Eva Birthistle On Bad Sisters Season 2

Bad Sisters is back for season 2, after the enormous success of season 1 in 2022. With all five Garvey sisters – Eva (Sharon Horgan), Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene) and Becka (Eve Hewson) – back for another round, we pick up a few years after season 1’s conclusion. We sat down with Eva Birthistle to hear all about what’s to come for Ursula – plus all about moving behind the camera on her directorial debut.

Interview: Eva Birthistle

Hi Eva, thank you for joining me today. Bad Sisters is back for season 2 – can you give us an elevator pitch for the show?

No, I can’t! But I’ll try. It is tricky because there are big spoilers that I obviously don’t want to do and I have to avoid certain storylines, but we meet the Garveys a couple of years on from where we last left them, and they’re at quite different stages of their lives. They’re all, on the surface, reasonably happy, with life’s complications and challenges still very much there. The season starts with the wedding. Grace is in a very different part of her life. She’s in a new relationship, and everybody’s very supportive and happy for her. But quite soon we realise that there’s still a sort of undercurrent of the past catching up with them. And, you know, certain characters who were privy to what happened in season one are voicing their unrest – with their knowledge and having to keep secrets. And it starts to become a bit more of a serious issue, and starts to threaten the girls’ lives. So the season traces the fallout from that, and how they try and keep the secrets going. But of course, that leads into much murkier waters, and people aren’t all that they seem to be.

There was only supposed to be one season originally. How did it feel when you heard a second was coming?

Well, absolutely over the moon, of course. We were hoping for it, but I think Sharon and the team were a bit hesitant to take it any further, because it felt like it was just wrapped up so nicely at the end of season one. 

The storyline was fantastic in the first series. People really fell for the Garvey girls and the familial aspect to it, and wanted to be back in their company again. Sharon really took that on board. Everybody realised that one of the real strengths of the show was actually the sisters and their dynamic. But the question on everybody’s lips was: how would you follow it? Where would the story go? JP is dead, so what could happen next? From episode one in the second series, they’ve picked that story up in a very natural, authentic way. Sharon has created something that feels very seamless. This is where you would meet the women a couple years down the line. It felt like that’s very plausible, and very effortless.

Do you have any siblings, and how did it feel bringing that sibling dynamic to the screen?

I have one sister and one brother. When we all first met at the beginning of series one, we had big chats about siblings, dynamics and our own different and similar experiences – just bringing all that knowledge and experience and opinions and feelings to the table to discuss. It’s really helpful having siblings when you’ve been in a lot of those dynamics and situations – not the murders, obviously! But many of the dynamics feel familiar and you can bring a lot of your own experiences to the floor.

How would you describe Ursula and her journey this season?

Well, she’s split up from Donal – which is sad, but probably right – and she’s trying to carve out this new life for herself. She’s still got her job as a nurse, and they’re tag teaming with the kids in the family home. She’s struggling more than she’s letting on, and self medicating to try and get herself through the day, through the week. But that all catches up with her, and she’s just in survival mode. So when things start to go wrong in the story, it quite quickly starts to unravel for her, because she’s actually only just about holding it together from the get go.

How did it feel to return to Ursula after a few years? And do you do anything to get into that character space?

I love her. I love her neurosis. She can be selfish at times, and I got a lot more fun out of her this time around. I think the scripts were so brilliant, and there was a lot more to explore with her. I also found it really interesting to look at the time that the audience hasn’t seen, and make decisions about what’s happened from the end of series one to where we meet her in series two. There’s not anything specifically I do to get into her psyche. Because we had quite a gap between series one and series two, so it took me probably a week to work back up into who she was. But I adore playing her. She’s a really fun character to play.

Any standout moments from rehearsals or filming?

Just that first read through for series two: seeing everybody back together again, but then having these wonderful new cast members joining us. We’re very fortunate that we have the wonderful Fiona Shaw joining the cast for series two, and we’re all so excited about her – and a little bit intimidated as well. She’s such a force, but she’s the most fun and the most playful actor, and really down to earth. So sitting around the table for the first read through was really special, seeing what she had put together for the role of Angelica, which was just a total joy to watch.

Sarah Greene, Eva Birthistle, Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff and Eve Hewson in Bad Sisters

You’ve also got your directorial debut Kathleen is Here coming up. Can you give us a quick intro to that?

Yes, it’s my first feature film that I’ve written and directed. We premiered at the Rain Dance Film Festival in London, and then Galway Film Fla, and it’s just gone on general release in Ireland. It was an amazing, incredible experience. It’s been received really well, so I’m sort of blown away by that. It stars a wonderful lead actress, Hazel Doupe – she is extraordinary. It’s about a young woman who ages out of care and moves back to her family home following the death of her biological mother, and how she ingratiates herself back into society. She forms a slightly obsessive relationship with an older woman that lives across the way. It’s a thriller, really, but it also examines that particular juncture when young adults age out of care, and how they’re left to fend for themselves. But this particular story takes it down a dark, thriller-y path. It was an incredible experience. We shot it in Dublin. I loved it.

What was it like switching to behind the camera work?

I wouldn’t say easy. None of filmmaking is easy. But it felt natural. I had thought about it for years – that that’s what I wanted to do. I made a short film before we made a feature, which was set in the world of the feature as well, so it just felt like a very natural place to be. Having a really clear vision that you’ve worked on for a long time come to life in front of you, and working with a wonderful team of people to make that happen was just an extraordinary, extraordinary experience.

Any other projects in the pipeline that you’re excited about? (If you’re allowed to tell us!)

I’m writing the next one, now that I’ve got this bit of time where I’m not acting, so I’m very excited about that. It’s a thriller again. But yes, I’d like to think I’ll be writing that until early next year and then maybe the year after hopefully going into production.

When did you realise you wanted to switch into the writing and directing side of things?

Writing kind of took me by surprise, really; I sort of did it as a means to get into directing. I just thought, ‘how do I get into directing without having to go to film school?’. I’ve been working as an actor for 20 years, and I thought, ‘what if I write a couple of short films, and make them on a shoestring? And then I’ll have something to show in terms of being a director’. And I ended up really enjoying the writing process: having the opportunity to explore story and character and take it wherever you wanted to go. Then I had an idea for the feature, which eventually became Kathleen is Here, though it started off with something slightly different. 

I’ve always watched an awful lot of films, so the structure of storytelling was something that had been percolating for a very, very long time. So when it came to actually having the ideas and putting them onto the page, it was something that I found easier than I expected. Not every day is easy; some days you’ve got nothing at all and are not remotely creative. But I just really like exploring stories.

What’s a genre you’d like to try?

For some reason, I seem to be drawn to the darker side of things. I think at some point I would probably do a horror, just to experience making a horror film, because it’s such a specific thing. But I think thriller is definitely my genre. The one that I’m working on now is a folkloric revenge thriller; witchy woo stuff really appeals. I’m really excited about Nosferatu that’s coming out, for example. Those Gothic films are really appealing to me.

Who is an actor, writer or director you’d love to work with?

Well, obviously, all the cast of Bad Sisters! Half of them will probably be in my film when I come to make it. I’ve been very lucky to have worked with a lot of wonderful directors. On Bad Sisters, we have the brilliant Dearbhla Walsh. She’s just a total force on set, and her energy is completely infectious; she has been a total joy and inspiration to work with. Over the years, I’ve worked with lots of amazing actors, too, and I feel like I’m lucky that, when I go to make my own films, I have their numbers so I can call and say, ‘please be in my film!’. That’s very handy.

Photography: Ejatu Shaw, Represented by Loo How
Styling: Karen Clarkson (Dress, Madeleine Thompson; Tights, FALKE; Shoes, Gianvito Rossi)
Make-up: Beverley Pond-Jones
Hair: Carlos Ferraz

WATCH

Bad Sisters is available to stream exclusively on Apple TV. Season 2 is underway, with new episodes arriving weekly Wednesdays.