Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee has said she feels "incredibly lucky" to have Normal People's Paul Mescal in her upcoming crime thriller.
Speaking on The Ray D'Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Monday, the screenwriter hailed Mescal's talent while admitting she is thrilled the 24-year-old actor is part of The Deceived, a new Virgin Media One four-part series from McGee and her husband, writer and actor Tobias Beer.
"We were his second TV job, and we were just incredibly lucky to get him, because although Normal People hadn't come out at that stage there was already a definite buzz about Paul.
"It was obvious how talented he was. We were incredibly lucky to get him for the show.
"It's really exciting now - I'm a huge, huge fan of Normal People. It's amazing."
The Deceived is described as "a compelling, sinister narrative of lust, manipulation and betrayal".
Filmed in Belfast, it tells the story of Ophelia (newcomer Emily Reid), a student who "falls in love with her timelessly attractive and charismatic, but married college lecturer, Dr Michael Callaghan (Emmet J Scanlan, Peaky Blinders, The Fall)".
The cast also includes Catherine Walker (Resistance, The Delinquent Season), Eleanor Methven (Derry Girls, Little Women) and Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones, Derry Girls).
Some secrets won't die. A brand new 4-part drama, #TheDeceived, is coming soon to @Channel5_tv. pic.twitter.com/CUdnNzGZe2
— Channel 5 (@channel5_tv) July 13, 2020
The cast of the much-loved series Derry Girls recently teamed up with Saoirse Ronan for RTÉ's Comic Relief.
In a hilarious sketch, the hit sitcom's leads – Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Nicola Coughlan, Dylan Llewellyn, and Louisa Harland – panic about meeting Ronan via a Zoom call and presenting her with a "brilliant idea" to raise money for charity.
Explaining how the 26-year-old Oscar nominee got involved, McGee said: "Deirdre O'Kane had asked me to write something and they wanted them to have to humiliate themselves in front of someone at the end of it.
"They said they would ask Saoirse Ronan as they knew she's a fan of the show - and she said yes!
"We were all quite nervous but thrilled that she decided to do it," she said.
When asked if Erin, Michelle, Clare, Orla and James, along with the rest of the well-known characters would ever get a big screen outing, McGee revealed how a Derry Girls movie is part of the show's "long-term plan".
"For a while I questioned whether it would work but now an idea is starting to vaguely form in my head. After series three, I'll think about that a bit more.
"I think I'd like to do it and I think the cast would like to do it. I think that would sort of be the long-term plan," she added.
