Derry Girls season 3 star Saoirse-Monica Jackson recalls her experience filming a surprise cameo with a major movie star for the show.
Derry Girls actor Saoirse-Monica Jackson recalls what it was like to work with Liam Neeson during the series' first episode of season 3. Derry Girls, created by Lisa McGee, tells the story of five teens living in Derry, Northern Ireland, during the Troubles in the 90's. The series first premiered in 2018 on Channel 4 in the U.K. and as a Netflix original in North America, and the comedy almost immediately became a hit. Derry Girls received a season 2 a year later, which ended on a particularly heartwarming note, leaving fans wanting more. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, production on Derry Girls season 3 was pushed back repeatedly.
After nearly three years of waiting, Derry Girls finally premiered its third and final season last week. Ahead of the show's return, much speculation was swirling about what season 3 would contain, especially given that it would be Derry Girls' farewell. Viewers' excitement continued to grow as the cast of Derry Girls continued to hype up the show, revealing that the final season would contain several major guest appearances throughout its episodes. While much speculation still surrounds who the rest of the guest stars may be, it was revealed in Derry Girls season 3's first episode last week that their big first cameo was none other than Northern Ireland-born mega star, Liam Neeson. Neeson made a cameo appearance as a police inspector.
Now that the cat's out of the bag, many cast members of Derry Girls have spoken about getting to work with Neeson. In a recent interview with the Belfast Telegraph, actor Jackson (who plays Erin in the series) has stated that it was "probably the best experience" of her life. Jackson has gone on to detail how working with Neeson was somewhat of a dream come true as they both hail from the same place, and has revealed that she found Neeson to be very "generous." She has described working with Neeson to be a "funny, surreal experience." See her full quote below:
“Oh my god. It was probably the best experiences of my life and I think the person has such a huge presence and massive star quality and someone I’ve always looked up to because they are from the same place so the opportunity to work with him was amazing. He was so generous. It was such a funny, surreal experience.”
Since the episode's release, many Derry Girls actors have echoed Jackson's sentiments, as well as revealed the lengths they went to to hide Neeson's cameo. Tara Lynne O’Neill, who plays Ma Mary on the series, revealed that she didn't even feel comfortable telling her family about working with Neeson until the episode had aired. It certainly has made audiences wonder how many other guest stars Derry Girls' final season is hiding, especially if the first one revealed was someone as big as Neeson.
While the cast of Derry Girls were certainly star-struck working with Neeson, the actor's appearance makes it quite evident just how big of an impact this little comedy has made in its short time being on the air. What began as a short comedy about a small Northern Irish town, has become somewhat of an international phenomenon, and is able to pull in stars of Neeson's caliber. Derry Girls is certainly something special, and fans will be sorry to see it go. However, before the end is reached, it is very likely Derry Girls season 3 will have more surprises like Neeson's cameo in store for fans.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
