 Nesbitt had been approached at a British Academy Television Awards ceremony by director Paul Greengrass , who wanted him to star in a television drama he was making about the 1972 " Bloody Sunday " shootings in Derry . Nesbitt was only seven years old when the shootings happened and was ignorant of its cause ; he believed that there was " no smoke without fire " and that the Catholic marchers must have done something to provoke the British Army . He was filming Cold Feet in Manchester when he received the script . He read it and found that had " an extraordinary effect " on him . Nesbitt played Ivan Cooper in Bloody Sunday , the man who pressed for the march to go ahead . To prepare for the role , Nesbitt met with Cooper and spent many hours talking to him about his motives on that day . He met with relatives of the victims and watched the televised Bloody Sunday Inquiry with them , and also read Don Mullan 's Eyewitness Bloody Sunday and Peter Pringle and Philip Jacobson 's Those Are Real Bullets , Aren 't They ? . Greengrass compared Nesbitt 's preparation to an athlete preparing for a race , and told The Observer , " For an Irish actor , doing the Troubles is like doing Lear . " Nesbitt had questioned whether he was a good enough actor to effectively portray Cooper and was worried what Derry Catholics would think of a Protestant playing the lead , although Ivan Cooper himself is a Protestant . 
 Nesbitt <a href='been_done' title='1'><mark>had</mark></a> been approached at a British Academy Television Awards ceremony by director Paul Greengrass , <a href='null_relcl' title='2'><mark>who</mark></a>wanted him to star in a television drama he was making about the 1972 " Bloody Sunday " shootings in Derry . Nesbitt was only seven years old when the shootings happened and was ignorant of its cause ; he believed that <a href='dey_it' title='3'><mark>there</mark></a> was " no smoke without fire " and that the Catholic marchers must have done something to provoke the British Army . He was filming Cold Feet in Manchester when he received the script . He read it and found that had " an extraordinary effect " on him . Nesbitt played Ivan Cooper in Bloody Sunday , the man <a href='null_relcl' title='4'><mark>who</mark></a>pressed for the march to go ahead . To prepare for the role , Nesbitt met with Cooper and spent many hours talking to him about his motives on that day . He met with relatives of the victims and watched the televised Bloody Sunday Inquiry with them , and also<a href='been_done' title='5'><mark></mark></a> read Don Mullan <a href='null_genetive' title='6'><mark>'s</mark></a>Eyewitness Bloody Sunday and Peter Pringle and Philip Jacobson <a href='null_genetive' title='7'><mark>'s</mark></a>Those <a href='drop_aux' title='8'><mark>Are</mark></a>Real Bullets , Aren 't They ? . Greengrass compared Nesbitt <a href='null_genetive' title='9'><mark>'s</mark></a>preparation to an athlete preparing for a race , and told The Observer , " For an Irish actor , doing the Troubles is like doing Lear . " Nesbitt <a href='been_done' title='10'><mark>had</mark></a> questioned whether he was a good enough actor to effectively portray Cooper and was worried what Derry Catholics would think of a Protestant playing the lead , although Ivan Cooper himself <a href='drop_aux' title='11'><mark>is</mark></a>a Protestant . 
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