Catch Up with the Cast of Indie Gem The Brothers McMullen

Edward Burns wrote, directed, and starred in The Brothers McMullen, the saga of three Irish brothers. He made the film for just under $25,000 in his free time while working as a production assistant at Entertainment Tonight. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and grossed more than $10 million at the box office.

Although his other films, like She’s the One, starring Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz, and The Sidewalks of New York, starring Amanda Peet, never quite reached the same success as his first, Burns is still writing and directing. He has also found a steady stream of acting jobs in movies like Saving Private Ryan, 27 Dresses, and Friends with Kids. He also married Christy Turlington, so life can’t be too bad for the guy.

Jack Mulcahy and Edward Burns played on the same softball team back in the day, and so when Burns was throwing around the idea of The Brothers McMullen, naturally he offered the part of Jack, the brother having an affair, to his buddy.

Although his career didn’t really take off after The Brothers McMullen, Jack Mulcahy is still acting—an episode of Sex and the City here, an episode of Law & Order: SVU there. But mostly you may recognize him from a Snickers commercial that aired a few years ago.

Patrick McMullen thinks he doesn’t want to marry Susan, until she breaks off their engagement. He begs her to take him back, but really he doesn’t know what he wants. He meets Leslie, and, well, they ride in a classic car off into the sunset, or at least to California.

Mike McGlone also starred in Burns’s next film, She’s the One, but you probably know him better from somewhere else. He has been in a number of Geico insurance ads and had bit roles on many TV shows including Person of Interest.

Just call her the Sister McMullen. The movie is really about the boys, but Connie Britton as the suffering wife of Jack McMullen (Jack Mulcahy) has some good scenes too. And even then, we could tell she was going to be a big star.

When the movie came out, Connie Britton was about to be a familiar face on television. She costarred with Michael J. Fox on Spin City for five seasons and then did another five seasons as Tami Taylor on the great Friday Night Lights and picked up two Emmy nominations for it. She now stars on Nashville.

Sometimes it helps to be sleeping with the director. Maxine Bahns managed to score her first role, as Audrey in The Brothers McMullen, because she happened to be Edward Burns’s girlfriend at the time.

When she’s not busy modeling or running triathlons, Maxine Bahns still acts. She played Simon Baker’s wife on The Mentalist.

Leslie was the girl next door who liked to work on classic cars. It started off as strictly friendship between her and Patrick McMullen, but eventually he realized that she, and not his frigid fiancée Susan, was what he wanted.

Jennifer Jostyn was seen most recently on Parenthood and American Horror Story but also works steadily in commercials.

Shari Albert played Susan, Patrick McMullen’s Jewish fiancée. The difference in religions (he, of course, was Irish Catholic) was the least of their problems. Snakkle caught up with Shari, who told us "Brothers McMullen got my career started. The opportunity was incredible having no agent or film connections at that time." And as for the rumored sequel to the film, Albert says she'd happily jump on board. "I think Susan would probably be divorced, running her own clothing business and dating a much younger man now!"

Since The Brothers McMullen, Shari has appeared in some other Edward Burns films including, No Looking Back, Looking for Kitty, and The Groomsman, and also has on numerous television shows like Royal Pains, Ugly Betty, Law & Order, and King of Queens. She also works as a voiceover artist and has written for The Huffington Post and LA Weekly and comedy websites such as poprockcandymountain.com, lemondrop.com.