Amy Huberman has spoken about working on the legal drama Striking Out, saying it affords her the chance to be "a little bit voyeuristic" about other people's lives.
The actress and author plays solicitor Tara Rafferty in the show, who suffered a massive shock in the opening scenes when she discovers her fiancé Eric (Rory Keenan) in bed with another woman, on her hen night no less.
"You think, wow that would be pretty harsh on your hen night, and then you talk to people you hear of so many things happening around weddings and hens", Huberman told Today FM's Ian Dempsey on Friday.
In the promo for the third episode of the four-part series, there's plenty more drama of that sort in store, as a man who has been hospitalised is discovered to have two wives.
"I found that so interesting, again you get to be a little bit voyeuristic, you think 'whaaat, how do people live their lives so duplicitously"', she said.
"So it's a guy who's lived a double life and then because he's involved in this medical incident, this all comes to the fore. All these storylines with betrayal and relationship issues sound off what she's going through as well, so she looks at it through a legal framework and then what's going on in her own life."
Don't miss the next episode of 'Striking Out', Sunday, 9.30pm on @rteone. Catch up on the series on @rteplayer https://t.co/OeuHwKfYmG pic.twitter.com/KbNoDg0yw9
— RTÉ (@rte) January 12, 2017
Her character Tara has worked with Eric in the legal firm his father runs, but quickly realises that she can't work with him after his betrayal.
Huberman says she empathised with the fact that the legal world in Dublin "is quite small", so Tara's peers and colleagues would know that "she's been done wrong", while she has to put her "professional face forward".
"I think she feels very under scrutiny. There's a reticence with all of them, because they have to have this professional game face on. She has to do that under the pressure of everybody knowing, and she was embarrassed", she said.
Huberman, whose previous small screen credits include The Clinic and Threesome, said she did a lot of preparation and research before taking on the role, as "it had been a while since I had done drama, so I was like 'I need to really know where I'm going with this".
Ahead of filming, she paid a visit to a legal firm where one of her friends works, which gave her an "invaluable" insight into the legal system in Ireland and the people working in it.
"The partner took me down to the courts which was invaluable in knowing just the shorthand of how they deal with each other.
"We did have legal advisors, but I suppose just seeing it firsthand was so useful, seeing how the solicitors and barristers interact with each other and the formality with the judges and everything, I wouldn't have known that!"
The actress also opened up about her upcoming projects, saying: "I've been writing a screenplay of the second book for a couple of years in between babies and acting jobs so that's been a long process. But we've got some funding for a comedy series so I have to sit down and write that!"
Huberman added that she and husband Brian O'Driscoll's two young children, Billy and Sadie, are "brilliant" and "keeping us busy".
Watch episode three of Striking Out on Sunday at 9.30pm on RTÉ One.
