for the BBC and Channel 4 and for channels in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. She’s written for the BBC preschool series, “Dotaman” and the award-winning puppet series, “Mire Mara,” and she’s penned seven books for young children in the Scottish Gaelic language as well as two short novels for teenagers.

Stewart also served as a Gaelic advisor and associate producer on the feature film, “Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle.” But her most high profile assignment came recently as an advisor on “The Eagle,” directed by Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scotland”).

Calling from her home on the Isle of Skye in Western Scotland to discuss her work on the film and the world of Gaelic in general, Stewart said the language, which had fallen out of fashion among previous generations of Scots, is enjoying something of a renaissance.

“Beginning with my generation, there’s a feeling that Gaelic can advance your career prospects,” she said. “There are much more wide-ranging career choices for Gaelic speakers, teaching is one, but there is also an interest in the media.”

Talking points: “[Gaelic] is the ancient language of Scotland. It came from Ireland. At the last census there are less than 60,000 speakers. But there is a great interest in learning the language and a huge interest in the music and the heritage within Scotland and also from Europe. We also have Gaelic schools for children from the age of 3 up to 11 and 12. My parents and grandparents were actively discouraged from speaking Gaelic in school.”

Language barrier: “I was probably the only person working on the film in a production sense who was a fluent Gaelic speaker,” Stewart said. “Kevin wanted Gaelic content in the movie. He obviously had to have someone who could advise accordingly. I was involved in the translation of Gaelic into the script. I prepared the script for non-Gaelic speakers, provided translations and phonetics, arranged Gaelic coaching, like for Jamie Bell when he was in London and recording [dialogue] so he could listen on MP3 or whatever suited him best. From what I heard when I reviewed the footage in London, I thought it was amazing how well he had mastered pronunciation. I went down to London to comment, but my main role was advising on content to make sure it was grammatically correct. I also helped with casting. There weren’t major Gaelic parts but they needed some Gaelic extras. The Gaelic world isn’t a huge world, but after 30 years in broadcasting, I certainly know most Gaelic speakers who are interested in drama.”

Speak easy: “Since 2008, we have had our own dedicated channel [BBC Alba] that is exclusively Gaelic. Many families are making an effort to speak Gaelic in the home and not all of them are Gaelic. There are a lot of people on the Isle of Skye who are not from Skye and have little or not Gaelic in their background who see the benefit of a child who is bilingual.”

Public profile: Stewart said she believes “The Eagle” will raise the profile of the language. “A director of Kevin’s status showing any interest at all in the language and giving Gaelic speakers a chance and myself [the opportunity] to be an advisor, it was a real honor for me.”

susan.king@latimes.com