Spoilers for Derry Girls season three below.
As she appears over Zoom, Saoirse-Monica Jackson looks exactly like Erin Quinn, the de facto leader of a small teen clan living through the Troubles in early ’90s Northern Ireland on Derry Girls. But when Jackson speaks, the differences between the actor and her character become apparent: Erin talks at two octaves higher, is much more animated, and will contort her entire body just to make a point or scrunch her face in multiple directions at once to show disgust, awe, or incomprehension. “I have definitely aged myself from playing Erin Quinn,” Jackson laughs, “because I’ve stretched my face so much.”
Derry Girls, the Channel 4 series created and written by Lisa McGee — who, like Jackson, is a Derry girl herself — was a fast fan-favorite all over the U.K. and just as quickly charmed Americans when it hopped the pond. Erin is loosely based on McGee, a loveable dreamer and drama queen who’s flawed in the way so many teenagers are — with their inflated egos covering up intense insecurities. The third and final season of the series, which arrived on Netflix today, sees Erin and friends (played by Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Louisa Harland, and Dylan Llewellyn) endure their final year of high school while settling into their convictions as friendships get tested and politics continue to hover over daily antics. Saying good-bye to Erin Quinn and the gang will be tough for fans, but Jackson is ready to move on — even as she acknowledges the immense impact of the series.
“This was always the plan,” she says, “but I don’t think anything will ever compare to the success, it being from my hometown and getting to feel that immense pride, and the massive life shift I went through. Being in a hit TV show obviously changes your career; it was my big break.”
Why does the end of Derry Girls feel like the end of an era?
I think the success of the show was mainly down to Lisa’s writing. She had such integrity and honesty in telling the story of our hometown. Through her genius, she somehow managed to incorporate the Troubles into a comedy. That is a mammoth achievement. It came at this time when we were revisiting the Good Friday Agreement in the U.K., and on television, there was a lack of younger, female comedic actors. Plus the older female leads on the show were pivotal in showing these strong matriarchs. It hit this sweet spot.
Derry is such a specific place — it’s fascinating that it has transcended its reputation as a small town.
It is, but it’s universal. Being a teenage girl and the trials and tribulations that come with that is universal: The fact that no matter what is going on around you — if things are being blown up or there’s a civil war — the most important thing to you is the boy you fancy or what’s going on with your best friends.
You’re from Derry. Would you say this story, this role, was already in your bones?
Erin’s confidence and ambition and that fight back that she has to the powers that be really rung true to what it’s like to be a girl growing up in Derry.
You grew up going back and forth between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, right?
The farther abroad you go, I find that people are under the impression that we’re living with this heavy border and there’s still a lot of trouble going on — like you can’t go to Ireland if you’re English, or be careful what you say. But it’s really not the case at all. We travel freely across the border; I did it every day for school. My brother went to school in the south, and I went to school in the north. I think a lot of families grew up like that. My mom was from the south, from Donegal, and my dad’s from Derry, so I think I had the best of both worlds. But I would always say I’m a Derry girl.
What’s it like to turn into Erin Quinn? Even if you’re a true Derry girl, you don’t share many visible qualities with her.
Erin is a mash-up of myself as a teenager, Lisa as a teenager, and the girls of Derry today. I read Lisa saying this in an article, and it’s so, so true — there’s a real punk attitude to girls in Derry. There’s a real historical through line to that. During the Troubles, there weren’t many men to do jobs, so the women worked. That nature gets passed on to the young girls — fighting for what you want and what you need, believing in who you are, and having this thirst for the entire world. Erin has that. And when it comes to her physicality, Derry people are extremely dramatic, and teenagers are really dramatic, so I tried to pull at the parts I found most appealing. It all came naturally after that.
Her physicality, especially in her face, is so pronounced. I like to think of it as “the many faces of Erin Quinn.” And you do it so well. But honestly, it looks exhausting.
I have a younger cousin who was about Erin’s age, and I pulled a lot from her. There are five of us as an ensemble on Derry Girls, and we understand the part we have to play with on a joke or a setup within the rhythm of Lisa’s writing. I find myself tying that up at points, and that often comes with an expression. Playing a teenager, you can really push things far, and it was quite important for me to not shy away from it. We see a lot of older men as these physical comedic actors, but then there’s someone like Kristen Wiig, who is absolutely fantastic. I remember being quite nervous about it before the show aired, but I had a lot of support from Lisa and our directors, and I’m glad it’s something we didn’t half-arse, as we would say.
Does this younger cousin know she inspired Erin’s over-the-top expressiveness?
She definitely does. We’ve spoken about it a lot. She was sort of going through that time as a teenager when no matter what we said — and I think I’m quite a cool older cousin — she was repulsed or acted like we were ruining her life. But it was perfect for me. And now that she’s grown up a bit, she’s really lovely. [Laughs.]
Erin and James get to kiss in this final season, and Erin actually kisses him when he confesses that he likes her. I almost wanted to see more of them as a couple.
It’s so nice to have that little romance for the fans. Ultimately though, they’re such a little gang. It was actually mature for Erin to listen to Michelle; it’s not often you hear Erin say that somebody else is right. It was lovely for her to put that group of friends first, because she thinks of herself as the center of them all, and she wouldn’t want to rock that wee gang. There’s such a childlike innocence to Erin in that she’s quite scared of the world. She even says it in that closing speech — that she’s scared of the world and doesn’t feel ready for it all. She’s good at protecting the things that she holds tightest. But I think there’s definitely hope for James and Erin in the future. And I just love the sheer and utter balls of Erin kissing him first; I love that she went in for it. Fair play to you, dude.
What’s the story behind ending the series with Erin’s letter to Chelsea Clinton?
Lisa actually did write a letter to Chelsea Clinton. She invited her to go swim with her before Bill and Hillary came to Derry. That was a real moment in our history. But I think Lisa just thought it was a lovely way to end the show — to bring the girls into modern time, to have Chelsea reading the letter. And I guess Chelsea Clinton is a huge fan of the show. I love the idea of her and Bill and Hillary just sat around together with a bowl of popcorn watching Derry Girls.
I guess that’s some nice closure for Lisa, too, since I’m assuming Chelsea never did receive the letter.
I do think it got lost. [Laughs.]
Did you ever do anything like that as a teenager? I maybe sent a letter to the Hanson brothers once …
Oh yes, I used to write to U.S. talent shows and ask to be in them. I’d tell them I could definitely find the money if they’d let me be in it. I remember writing to the BRIT School (a prestigious performing-arts school in London) at age 12, and you had to be 16 to go there. I told them, “Don’t worry. I’ll figure the money afterwards, if you would just accept me. I’m 12. I’ll be your youngest pupil.” That’s as far as I got, though. They never responded.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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