Trespasses: Lola Petticrew on the tale of forbidden love in the Troubles
Lola Petticrew stars in Trespasses, on Channel 4. Picture: Joe Maher/Getty Images)
Lola Petticrew reckons that the success of played a unique part in bringing Northern Ireland storytelling to international audiences. Lisa McGee’s greatly loved tale of the antics and adventures of four teenagers in 1990s Derry brought northern accents, wit and wisdom to audiences worldwide - and helped fuel an optimism and can-do attitude.
“I think that the Derry Girls has opened up the space for our stories to be told on a global level,” says Petticrew, who uses they/them pronouns.
“It's so exciting seeing all of the opportunities, and seeing films and TV shows that are born at home, being made at home, and the stuff that's coming over from other places. I think we're at a really pivotal, important and exciting time for stories from the north.”
In recent times, Petticrew has played no small part in bringing Northern Ireland stories to our screens. Fresh from the success of the hit series spanning four decades of the Troubles adapted from the bestseller by Patrick Radden Keeffe, they star in a complex and unconventional romance.
a story of a forbidden love broadcast by Channel 4 and set against the backdrop of 1970s Northern Ireland, stars Petticrew as Cushla, a sparky young Catholic teacher worn down by the grind of daily life, who embarks on an affair with a married, older Protestant man (Tom Cullen) who works as a barrister. Gillian Anderson plays Cushla’s mother, a woman fighting demons of her own, who is constantly sparring with her daughter.
Petticrew contacted their agent after being deeply moved by the experience of reading Louise Kennedy’s debut, bestselling novel, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
“I called my agent straight away, said: ‘I want to play Cushla, if you hear anything’. And about five or six months later, we did. The reason I did that was because when I read the book, the thing that really lasted with me was Cushla's capacity to love. Also we're meeting her at a very interesting point in her life. She's 24 years old. It feels like she's having somewhat of a sexual awakening and stepping into her own personhood and making active choices about who she is and who she wants to be. That voice felt really interesting.”
Petticrew was drawn to the character but also the sense that the story offered a different perspective of Northern Ireland at that time, which resonated on reading the novel. It felt different to other stories set in that time period.
“It's a massive, sprawling romance. That's not really something we've seen in that time period. Usually, it's very masculine and violent. That's not to say that violence doesn't exist within the parameters of our show or the book, but it's moored by uncompromising love which felt very special to me.”
Petticrew also feels that there are more stories to be told from this time. “I think we're just scratching the surface of the stories that we have about this period. There are so many more stories waiting to be told, stories about queer people from that time who believe it or not existed, and were fighting, not just these political and religious divides, but a whole other thing entirely.”
Petticrew shares a strong onscreen rapport with Cullen, who plays the barrister, Michael. They felt the casting of Cullen was important to the success of the series. “You have to love him. A lot of the stuff is ethically grey and murky and you have to get people onside. Tom did something that I think male actors his age would maybe struggle with. I think a lot of actors would come in and just play the sex of it all, but Tom actually had a really soft masculinity that was very open and vulnerable.”
Petticrew also got to work with Anderson, who they admired as an aspiring young actor. “These things happen to me - I work with these actors, and I'm still pinching myself.”
Anderson, of course, had previously worked opposite Jamie Dornan in the successful crime drama series, “People of the North have such a bond with her, I think because of There's a lot of love there for her and it was just phenomenal to watch somebody like Gillian work, who's been in this game for a while now, and who's so professional and has undertaken monumental roles.”
Petticrew remembers one of their first major acting roles as a young person, performing at Belfast’s Grand Opera House on a production of Brian Friel’s play, “I got to meet Brian Friel and I remember when he was coming to the show, I was 12, and I thought I was really rock and roll. I had this waist coat and these garish leopard print skinny jeans. I regret that outfit choice now,” Petticrew laughs.
In the years since, Petticrew has shone in Irish movies including and as well as and the widely viewed “I thought that I might do theatre, and I love theatre, and I'd love to go back and do some theatre, but film and TV was not something that I ever really thought was accessible.
“Every time somebody hires me, I feel like someone's going to jump out with a camera and go, ‘gotcha’, this has all been some elaborate prank. I’m really trying to just enjoy the experience of making the thing.
"The alchemy in the moment with another actor in a room, when the thing becomes bigger than any of our points of view - that’s the church for me, that's the religious experience.
“I can do that on a low-budget indie and I can do it on a high-budget American TV programme, and I can do it in a high-budget film. For me, it's constantly seeking that, no matter where it is.”
Petticrew, one of Ireland’s busiest emerging stars, continues to be in demand, and is currently in New York filming a major new series for Hulu, called
“I play a woman who was sex trafficked as a kid, and now she's on a revenge trail, and Emmy Rossum plays the FBI agent that is hunting me down. I'm having a ball. It's something really different and really fun. And, yeah, it's been exciting. I've been here since August, I get to go home for Christmas, and I'm very much looking forward to that.”
- is now on Channel 4
