Glanmire's Éanna Hardwicke is ready for his close-up

From his roles in Normal People to RTÉ's twisty thriller Smother,  the Cork actor  has marked himself out as one to watch. Marjorie Brennan spoke to him about his burgeoning career, pints in the Oval, and keeping up with Paul Mescal on the GAA pitch

Cork actor Éanna Hardwicke has further enhanced his growing reputation as one of the most talented young Irish actors with his brilliant portrayal of the detective in the popular RTE Drama series Smother.

It seems like a lifetime ago now but when Normal People landed on our screens at the start of the first lockdown, it was the perfect viewing for such dark times — a beautifully-filmed love story that went on to become a global sensation. While the blistering chemistry between the leads Paul Mescal (Connell) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Marianne) garnered much of the attention — and kept Liveline going for a few weeks — the strong supporting cast was key to the show’s success. From the opening scenes, in the instantly familiar breeze-blocked corridors where the popular sporty boys banter with each other and flirt with the girls, director Lenny Abrahamson adroitly conjured the febrile atmosphere of a co-ed secondary school. For 24-year-old Cork actor, Éanna Hardwicke, who played Connell’s best friend Rob, it helped that his own schooldays weren’t that long behind him — and that he already knew many of his castmates, including Mescal.

“It was a very unique experience, in that quite a few of us were friends already, and we weren’t that long out of school ourselves. It wasn’t hard to think back to it, and Lenny is fantastic at capturing and evoking a particular atmosphere, it is hard to put your finger on what it is but it is just there. The director of photography, Suzie Lavelle, is also incredible, she did amazing work to create the shapes you see in a school corridor, people spread out, finishing their homework, doing little bits, it just felt like a very lived-in world.”