Holding | Interview with Siobhan McSweeney (Brid Riordan)

Tell us about Holding

The premise of Holding is that a skeleton is dug up and there’s a mystery around who it is. Tommy was meant to marry Bríd but he never turned up to the church on the day. So it’s the story of our local garda trying to figure out what happened to him.

What attracted you to the project?

I was immediately captivated by the tone of the piece. I thought it was something I hadn’t seen done before, particularly in Irish programmes. It’s a tone that’s sort of a bit odd and off, it’s beautifully written but it manages that extra thing in creating a world that’s immediately recognisable but also a little bit strange. It reminded me of the Coen Brothers.

Had you read the book before filming started?

I hadn’t read the book (sorry Graham) and I still haven’t read the book. It’s such a specific world and when you’re creating a character you need to work with the information you have on the page, and if there was extra information it would have been very muddy. I’m looking forward to reading it when we’ve finished filming.

Can you tell us about Bríd

Bríd lives with her husband, mother and two kids and is essentially a farmer’s wife. She’s superficially very recognisable; a mother, a wife, a daughter but actually she’s holding on to something that happened to her in the past.

She’s holding onto the fact Tommy Burke was meant to marry her 20 years ago and never turned up. She’s also someone with incredibly low esteem and she drinks.

I think Bríd is filled with shame because of her relationship with her mother, because she was ditched at the altar, and because she’s been told she was not attractive. She’s been made to feel crap about herself. I think the village is filled with people she feels talks about her all the time and keeps her in that place of feeling rejected at the altar.

What’s Bríd’s relationship like with her husband Anthony?

They’ve been married a long time, he swooped in when Tommy didn’t turn up. I think Bríd feels that the marriage was a business transaction, that Anthony got the farm and that’s why he he had any interest in Bríd. I think she’s treated the marriage like that, I think there’s a lot of affection, a lot of history, they have two lovely children together, but the marriage isn’t going too well, it could be better.

What was Bríd’s relationship like with Tommy Burke?

I think Tommy Burke was the local stud and she hates him for what he’s done. That humiliation, she’s never gotten over it.

Bríd and Evelyn used to be best friends, what happened?

Evelyn Ross was Bríd’s best friend; I think they were incredibly close when they were girls and then boys come into the picture and they sort of drifted.

I love how Bríd and Evelyn are written, it’s an interesting study into female friendship that superficially places Tommy at the centre of it. It’s actually about when girls become teenagers there’s a shift in the power dynamic and it’s a beautifully well observed friendship.

Can you tell us about Bríd and PJ?

Bríd’s relationship with PJ is really quite beautiful. I think as they get to know each other for various reasons there’s such a joy between them, they really like each other. Viewers will see lots of spontaneous laughter and it’s nice to show people growing closer without noticing they’re growing closer.

The characters of Bríd and PJ are not usually made the romantic leads in stories or given the great love story, the great will they/won’t they.

I think PJ finds Bríd very funny and light and joyful even though Bríd thinks she’s very low, grumpy and sullen. Whereas Bríd finds PJ so kind and he’s so funny and it just softens her completely. I just love their relationship so much.