 During casting calls, director Jim Sheridan (I) (qv) recalls that  after a long day of auditions, he was very glad to have found  Emma Bolger (qv) to play Ariel. He said that that little girl  "told" him that he had to cast her sister Sarah Bolger (qv) as  Christy. After not finding the right girl to play Christy, he  auditioned Sarah for the part of Christy and she turned out to be  right.