“I just think you should be able to compliment a woman’s eyebrows without having her personality dragged into it.” This is just one of the hilarious quotes from Derry Girls’ Sarah McCool, known for her inappropriate comments on life, such as how the Troubles were upsetting her tanning appointments.
It’s been two years since the global hit sitcom ended, but its popularity continues to grow all over the world.
“I was in a shop in Belfast the other day, and the wee girl working in the shop recognised me as Aunt Sarah, and she said to me, we’re studying Derry Girls for GCSE. Unbelievable,” says Kathy Kiera Clarke, the actress who brought the character to such vivid life.
“We assumed it would resonate locally, the extent to which it related globally was a shock initially.
“I’ve had people come up to me from everywhere in the world – Brazil, France, America – and they speak about the show with joy.
“Our sense of humour in the north is very dark. But I find that it’s actually not that unique to us; it’s something that people relate to all over the world. It’s the human experience.”
The other reason for Derry Girls’ success, of course, was the characters penned by Lisa McGee - including the dippy, yet content, Aunt Sarah.
“I think everybody has a ditzy aunt,” laughs the 51-year-old.
Like Ian McElhinney, who played Granda Joe, Clarke already had an established career and numerous credits to her name, on both stage and screen, before joining the show.
“There are many ways of interpreting a character. I decided to play Sarah completely innocent, but serious at the same time,” she explains.
“It was a departure for me. I had played many dark roles, from killing babies to Lady Macbeth. It was such a joy to just escape into Aunt Sarah’s head for three months every season. I wish I was her sometimes, life would be much simpler.”
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Clarke’s journey into the world of acting began in St Louise’s Comprehensive in west Belfast, where her classmates included Prime Cut artistic director Emma Jordan.
“St Louise’s had this really incredible drama department. The summer before I left we founded a theatre company, Marillac Theatre Company.
“Over the summer, we had a professional director and writer come in and we toured Ireland with two shows,” enthuses Clarke.
As part of a competition, they were invited to perform at the Olivier Theatre in London’s South Bank. From that, Clarke put plans to study at Trinity College Dublin on hold, going straight to work in the industry.
One of her early jobs was in the music video for Blur’s single For Tomorrow, from their debut album, Modern Life is Rubbish.
Laughing she recalls, “It was a long, long time ago, and my agent suggested auditioning for a video an upcoming band. It was happening literally five minutes from where I was, so I thought why not?
“We shot the video over 24 hours. From Trafalgar Square, covered in pigeons, to rolling down Primrose Hill with Damon Albarn.
“I walk on Primrose Hill quite a lot and think about that day. We shot that scene so many times that the two of us were so sick from rolling down the hill we couldn’t eat our lunch,” laughs Clarke, who has lived in London for over 30 years.
Amongst her neighbours is Siobhan McSweeney, who played Sister Michael in Derry Girls.
“Siobhan and I see each other all the time. I helped her do a big declutter recently, donating 11 full bags to charity.”
Read more: Siobhán McSweeney: ‘I feel a great gratitude to the people of Derry’
Delighted to see their younger Derry Girls cast members careers take off, the pair also try to have regular dinners with their fellow ‘Londoners’, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan and Dylan Llewellyn.
She also keeps in touch with Lisa McGee by phone – though confesses she is old school, refusing “to do social media”.
“Lisa laughs at me because when I forward her something she will send me a message back saying, ‘God, I love you - that was up three months ago’.”
Siobhán McSweeney and I see each other all the time. I helped her do a big declutter recently, donating 11 full bags to charity
Since finishing Derry Girls, Clarke has enjoyed a full-year of theatre, including starring in Eugene O’Hare’s emotional play The Dry House, dealing with alcoholism.
“I never done a play before that had such an impact upon audiences, with them wanting to stay behind and talk to you. It was pretty brutal and pulled no punches, but being set in Newry, Co Down, it was also full of dark humour. I hope there’s another life for it.”
She also starred in the movie, Dead Man’s Money, shown in the recent Belfast Film Festival, alongside Ciaran McMenamin, Pat Shortt, Judith Roddy and Gerard Jordan.
“It was lovely to reconnect with so many familiar faces. It was written and directed by Paul Kennedy, who I did Scarborough with at Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter years ago and Ciaran, Gerard and I starred in Pulling Moves back in 2014.”
With an unusual break in her schedule this autumn, Clarke took up the opportunity to take up an invitation from Discover NI to rediscover home.
“It’s always lovely to come home. It’s a completely different place now, there is a real vibrancy about the place. Every time I come back it seems like there is something new to see,” she says.
Her trip included a stay in Belfast’s Grand Central Hotel, a Seedhead Arts Street Art Walking Tour and a tour of Titanic Distillers, including the guided tour of Thompson Graving Dock.
“There were 66 steps down into the dry dock where the Titanic stood, it was impressive, as was the art tour of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. You truly discover things you don’t necessarily notice when you’re just walking around your own city.”
Later Clarke visited the Game of Thrones Studio Tour, Bushmills Inn, the Magheracross Viewpoint outside Portrush and the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy.
“I took my personal copy of one of his books and it gave me shivers to stand there and look at his personal effects, including the pens he used to create his masterpieces.”
The location she is still “dreaming about” is Enniskeen Estate and Forest Spa, which is set within the Mourne Mountains.
“Glamping really doesn’t do it justice. It was like a magical fairy fantasy. These pods are completely private and purely luxurious. You’ve got your wee bathroom, an amazing bed with a wall-size window that looks out onto the Mournes, with your own wood burning stove, hot tub and sauna. You could just sit there for weeks and watch the seasons change. There really is nowhere else like it.”
The perfect location to try her hand at writing, perhaps?
“It would certainly be the starting point to contemplate it. It’s the landscape that inspired CS Lewis to create Narnia for his chronicles. I don’t think I could come up with anything better than he did,” she laughs.
Next up for Clarke is another furrow into the world of screen comedy.
“It will be the first comedy that I’ve done since Derry Girls. It’s been difficult putting myself back into that arena because you don’t want to replicate a character. Sarah was a one off – it’s been done. I’m looking forward to creating something fresh.”
To plan your next giant adventure in Northern Ireland this autumn and winter or to find Kathy’s itinerary, visit discovernorthernireland.com
