Four Late Late Show talking points, including Eileen Walsh and Bambie Thug
The Late Late Show's Halloween special.
Father Ted star Ardal O’Hanlon joined the show to discuss his comedy career and look back on his iconic role as Father Dougal O’Hanlon and Patrick Kielty spoke about an extraordinary invitation they received over the summer to meet Pope Francis in Rome with a group of international comedians and the mixed feelings that inspired.
“Instantly you think somebody is taking the piss here. This is revenge for Father Ted and for all that stand-up I've done satirising the church, and I just did a documentary last year about the rise and fall of the priesthood in Ireland. So you're thinking, no, there's just no way this is real,” O’Hanlon said, adding he and Kielty only believed the invite they received was real after Tommy Tiernan contacted them.
O’Hanlon said he accepted the invitation despite his reservations.
“I had serious reservations about accepting this invitation. I certainly respect individual priests. I respect the Pope as a man. But it's very hard to see beyond the crimes of the institution, the abuse scandals, and the cover-ups and the way women and children were treated in certain homes. I'm conflicted, like most Irish people of my generation.”
Kielty described it as a “full circle” moment for O’Hanlon after playing an iconic priest on television in the 1990s.
“I look back on it very fondly. I do owe it an awful lot,” O’Hanlon said, also revealing he attended a Father Ted festival in recent years and competed in a Father Dougal lookalike competition: “I only came third.”
Small Things Like These star Eileen Walsh spoke about the upcoming adaptation of Claire Keegan’s book and working alongside her fellow Cork actor Cillian Murphy again.
Walsh and Murphy first joined forces along with Enda Walsh over 30 years ago for Disco Pigs on stage and have remained close since, with the trio reuniting for Small Things Like These which focuses on the Magdalene Laundries in the mid-1980s.
“It's been an incredible project to bring the three of us back together, and it was made with an awful lot of love. It's a very heavy, dark, beautiful unfolding of a story,” Walsh said.
“It’s also within touching distance. I'm still meeting people that need to share their story because they've been affected by the laundries, or by being adopted from there, or their mother. It’s hugely vital to keep talking about it, to put it out there. It's a bit like lancing a boil. You’ve got to bring it up to get rid of it, and to discuss it and to value people and their stories. People really feel the need to be heard and I think this film really helps that.”
Dublin actor Victoria Smurfit spoke about her role in Rivals, the Disney adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s raunchy novel series, with her fellow Irish actor Aidan Turner.
“To be fair, some of the sex is meaningful. Some of it is to tell stories about the couples. Some of it is with someone you're not supposed to have it with. So it all tells a story,” Smurfit said.
She previously worked with Turner in RTÉ’s The Clinic and said it was good to be reunited with him.
“Aidan’s so easy to work with,” she said. “We never really talked about what we were doing. We're like, okay, we're playing this mad Irish family, and just got into it.”
She said she enjoys playing more complex characters, which have been offered to her more as she matures in the industry.
“The minute you get at 40, you start getting the villains and the bad girls and people doing all the things that in society are not acceptable. It's so fun.”
Singer Bambie Thug returned to the Late Late to discuss life after the Eurovision. Bambie, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, earned Ireland’s best result at the competition in 24 years and has been touring since.
“Non stop. Very grateful. Need a nap, but so grateful to be so busy,” they said.
“We did 43 days on the road, 26 shows, 19 countries, lots of festivals, lots of big milestones this year, which has been incredible. I can't believe it's only been nine months since I was here for Eurosong.”
Bambie said they love Halloween because “it's the only time of year that I don't get commented on looking like this, people think it's normal,” referencing their all-black outfit with occult accessories.
Bambie also spoke about their relationship with witchcraft.
“It's just a simple way of manifesting and changing your mindset. It's personal therapy, witchcraft, for me.”
