We caught up with Rory and Calum
Following the explosive fourth entry in the series, we had a chance to chat with the two stars of the gripping drama.
Last week we caught up with Hazel Doupe and Thomas Levin about the series, and this week it's the turn of another troubled pairing. Lochlann Ó Mearáin and James O'Donoghue play opposite each-other in 'Smother' as father and son, Rory and Calum. As you will have seen if you've been watching the series, both characters have been at loggerheads with the other, so much so that they have been physical with one another on a couple of occasions.
Lochlann will be a familiar face to everyone across the country with a TV, as the man from the Bord Bia adverts. Of course, he's done more meatier roles in the past, having appeared in 'Finding Joy', 'Can't Cope, Won't Cope', 'Outlander', as well as voiceover work as Gaeilge for 'Spongebob Squarepants' on TG4.
Despite his young age, 17-year-old James O'Donoghue isn't all that new on the Irish acting scene. Currently in his fifth year in secondary school, he played Ben Fahey in 'Fair City' until 2017, and has appeared in 'Hardy Bucks' as a Young Viper.
In episode four of 'Smother', we finally discovered the reason why Rory has been suffering from mood swings - he's been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Calum found this out before his father told him first, resulting in the teenager lashing out at the father (and some Clare locals, hurley in hand). By the end of episode three, he goes on the run, and when we see him again he goes on a joyride with a group of unsavoury youths.
James made reference to how he brought this wild teenage side of Calum to life. He said: "Calum is definitely similar to what you get in certain places. There are people out there who are troubled and do have problems. He is a product of something that is very real. I took inspiration from people my age, and you do see "Calums" in the world, they do exist."
On the subject of the torrential weather that we can see batter the west coast throughout the series, both actors gave us a rundown of what happened when the rain and wind were non-stop. James said that during times when the weather particularly bad, he and the actors would have to do a short burst of a scene, before running for cover, getting dry, and heading back out into the wind once again.
Lochlann Ó Mearáin told us that due to production on the project closing down in March, and picking back up six months later, some scenes had to have extra wind inserted in post-filming: "There's some clever editing and film work going on there. They've added in extra wind noises, so much so, that one person came up to me in the street and said 'I know who did it! It was the wind!'"
The actor asked discussed his initial thoughts on the character of Rory, telling writer and creator of the series Kate O'Riordan that he is "a bit of an angry fellow". However, this was before Lochlann found out about the character's full story, and he put his full trust behind director Dathaí Keane and the rest of the ensemble cast to make the production a success.
And finally, off the back of the Irish television and film industry taking a huge blow the past year, how does Lochlann see the future of entertainment? He said: "The most important thing is for you to keep positive and healthy, in a good frame of mind, and know that everything just passes. And now we almost have a backlog of work catching up with this year's work so there is almost an enormous amount of projects happening now. It's just about keeping your head, and staying in shape mentally and physically."
You can catch Lochlann Ó Mearáin and James O'Donoghue in the final episode of 'Smother', which will air on RTÉ One this Sunday night. Catch up is available on the RTÉ Player.