A Dublin actress has described her Derry Girls debut as a “dream come true”.
Shauna Higgins, from Cabra, has always been a massive fan of the Channel 4 series and she couldn't believe it when she got to see what life was like as a Derry Girl.
Shauna, who starred as Wee Ma Mary, told Dublin Live: “I always watched it and when I got an audition in July, it was a huge deal.
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“I’d two callbacks and got the offer in August. I went to rehearsals and even that was surreal, meeting Lisa McGee and Michael Lennox, the director of it.
“I went back up at the end of October and I’d three days on set. Everyone was so lovely, it was such a great set to be on. The cast and crew were so nice, it was like a dream come true to be there.”
The actress hails from North Dublin so it took a bit of effort to get the Northern Irish accent but thankfully fans loved it.
She said: “For the first audition I wrote the script down phonetically because of the Northern accent.
“I was talking to people in the Derry accent to get some practice. The girl who played Wee Aunt Sarah, Dearbhaile McKinney, she’s from Derry and I’d get her to say things and repeat it.
“I put my phone away when the episode aired because I didn’t want to look at it until after.
“I’d so many messages and missed calls. I was looking on Twitter, because I like to torture myself that way but all the reviews and everyone's comments were so complimentary.”
The upcoming star is showing no signs of slowing down either with her diligent work ethic, so we’re expecting her to soar in her career.
She said: “When I was four I joined Billy Barry Stage School, I left it when I was seven and went to the National Performing Arts School and I was there until I was 15. I was doing drama classes, acting for the camera and musical theatre.
“Then after school, I went and did a year in Bull Alley Theatre, a training company in the Liberties then I went to Bow Street Academy, so it’s just something that was always in my head since I was a kid.
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do and it’s so important to me, I love it so much.”
Shauna has previously graced our screen in Red Rock and the hilarious movie, Deadly Cuts.
“Deadly Cuts came out in cinemas last October and it did really well in Ireland and the UK,” she added.
“It came out on Netflix in January and so many people watched it, it went to number one in Ireland in two days. It did really well and there’s talk of it being a series.”
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