Amy De Bhrún: 'If you are ambitious, so much of your self-worth is wrapped up in your acting'

From motherhood to career ambition, Amy de Bhrún talks candidly about success on the big and small screens. By Ellie O’Byrne

Amy de Bhrún as Niamh Furlong in Blackshore

Having known she wanted to act from the time she was in junior infants, Amy De Bhrún is keeping an eye on little Billie, her four-year-old daughter, for similar thespian leanings.

“She is extremely good at art and drawing, which she gets from her father, but she loves singing, dancing, acting and make-believe,” De Bhrún says. 

“But a bit like I was, at the moment, she’s not interested in doing it for other people. She’s doing it for the enjoyment of it, for herself. It’s not a look-at-me thing. So yeah, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.”

Meanwhile, Billie’s little brother, River, 2, has already made his acting debut of sorts: when De Bhrún was voicing Cartoon Network’s preschool animation Ladybird Lu, some baby sound effects were needed and De Bhrún found herself following her baby son around with a microphone.

“When I used to put the little microphone in front of him, he would come alive. He’s really into singing and dancing too, they both are. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to act, but I also definitely wouldn’t be pushing them into it. Kids on set is really difficult: I always feel really sorry for the parents.”

Amy de Bhrún as Blackshore's Niamh Furlong

It’s been a whirlwind few years for De Bhrún, whose acting and choice of roles have gone from strength to strength in the same period of time that motherhood beckoned.

Married to Seán Branigan, who also works in the film industry as a director and illustrator, the couple has welcomed their daughter and son as De Bhrún has found herself in hot demand for film and TV roles at home and abroad. 

Her first high-profile international role saw her play a technician in 2016 thriller Jason Bourne, and she also won acclaim as widowed Liverpudlian Steph Corbett in BBC2’s The Line of Duty.

“I was filming the Irish comedy Apocalypse Clown when River was only four months old,” the actor says. 

“That was really intense because I had a two-year-old and a four-month-old. You’re kind of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, but I was loving what I was doing and I think that gives you extra energy.”

Parenting also gives extra depth to her acting, she believes: the highs and lows, and the depths of emotion, are all things that she can tap into in her acting roles.

“I think it also takes the pressure off your work in some ways because if you are an ambitious actor, so much of your mental health and self-worth is wrapped up in your acting,” she says. 

“Having kids has let me let go of the reins a little bit in a funny way, and stop putting a certain kind of pressure on myself.

“After a long time of just gigging away, my career has really taken off. Everything has all kind of happened at once, so it’s been a very busy time, but really exciting. There are lots of things I’ve been working on all coming out, so I am enjoying the fruits of my labour a little I guess.”

De Bhrún is speaking over the phone from her car; it’s the evening, and her Irish Examiner interview means she’s off the hook for the nightly round of bath and bedtimes, she jokes. 

Unlike so many Irish actors for whom London becomes their base, De Bhrún has opted to stay living in Dublin, close to family supports.

Having a partner who understands the pressures of her industry in husband Seán is invaluable, she says: “It’s great because he’s in the industry but we’re not in the exact same job so there’s a huge understanding on both our sides about the realities of this work: we both know that holidays might sometimes have to be postponed or changed, that you’re working really intensely for some periods of time and then not for others. But we’re not in the same job so we’re not comparing ourselves to each other. It’s the perfect balance of understanding and healthy distance.”

The couple met on a film set 12 years ago, and have been married for six years. 

“I was in a commercial he was directing, but he was very professional: he didn’t ask me out right away,” she says with a laugh. “The job was finished, and then he came to see one of my one-woman shows and asked me out afterwards.”

In the US, Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale, a series in which De Bhrún plays a bereaved mother leading a modern-day witch hunt, is just hitting viewers’ screens.

At home, sights are set on a release date for Blackshore, a hotly anticipated new detective drama that will screen this year as part of RTÉ’s new season. 

In it, De Bhrún plays driven career woman Niamh Furlong, whose onscreen husband, DI Cian Furlong, is investigating a murder in the fictional lakeside town of Blackwater.

Amy de Bhrún: "After a long time of just gigging away, my career has really taken off. Everything has all kind of happened at once, so it’s been a very busy time, but really exciting."

Cian Furlong’s character is played by Peaky Blinders star Rory Keenan and the lead detective on the case, DI Fia Lucey, is played by Lisa Dwan: in fact, the whole cast is like a who’s who of quality Irish acting. 

Aidan McArdle, Jade Jordan, Andrew Bennett of An Cailín Ciúin, and Stanley Townsend all dig into the intrigue of an Irish small town brimming with secrets.

Shooting Blackshore saw De Bhrún and her co-stars decamp to the gorgeous surrounds of Killaloe, Co Clare, for a shoot that ended in summer 2023.

“It was a beautiful, ragtag group of creatives coming together in Killaloe and kind of taking the place over,” she says. “A really top quality cast, beautiful actors, and a really fun time.”

The collegiality and craic amongst the cast and crew were just one reason why Blackwater was such an enjoyable experience; another was the number of recent new parents amongst the cast, she explains.

Rory Keenan and his wife, former Bond Girl Gemma Arterton, had a six-month-old baby during the shoot and were living in a house near to the set. Lisa Dwan had welcomed her own first baby at around the time that De Brún had her son.

“There was a nice support to that,” De Brún says. “You’re kind of lifting someone up and giving moral support when they’re telling you they didn’t get much sleep the night before, that kind of thing.”

There was a time when De Bhrún feared that parenthood was going to detract from her acting career, and she admitted in interviews that she had been nervous of mentioning her new-found motherhood too much, for fear of being passed over for roles or perceived as not taking her career seriously.

“When I had my daughter Billie, I was reluctant to talk about my child too much when I went back to work. I felt like I don’t want to not be taken seriously as an actor if people feel my attention is divided or something silly like that,” she says. 

“Actually, as the years have rolled on and I have two kids now, it’s really amazing the number of other actors that do have kids, and the support network that is there.”

De Bhrún’s blossoming career is not a case of overnight success, but, as with most actors, one of slogging away for many years, acting in self-penned one-woman shows and gradually building a profile and reputation.

Amy de Bhrún: "...that’s the impression I give to people, but I don’t know if I have loads of self-belief or if I’m just incredibly naïve..."

Born in Dublin, she enrolled in Trinity College to read English Literature after school, but barely lasted her first semester before she realised the lure of acting was too strong a pull to resist.

“Luckily, I had really supportive parents,” she says. So she moved to London: “I went to The Bridge theatre training company and did a two-year, full-time professional diploma.”

Following her graduation, De Bhrún began writing theatre roles for herself, became involved in small independent film projects, and auditioned for every part she could. 

It’s an experience that many aspiring actors find crushing: does it take an extraordinary level of self-belief to get through all those early rejections and preserve?

“I think that’s the impression I give to people, but I don’t know if I have loads of self-belief or if I’m just incredibly naïve,” she says with a chuckle.

“I always just think, why not? Why not me, why not this project? The thing I do have self-belief in is that I know I will work really, really hard. I will never phone it in. And I always want to improve as an artist.”

Cillian Murphy’s recent Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in Oppenheimer and Barry Keoghan’s nomination for Saltburn in the same category, saw the international spotlight fall on Irish actors. 

For De Bhrún, the news came as a further boost to the reputation of Irish film and TV.

“It just shows what a wealth of talent we have over here,” she says. “Once we’re presented out there in the world, people remember that we’re here. It doesn’t matter that we’re a small country, anyone I work with is always blown away by Irish crews and Irish actors.

“Something like Cillian’s win just reminds people that we’re here, so it does have a knock-on effect. But there are so many Irish men winning awards that I’m like, ok cool, there’s space for some Irish women now too, let’s get in there.”

When it comes to her own future, De Bhrún feels fortunate to be in a stronger and stronger position in terms of the roles she can take, or decide not to.

“I would like to stay on the trajectory that I’m on,” she says. “I’m moving into a space where I am able to say no to projects and curate my career a little more. For a long time, you would just be so happy to be working, but now I’m able to follow roles that really inspire me.

“Moving more international with my work would be amazing, and a few more lead roles in films would be nice as well.

“Hopefully, even further down the line, I’d like to be able to start producing my own films as well, and to get more of an understanding of how that whole process works. I want to basically always keep challenging myself. I don’t like to rest on my laurels; I like feeling a little bit of discomfort, to have a new role, a new project. I want to do as much and learn as much and challenge myself as much as possible.”

Blackshore begins on RTÉ One on Sunday, February 4, at 9.35pm

The Look

• Amy De Bhrún photographed by Andres Poveda, with styling by Roxanne Parker and hair and make-up by Sue Brophy.
• Hoop earrings, Dylan Oaks, dylanoaks.com
• Multi-layered chain necklace, Betty & Biddy, bettyandbiddy.com
• Waistcoat & matching trousers, LouLou Studio, Brown Thomas, Dundrum Town Centre