We’re feeling very proud to be Irish this week.
And when Extraordinary dropped on Disney+ this week we rushed to sit down and watch it. The comedy series is the brain child of 28-year-old writer Emma Moran. She sat down with pen in hand to create this hilarious series in 2020.
VIP Magazine caught up with Emma to chat all about her “lockdown baby” and sharing her vision with the world.
View this post on Instagram
Hi Emma, how are you keeping?
I’m good thanks.
Now Extraordinary is out in the world, how are you feeling about it?
It’s been a weird journey. It was a lockdown baby, it was just me alone with my laptop for a really long time. Then seeing it be brought to life and going on to set to see these wonderful actors enhance it, it’s been a whirlwind.
Are you more nervous or excited about people watching?
I think I’m a mix of the both. You can’t really tell until something comes out. Then it’s out of your control. It’s owned by the public. I settle myself by knowing that I did my part. I’m super happy and proud of everyone that I worked with. I’ve done the work and I’m happy with it, that’s all I can ask for.
You must be relieved at the very least that it’s finally out!
The best thing about it is that I can talk to my friends about it without them thinking I’m crazy. They were like, “Oh, okay you’re working on a little thing.” But now people have seen the trailer and the images they realise how big and bold and ambitious it really is. It’s kind of validating and it makes me feel like I haven’t gone insane.
You’re Irish and our main character Jen is played by Máiréad Tyers, did you originally write it for an all Irish cast or was it a happy coincidence that she landed the role?
I don’t know how much more Irish talent you can squeeze into it. We’re shining through very, very strongly. To be honest, I kind of wrote it based on my own experience living in London. For ages, it was a really English show. But when we started casting everyone bar me realised that the main character was Irish. I had written this very typical, snarky Irish woman. I was the last to realise it but once it kind of clicked, I was like, “Oh of course.”.
And of course Siobhán McSweeney plays Jen’s mam in the show. What was it like working with her?
She’s so, so funny. She’s the loveliest person as well. She DM’d me on Twitter as soon as she got the scripts praising it. I was starstruck. She’s wonderful. She brings these little wrinkles to the character that just makes it so much more real. Even if the character is saying these horrible things, you get the sense that she’s saying them for your own good. She has these great intentions to bring that warmth to these characters.
She’s the perfect Irish mammy!
They’re doing the best for you by doing the worst.
The rest of the cast is absolutely brilliant as well. And they seem very similar to their characters. Once they were cast did you tweak the script to suit them better?
You do tweak a little bit when people are cast. I’m the writer but I’m not God. Not everything I say is the correct thing. You want something to fit someone’s voice and if you know someone is really good with physical comedy you want to play to that. So tweaking is good. The tweaking never stops. You tweak the script, you tweak on set, you tweak in the edit, you tweak with ADR. The characters have become so vivid and so real. That’s through tweaking.
Disney+ has some pretty incredible shows. Was there pressure there to live up to that standard?
I haven’t really thought about it. I have just had blinders on just wanting to make the best show that I can. I don’t want to look to where we sit in the market. I just wanted to write a show that I wanted to see. I’m not quite sick of seeing it. [Laughs] So I hope others aren’t either. It’s got it’s voice and its own specific tone, I think it speaks for itself.
You’ve spoken about your nerves with the show’s release. But are you excited for your lockdown baby to travel around the globe?
Oh yes. I hope it’s not an ugly baby. [Laughs] I’m really interested to see how that distinct Irish humour travels through the rest of the world. I think it exports well. I’m excited to see how it travels.
We won’t jinx it, but could we see a second season of Extraordinary?
I think see how it goes. We did a lot of worldbuilding this season and I created this really big world. It would be great to keep it going. But it is a wait and see type of thing.
All of Extraordinary is available to stream on Disney+ now
