Niall Buggy is an Irish acting legend. Fact. In a career spanning a half century, the prolific thespian has stolen the show in movies (everything from Zardoz to Mamma Mia), television (he'll forever be Father Ted's drunken chat show host Henry Sellers) and on stage, where won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for Dead Funny.
Now he returns to Dublin to tread the boards in the Irish premiere of Jez Butterworth's Tony Award and Olivier Award-winning play The Ferryman, coming to the Gaiety Theatre this January, joining a cast of 21, a live baby, a live goose and a live rabbit!
We asked Niall for his choice cultural picks...
FILM
I love Fanny and Alexander, released in 1982. It's a beautifully directed and acted film and is so profound about family, love and hate. It’s got everything basically!
MUSIC
Music, oh god! I have so many... I’m really attached to the music of Guys and Dolls at the moment as I was just in the musical in The Bridge Theatre in London. That production was directed by the brilliant Nicholas Hynter. I particularly love the song More I Cannot Wish You.
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BOOK
I can’t read.
PLAY
Have you heard of The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth? I hear it’s really good and Andrew Flynn is directing a new Irish production of it in the Gaiety Theatre from 27th January.
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TV
Gogglebox. My favourite programme on television! I love the people, I just really think they’re lovely and watching this programme means that I don’t have to watch the actual television programmes they’re watching.
GIG
I haven’t been to a gig in years. Tommy Cooper would’ve been the last gig I went and I saw him five times Sheffield. Absolutely loved him, he’s the only comedian ever to have us all laughing even before he came on. My father also took me to see Jack Benny.
RADIO
I love to listen to my cousin Simon Delaney’s show on RTÉ Lyric FM every Sunday. I’ve known him since he was a baby and in addition to playing wonderful music, he’s a beautiful person.
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TECH
I’m not on much tech or many apps but I like to watch YouTube. Whatever comes up really but I particularly like to look at old things (much older than me). The I Love Lucy show, for example, is one of my favourites.
THE NEXT BIG THING...
All of my fellow actors in The Ferryman, but particularly the young ones up and coming. We have a cast of 24 spreading across many ages and I hope to see a lot more of the young kids, teenagers and young adults. But they’ll have to sort that out for themselves. 😉
The Ferryman is at the Gaiety Theatre from 27th Jan. - 15th Mar 2025 - find out more here.
