Oscar winner Brenda Fricker has said she enjoyed the challenge of learning a seven-page monologue for a new TV show and says she thinks "the audience is always being underestimated".
The 77-year-old Dublin native can next be seen taking on the role of Lizzie Meany in the ITV/Virgin Media Television adaptation of the Graham Norton bestseller Holding.
Holding is set in the fictional West Cork town of Duneen and centres on Sergeant PJ Collins (Game of Thrones star Conleth Hill), "a gentle mountain of a man, who hides from people and fills his days with comfort food and half-hearted police work".
Fricker plays "a shy presence in PJ's life who has been battling her own demons and secrets - as PJ comes to discover".
Speaking on Friday's Late Late Show about delivering a seven-page speech, which takes over nine minutes to recite, Fricker said: "The monologue - somebody timed it - is nine minutes of time on the television screen. It was seven pages foolscap to learn.
"It was the only reason why I said yes to the part as I'm nearly eighty and I can't remember my own name as you just discovered," she laughed.
"I took the challenge on to see if I could learn it - and I did learn it!
"But there should be more speeches like that. I mean, it's a story. All we ever want is a story," she said.
"Shakespeare did it, the good writers do it, but they don't do it for television for some reason."
Fricker added: "I think the audience is always being underestimated. They are well able to watch a speech for nine minutes. It's an insult to say they can't."
The award-winning star explained how she found the daily commute to set "difficult" as she struggled to find dog friendly accommodation in West Cork.
Easy there Brenda 👀🤣#LateLate pic.twitter.com/nxrk1lrxNl
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) September 16, 2022
"It was difficult in a way as we were filming in Skibbereen and not one hotel, not one B&B, not one of the houses or cottages that were available to rent would take a dog, or let a dog in," she explained.
"So I was turfed out to Bantry and I had to get up at 4am every morning to be on set for 6am. I was knackered after a week. I found it difficult in that way."
