“There should be more of it”: Louisa Harland on female led shows

Louisa Harland is best known for her role as Orla in Derry Girls.

The delightfully refreshing cousin of our main character Erin stole the hearts and souls of viewers around the world.

Now she’s playing a very different role as Anna in The Walsh Sisters. And she’s delighted to be working back in Ireland.

Speaking to VIP Magazine, she jokes: “I hadn’t worked in Ireland for a bit, and then all the crew were like, ‘Can you just do the [Orla] voice there?’ So every now and then I would.

“I haven’t really done anything in my own voice, so I didn’t know if I was going to be able to act, full stop, because I always feel like I’m doing a bit. I didn’t have that shield, that protection of doing a bit. But that was a really nice and a really interesting experience for me. It’s great.”

Anna and Rachel’s relationship is so integral to the story, so how did Louisa go about building the connection between her and the rest of the Walsh sisters?

“We were lucky because we had the luxury of a week’s rehearsal before we started filming, which is a luxury with film and TV. [The bond] was pretty instantaneous. We were all so excited to be on the job. Yeah, it was very natural,” she admits.

“I’ve known Danielle Galligan [who plays Claire] since I was a kid, because we did youth theatre together, and I hate my birthday. Obviously when I got there, I wasn’t going to say, ‘By the way everyone, it’s my birthday!’ I forgot that me and Danielle have known each other since we were kids, and she was like, ‘Isn’t it your birthday?'”

Such a sister thing to do! But perfect for the show!

The Walsh Sisters is led by five incredible Irish women. And it feels like one of the first times we’ve seen something like this on our screens.

The only other Irish show with such a strong female cast has to be Derry Girls.

Louisa nods, telling us: “In Derry Girls, there was a time we were filming and there were 11 women speaking all in one scene. I think we broke the Guinness World Record that day because there were 11 women speaking in the same scene, and that’s never happened before.

“It’s mad to think about, there should be more of it. We were speaking earlier about Desperate Housewives and stuff that I used to grow up watching. Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City, there was always a lot of women and I think maybe it actually went backwards a little bit.”

Well, long may it last! More mná on our screens!