Original subtitles

Well, if I had known from earlier that I would be playing her, I don't think I

would have put the sex scene in because it was probably one of the most

uncomfortable things in my life.

I love it.

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Walsh Sisters Companion

with me, Stephanie Prisner. And me, Marion Keyes. And we are kicking the

off by throwing straight to a clip. Yeah, listen to this.

Do you hear what I said?

I did.

We have tickets to Glastonbury and we had seven laptops online and two phones

just to get out of the queue.

Poor Anna.

And to discuss this phenomenal episode, we have Louisa

Harland with us, joining us via... The miracle of satellite.

Welcome, Louisa.

Thanks for having me. Hi, Louisa. Thank you so much for being out of Anna Ward

so beautifully.

And actually, and you and Aidan are beautiful together.

Yes. I mean, I love Aidan. I mean, he doesn't. But, you know, that scene in

Glastonbury scene, obviously, Anna's in shock. And, you know, that was her

emotional state. And then when the camera turned around on Aidan Quinn,

when I would just like weep.

You would genuinely weep.

Yes. Because I wasn't allowed.

I mean, you know, it wasn't a story. You know, he was like letting out emotions.

And when the camera turned around on Aidan, I just, and I find him as daddy

moving. I mean, I love him.

He's a legend. But I just found him so moving. And like, you really felt like

was a father of women.

You know?

He was incredible with all of us.

Did you mean Aidan Quinn or Samuel Anderson as Aidan, Marion?

Oh God, no, sorry, Aidan Quinn I meant.

Oh, you meant Aidan Quinn. Yeah, Quinners. We had to call him Quinners on

because obviously Aidan. Yeah, Quinners.

Yeah. No, I really feel Quinners has a very loving, fatherly

energy of him. Yeah.

Oh my God.

Like, totally.

And he's so great to work with.

Yeah, he just really moved me. Even, you know, watching him with other sisters

or watching some of the episodes back. And I love the relationship he has with

us all. I find, obviously, the relationship he has with Maggie

moving. And, you know, I'm incredibly close to my dad. So, yeah, I mean, we

just so lucky to have Aidan play Daddy, weren't we? And I just loved it. But I

did, I just found... I think as well because Anna's in shock.

But I obviously...

you know, found the whole story so emotional. I think I always, yeah, I

were all crying so much, it has to be said, weren't we?

I remember in episode, Aidan Quinn in episode six,

when we, you'll get to episode six, was quite like an emotional climax.

And Anna has a speech that she delivers.

And Aidan came to me afterwards and he was like, That take, that is the take

have to use. That woman is incredible.

I've never seen someone move through a speech like that.

Where did you find that actress? She is unbelievable. And I was like, I know.

And kind of like flicking fake dandruff off my shoulders because I was so small.

I was like, she's incredible.

But even that Glastonbury scene, like so many, it's quite a strange scene. Okay.

So she just found out that the love of her life is dead.

And her instinct is to go straight to, hey, I'd like to sell these Glastonbury

tickets. But she was in shock.

She was in shock. I mean, she was sidestepping reality because it was too

Yeah. But people do things like that.

Well, they definitely do in your books and in your world. I suppose, maybe.

I think they do in the real world as well. I do think in real life as well.

just doesn't fit the narrative, you know, that we have of grief or

That sense of finding out that he's dead and her absolute lack of ability to

process that information.

Yeah. Like for the first half of a 600 page book, she is in denial. And but

through letters. So it's much easier to do. And you can't do letters on screen.

Right. Like, how do I get the sense that this girl, she's not crazy, but she is

so broken that.

She cannot process the fact that this man is gone. And so that's how I came up

with this sort of denial.

But in the hands of another actor, she could have seemed, like my husband is a

widower and lost his wife.

Kind of, they got married very quickly when they realized that she was going to

die. And he has watched these episodes and he is always in bits about Louisa.

doesn't know how he's able to tap into that.

It's so real.

And in the hands of someone else.

that scene with the Glastonbury could have been very trite or whimsical or not

grounded in the, you did so much work in grounding, everything has to be

believable. You said it every single day, like has to be truthful, has to be

truthful, has to be truthful.

That is such a good point. Yeah, I mean, I just always want to, I always want it

like, you know, that we're real people and we're really talking to each other.

think that's always key. And the scene, that scene is so jarring.

like in a truthful way, but it is jarring to watch. It was jarring to do.

you know, that's like your book. Then you have to find the humor in things and

like almost finding out he died.

And I mean, like how annoying because he's lost all his tickets. Like how

typical that he died because like we tried so hard because he's lost all his

tickets. And like so annoying and difficult that he's dead.

Yes. But like that makes a strange sort of sense.

You know, like it's not whimsical. And I think with your gravitas, Louisa.

you absolutely convinced us that, like, it was a completely believable reaction.

At no point did it seem silly or, or what's the word, kind of played for

It was nothing like that. It was the sign of somebody in terrible shock and

finding reality just way, just impossible to process at that time.

No, I also love Danny in that scene. And Claire is the character who comes in

and almost tries to burst the bubble, to be like, no, Anna, you're being so

weird. And I'm like, no, stop, don't tell me I'm being weird.

Like, leave me if you think so, because this is how I'm dealing with it right

now.

Yeah.

Danny's such a beautiful actor, and I've known her.

We went to Anne Kavanagh together, and we did the Fresh Matthew together.

It's so special to work with her on this as well and play sisters because I was

a fan of hers when I was a child. I wanted to be her. I was basically the

in the class and I want to be like Dani. And then seeing how well she's done in

her career and now just getting to work together, it's just kind of the perfect

project for us to work together for the first time on professionally.

When she gets into that bed with you, it's just such a beautiful moment.

the that is in this episode isn't it yeah yeah um and then um again undercut

by mammy you know i just love the idea of like the sisters having this

moment and then mammy being like god these chairs are so uncomfortable and

claire being like just leave it's like i have this yeah go home go home um and i

love that um like juxtaposition of like

You know how beautiful Donny looks in the bed and how put together she is. And

obviously she has had, she's cried for Anna. You know what I mean? She's had

cry in the car and come back and she's just this beautiful, you know,

picturesque. And obviously Anna is broken and wounded physically and

emotionally. And her just lying beside seeing those two sisters like that, I

think it's a lovely image.

It is.

So Anna and Aidan Maddox, her fiancés, journey is a

short one but one that you worked really hard to make sure was really truthful

and while everyone around you is saying but you don't even know this man like

why like we needed the audience and us needed to believe you do know him and

this isn't just one of your phases that you're going through um how was the

process of working with Samuel Anderson and kind of your making that

relationship real when he's dead for a lot of it.

Yeah, I mean, I just really knew that, like, you needed to believe

that this relationship was real for Anna, even if nobody else around her

believed it. And I think that almost put Anna into loving him more and, you

know, going down even more for Aidan.

I think we needed to believe that this was real.

And yeah, I mean, Sam's so lovely. And yeah, we were lucky to have him as well.

I mean, we were so lucky across the board. I mean, it goes without saying,

God, we were so lucky with the cast.

Yeah, he was a great character because he wasn't.

He wasn't Mr.

Sappy. Like, he wasn't Mr. Sweetness and Light. You know, when Rachel arrived

into the bedroom and he says, you know, you don't knock.

Like, I liked that he was quite, not exactly abrasive, but he was not going

people please, just to kind of win friends and influence people.

And then there's the scene when you're walking from Black Rock Darts, Dayton,

and like you're so physically close to each other. And he said, well, we're

going to have to come for lunch like every week for the rest of our lives.

And you said, well, no.

He said, until we die. Until we die. And you said, no, no, no, just until they

die. And then even then you were so like, sweet kind of, no, no, no, I

have said that. And even the flowers that they brought were such prestige

flowers. Yeah. You know, they were like a good, a different couple to everybody

else. Yeah.

Like nothing like Rachel and Luke, obviously, but nothing like Garv and

either. Yeah. And then Mammy holds up the flowers.

I think you need to see them to be quite kind of like picturesque almost in the

beginning. Then, you know, his physical makeup lying in that bed with all the

tubes. It was so like, I found it so harrowing and emotional, you know? And

way he can hardly speak.

Yeah, and his little soul and eyelids. Yeah. And then she's talking about

like... Will we dance at the wedding and... Yeah.

Anyway.

He was brilliant as well.

I mean, yeah, I think we, yeah, again, I mean, we found that whole

week in the hospital so incredibly moving. And what you do so well,

is, you know, you use humour and life in horrendous situations, which is what

humans do.

And we had to try and force ourselves to find the life within that week we were

shooting in the hospital because, as Steph will tell you, I really struggled.

Like, I really was a broken woman. I just found it very

real. And I think that was quite late in our filming process as well, wasn't it?

Yeah, it was. We had already been shooting for quite a long time when we

that hospital.

So, yeah, it was just... Like I was saying in a previous episode about

being the litmus test of, like, what is real.

So trying to find a way where...

like Louisa where we could see that Anna has been in a car crash but in order

for the audience to feel safe to go with the humor and for the humor not to feel

like grotesquely insensitive yeah the audience need the security to be like

she's okay so the first time we see Anna we needed to be like okay Anna is

definitely not in jeopardy But you are allowed to reserve your fear for Aidan

because things are not good there.

But I and that was a really difficult balance to get because we needed to keep

it truthful. And Louisa is always on the hunt for like what's truthful.

And so we're trying to find the balance of like, I've been in a car crash. I've

got a punctured lung. I can't see my fiance. Like, where can I pitch my,

you know, my sadness, my fear, my emotion.

So that was a really, really tricky week. But I don't.

I don't think anyone else I certainly if I was playing Anna wouldn't have been

able to do it like not in a million billion years it would have been like

journey that you have to go on of like denial shock anger

because okay let's laugh laugh and then you have at the end of episode three

we're gonna play this clip now like you find out yeah you think it's bad now but

yeah let's say that clip

I just spoke to your mom and I just needed to hear your voice.

How could I have been with you last week and now you're gone?

Alice Kremlberg.

What an amazing Janie.

The one and only. I mean, the only Janie. We were so blessed.

Really? Yeah, but that's also down to casting director Louisa Harland.

Oh. Another one of Louisa's skills is casting.

But also because Louisa is such a joy. Anyone who's ever worked with her. Yeah,

wants to work with her again. Yes, same.

I feel the same.

She was like, Alice can do it. She has a working visa for...

Ireland we were like you're joking like Alice Kremlberg from art is the new

black and the sinner and renegade now Louise was like yeah and then we made it

happen Alice Kremlberg who read your books Marion on her travels over to

from New York or where in LA or wherever she was at the time and is now your

biggest fan yeah that particular scene listening to the voice Aidan's voicemail

and then obviously being interrupted by

a call from Janie and then the key, obviously, sentence is, you know, I was

you last week and now you're gone. How is this possible? You know, that's the

real clanger.

That's another scene where I was crying in between takes.

I just,

you know, what I loved as well, what I think made everything so much more

emotional as well on set was how much the crew loved the story and, you know,

loved these women and loved the book.

and you know you really felt that you know you really felt the support but it

all it all just felt so so um so sad you know and um

like during the scenes eva who's our script supervisor would because because

she's sitting looking at the script the whole time to make sure we're staying on

point and she was crying

because Louisa was performing so beautifully.

But then part of Louisa's story... I mean, the writing is fairly good, I have

say. Just all the elements is why everyone found it so moving.

Louisa's storyline is that she can't access those emotions and she can't cry

she's in shock.

So we'd have to be like, hold back, hold back, hold back. Oh yeah, you can't cry

yet.

No, and Marion, I was listening to that voice now in a couple of takes and then

I just feel the tears coming down and I'm like, sorry, and Ian's like, cut.

We can do this, Louisa, we can do this. And I'm like, no, no, no, we can do

this.

Cut. Again.

Exactly.

Can I just segue slightly here and say how gorgeous Helen was trying to calm

down and doing the breathing and blow out the candle, blow out the candle.

never heard that before. That's so sweet.

Yeah, I think that was improvised on the day. I mean, Maryse is such a brilliant

actor. I remember a couple of years ago when my best mate Siobhan rang me

because she had just been working with her and she used to ring me after set

being like, you have to work with this girl. She's fabulous.

I've kind of been obsessed with Maraid ever since. And I'm so, again, I know,

broken record, but so lucky to have had her, Helen.

Yeah, she's beautiful in that scene.

She really is.

Because I think so much of the time she feels she has nothing to offer. Yeah.

And she was useful.

She knew she was helping you.

Like, it was lovely. And you can see Helen fighting her, you know, fear and,

know, worry for her sister in that moment, to be strong for her sister in

moment. Yeah, that she had to step up.

Yeah.

It was really... I loved it. And it's such a small glimpse into, you know,

I hope if we get to make season two.

You know, it's those insights where you get to see, like, Helen isn't just a...

snarky commentator like she has all of her own stuff and I got the sense that

that scene she knows what Louisa's going through she's had her own panic attacks

she knows like what it's like to be in this space and I just thought that was

really moving yeah I loved it Louisa if you wouldn't mind staying with us after

the break we're going to talk about my sex life so we'll be back after this

thank you

Welcome back to part two.

The bit that you've all been waiting for.

Maggie and Garv getting their moment with their sex schedule. For those of

who don't remember, let's have a little reminder.

What's this?

I was doing this schedule for visiting Anna and I thought I would make one for

us as well.

Right.

We are having sex every day for a week.

More than a week.

But I've put it into your calendar.

And it'll just pop up on your screen.

Sex now.

What if I'm in a meeting?

I'm joking.

I'm not going to say that.

It's just my name. Very subtle.

No one will know.

Oh,

Maggie and Garb. I'm so fond of them. Oh my God, I love them.

Love Maggie and Garb. Yeah, they're gorgeous.

they're such good friends i just wish she would stand up for him a little bit

when all the girls are rinsing him about his not paying his round and being

stingy and dry and but that's definitely a sign of um of love

from the sisters yeah and closeness you can tell how close they are with garth

because they're so awesome yeah i guess and it's almost like an instinct at this

stage

Do you know, like, nobody's kind of put much thought into it. Yes, it's just...

It's just what you do. Someone mentioned money, we need to do something about

Garve. Yeah, what do you mean about Garve? Yeah.

Like, there's barely any malice in it, but it's a habit.

Yeah. And it's just, yeah.

It's always been done. What a great performance from him as well.

I love him. Has he done acting before?

He has, yeah. And he's a stand -up comedian. I knew he was a stand -up. I

he's really good at this.

Yeah, I think he's very, very good.

Oh, he's so good. So natural. Also, such a lovely energy to have on set. Just

so, so funny. So sound.

I love Garb and Maggie together.

And there's something really... Even though I think they're probably some of

scenes where I laugh the most.

You know, that's also...

Because obviously, you know, this is such harrowing stuff in this series. I

mean, I find that storyline deeply sad as well.

Yeah, I didn't anticipate playing Maggie when I was writing it.

But we cast Anna and Rachel and Helen. So then we were auditioning for Clare

I was reading Maggie opposite Clare. Wow.

You know, I read opposite lots of the actors for different roles.

And Maureen Hughes said to me, you know, you make a really beautiful Maggie.

And I was like, I'm just reading, like, I know the words so well now. And she

was like, no, I think you should audition for Maggie.

And I was like, huh. And I didn't have that immediate reaction of like, no, I'm

not Maggie. This is not me. And where Maggie and I overlap, like I've had my

fertility issues and I had a sex schedule, two failed rounds of IVF, just

to get pregnant for years and like five miscarriages.

So I really relate to her and that.

grief but it's sort of a nebulous thing because it's like grief for a life that

you want that's not definitely not happening but might not be happening and

also there's so much going on in the family around her that she doesn't even

really have time to fully go there um and so I entertained the idea and

then we did auditions and sent the videos to all the you know people who

say and that's how I came to be Maggie but that's great Yeah, well, if I had

known from earlier that I would be playing her, I don't think I would have

the sex scene in because it was probably one of the most uncomfortable things in

my life.

I love it.

Hello.

You said 7 .30? I know, but I didn't know how long it would take to find

somewhere, you know, get set up.

Set up? Did you bring a swing?

I'm nervous.

So am I. There's still people here.

Yeah, but look, they won't see.

Ready, Mr. Paul Garvin?

You know, if we ever do conceive from this, we can't tell the kids, okay?

Deal? Maggie, stop.

Fantastic. They're on a shared mission.

They are.

But on that day of the shared mission.

So I met Stephen, who plays Garth. Yeah. For the second time ever that morning.

And we met the intimacy coordinator. And what you do is you kind of like

choreograph a sex scene and you show two versions of it to the director and then

he picks.

So we had like one scene that you saw and then another one where like my legs

are up on his shoulders.

and Ian saw that when he was like too high comedy like let's try and keep it

truthful yeah and so that was fine I had my modesty underwear and we

decided that we were going to do skirt up knickers down rather than trousers

down so costume were all involved and we were doing implied nudity so there was

this kind of like a scene or a shot of my tie where you'd see kind of this

modesty underwear which looked like I had nothing on So that was fine. We did

that all organized. And then it was like, go back to the trailer and wait

like four hours because we're going to shoot a different scene and then we'll

come to you. So I said, fine. We were waiting for nighttime anyway.

Three hours passed.

Like, I better go to the toilet before we get all this set up.

Period. Arrives.

Oh, God.

Two weeks early.

Out of absolutely nowhere.

I was in bits. The body knows.

Louisa, wasn't I just in bits?

I was so...

shook like so i rang the irony of it as well i mean i think we were thinking as

well at a certain point yeah all of us were what do you mean thinking like all

of the sisters like we're on the same period oh thinking oh that's thinking

right i get you yes you're catching each other yeah yeah we just get texts into

the whatsapp group from someone's trailer being like oh that is so

isn't it And I'd be like, guys, my stomach's killing me. Is someone on

period? And they'd all be like, yeah. And I'd be like, what?

Wow. And then, so we had to change the whole thing. I had to wear, I was like,

so I had to, she came with her, the intimacy coordinator came with, like,

period gear. She was amazing.

What a legend.

She had all of the options.

And I was like, I just don't want to have to tell, like, Ian, the director.

JJ the cameraman yeah Johnny that's like the first day I don't have to tell

these people we're changing how this looks now because I have my period and

was like no that's fine that's my job this is all fine but that's class yeah

I got to wear my full briefs and we changed the shots and whatever and there

no embarrassment but it was very stressful and I was sweating and in that

I'm wearing like a silk like a silky shirt thing and I was like sweating so

out of nerves, which you'll know all about, Louisa. Louisa's the sweetest

I'm a sweater.

But also, you know, we had this incredible, lovely crew that, like, even

did, you could say it. You know what I mean? It was such a safe space, wasn't

it? It was. I don't think I felt that on, like, week three, though, you know?

And for that particular scene. For that particular scene. And I didn't want

Stephen to know. And then she, because I was like, I don't want him to be like,

and he'll hear the rustle of something, you know. And so then Ciara came with

this, you know, like a Pilates ball. So it's like an exercise ball, but smaller.

And so she was like, I have this nine inch Pilates ball. And I was like, why

we talking about inches?

So she was like, I have this half deflated. So this will go in between

pelvis and his pelvis.

And so then he won't feel, no one will feel anything and it will absorb a

bit of the thrust action.

I mean, that is really, really innovative.

Yeah. Kind.

She has all of the tricks to make everyone feel comfortable and safe.

But it meant that in that bit where I stand up and say, good job.

Actually, there's a nine inch Pilates ball falling on the ground from between

legs, which you can't see.

And then the high five at the end of that scene was completely improvised by

Garth. And I think by Stephen. And I just think it's a beautiful moment. It

really is. Yeah.

They're a hugely convincing couple.

So I really hope that they have success on their journey. Oh my God, me too.

Yeah. I mean, they've put enough into it.

They have indeed.

Absolutely.

I think we all fell in love with Stephen a bit though, didn't we? On that night

where we shot episode one, the first night that we all shot with Stephen and

just had us in stitches the whole night. Like it was one of the only times

where...

I felt like everyone was annoyed with me because I couldn't stop laughing.

And Ian was like, come on, we can get through it. And you know, then when

start getting cross, it gets funnier.

Definitely.

But it was all Stephen's fault. He just had us in hijinks the whole night.

He really did.

And, you know, yeah, I mean, just thinking right there, I just love Ian so

I know.

One of the best directors I've ever worked with. That is so lovely to hear.

brilliant actor as well which makes a brilliant director but just as a person

mean instantly I think as soon as I met him but you know as time went on and now

obviously there's been a gap in film you know I miss him yeah god yeah he has

such respect for you too like anytime I'm writing something and like I send it

to him and we'll talk about it he's like Louise is going to have a problem with

this because this isn't there's no logic to this Louise is going to need to know

where she came from before this scene and I'm like oh for God's sake

Yeah, I mean, seriously, just, I mean, such a great choice for the series and

just got into such a shorthand.

He just, you know, he just held the room so well and all the crew and, you know,

he has this, you know, no one makes me laugh like he did, which I think was

very, very useful for me playing Anna and I think for all of us, obviously for

Caroline and for us all, you know.

I don't know if I've spoken about Caroline, yeah, obviously.

How amazing to have, like, to see Rachel, such a beloved character, like

of our lives, to see her come to life. So, you know, yeah, she's amazing. I was

going to ask you about that just before we finish. Like you said, and I've said

it as well, that this is kind of a love story between Rachel and Anna and all of

the stuff that Anna has to deal with.

With all of the stuff that's after coming up for Rachel, how did you sort

juggle? those two I guess because those are the two plates that are spinning for

you like all of this is happening like you can imagine a version where Aidan

doesn't exist and Anna is just there but Rachel's storyline is continuing and

that will be really upsetting for Anna also to be like Jesus Rachel's an addict

and I didn't see it and what the hell am I going to do but you're dealing with

that on top of the Aidan stuff yeah and the Janie stuff and the Janie stuff how

is that like keeping Rachel in your mind when all of the Aidan stuff is

happening

Well, I mean, she just had to convert those emotions into anger and

blame her for it. Yeah.

Because it's too much.

It's too much.

It was far too much. She was so blinded by it. I think it's in episode three as

well where Anna realises just how...

affected by substances, Rachel is, and that guilt that she feels.

And, you know, I think, you know, she feels so guilty how she brushes it off

with Luke.

And I really love, I say this to Steph all the time, and I know we don't get to

see enough of it, but I really love Anna and Luke's relationship because they

know each other so well.

Yeah.

But yeah, I mean.

Yeah, I mean, it is. It is a love story between Anna and Rachel.

I definitely had that the whole time in my mind, you know. And also, I wasn't

just grieving Aidan. I was grieving Rachel because obviously we were apart

we're never apart.

Yeah. Yeah, and you having to deal with all of that without her.

Yeah. And kind of Helen. You can kind of see that as well. Maybe Helen stepping

in. The vacuum. Yeah. I'll help you to breathe because probably it should have

been Rachel or something.

Yeah. And yeah, she does.

She tries to turn her relationship that she has with Rachel to find that with

Helen. And I think she does, you know.

But Helen's so different to Rachel.

Helen's so mature.

Yeah.

In comparison to Rachel, obviously.

Yeah, she is.

That is what, as I wrote it, that Anna's continuing and really trying

to have this relationship with Helen that is supportive like it was with

Now, we can't give too many spoilers away, but I love when we get to episodes

four, five and six, you can see Anna trying to...

have conversations with Helen, but they're going a completely different way

they would if they were conversations with Rachel. Yeah.

You have to spell it out then.

She's like, no, you're answering wrong.

This is how Rachel answers.

Yeah, that's not what I expected or what I wanted to hear.

Yeah.

In three is the Mary Black, yeah? Were we talking about that? Oh, stop it. Mary

wants to discuss. Yes. I mean, I don't know. Some people say it's the best song

ever written.

But it is gas that you were listening to it, trying to make yourself cry.

And the way Helen comes back in and goes, Anna, just stop it, would you?

That was very funny.

I don't want to sound sycophantic, but watching you do that scene, sometimes

it's just like a masterclass in acting. So obviously when we're recording that

scene, the song isn't actually playing.

Because we're in continuity.

Right.

But you can see that Louisa, her toes are moving to the music that's not

playing. Fair. Wow. When we add it over, it all just looks so real.

Yeah, it did. I remember watching it at the time being like, you're a genius.

Like, who thinks of that?

And keep it going. Yeah.

Have I just opened a door to the past? Says Helen. Yeah. I love that. I know.

And then the follow up line, sorry, I'm colonizing your room. Just so clever.

It's just so clever.

Very. Yes.

Oh, God, I just love these girls so much. I want to go and watch it now.

Yes.

Thank you so much, Louisa. Thank you for joining. You're an angel and, like, an

amazing actress.

So great.

I mean, we could literally go on and on, couldn't we?

Before we finish, we're going to listen to... I mean, you can stay with us

if you want. We're going to listen to a clip from Mammy and Daddy's ISO.

You're...

Intolerance is impossible to live with, expecting us all to be perfect. Are you

joking?

You think I'm only happy when everyone else around me is perfect?

Well, no wonder I'm never fucking happy.

Look, maybe this was a bad idea.

We didn't come here to upset her.

Jack, don't do that.

Do what?

You always do this.

What? You're so uncomfortable upsetting the girls. We don't need to be getting

into fights here.

It's not a fight. Sounds like a fight to me.

Yeah. Calling me intolerant. No, Rachel, she said you were intolerant.

Oh, shut up, you white beater. I'm not putting up with this. This is batshit.

She can't say that to them.

Rachel, stop. I'm sorry, don't even make me out to be some unreasonable bitch

who grew up abusing their poor and meek parents. You have no idea what it was

like to live with them.

The teeniest mistake was a disaster.

Mum, tell them.

About the time that you abandoned me, all of us, because I ate Maggie's Easter

egg when I was three. What are you talking about? I ate Maggie's Easter egg

you left for a week and you didn't come back.

When? I don't know.

Easter? Grandad died, love.

That's why she left.

I only ever left for a week when my father died.

And you thought it was your fault?

Yeah, I thought she was angry because I upset Maggie.

God, intense.

I was just going to say, I've watched that scene three times because I was so

desperate to see it at the time. I read on the page so well and I knew those

three actors were just going to nail it. And even the surrounding people in the

cloisters, I just find it so moving. And it still has the quintessential you,

Marion, of that line about Easter.

I don't know, Easter. Again, it's just a moment of humour in such an intense

scene. It's just perfect.

I know it seems really brutal, but that's what happens. That's kind of the

point of those situations in rehab, that people are, they break

over, open each other's shells, you know, to kind of get to the truth.

And there were so many drafts that I did of that scene. Oh.

And different people kept saying, the Easter egg thing isn't working. I don't

believe it. The Easter egg, there's no way that it's just, there's no way that

she's carrying this Easter egg thing.

And I think people who aren't addicts don't understand how one tiny thing,

from your past, can be held onto so much. I shame you so deeply.

And chronically. Yeah. Yeah, that it never dissipates, that it remains as

terrible as when you were six.

Yeah. And I think that the Easter egg being such a fundamental part of the

Yeah. It can't be anything else. It can't. It has to be this. Yeah.

And I think, and I'm kind of interested, Louisa and Marion, to think like,

and Marion, your perspective will be slightly different.

So Rachel says, you left because I took Maggie's Easter egg. Yeah. And then

Mammy's like, my father died.

Can you not see how self -centred you are? And Rachel's saying, can you not

how, as my mother, it was your job to not make me feel like this for 20 years?

Like, who do you think is right there?

Both of them are.

I agree, Mary. Both of them are. Because it's just so truthful.

Rachel was six and Mammy Walsh's dad had just died.

Like, they're both given.

Like free get out of jail cards.

I mean, neither of them were able to fight their corner or like Mammy White

didn't even realise it was affecting Rachel or any of them because she's a

being and she was a human being grieving.

And so you think that Rachel... But do you not think that there's an

onus on Rachel to say to her mother later in life, here, this thing really

me?

I don't think that shame works that way. Okay. Sometimes people are too ashamed

to mention things.

Because? Yeah, you know, because defending herself or asking for an

would involve like excavating the terrible thing that she did. Yeah. And

she's still thinking of that as a six -year -old.

And it was a terrible thing to do, to eat your sister's Easter egg, like a

Easter egg belonging to your good sister.

And she couldn't.

Because the minute you start, she would never have thought that she had any

right to ask for an explanation, ever. Yes, okay.

And Mammy Walsh wouldn't even have known it had anything to do with Easter eggs

or Rachel or anything.

And Louisa, when you saw that scene, did you think that Mammy was out of order

for dropping the Aidan bomb as she did in the ISO? Or what was your reaction to

it?

No, I mean, I think it's such an emotional space, you know, as you're

such an intense space.

No, I don't.

You know, she can't think.

She can't think in that moment.

I love that moment. I mean, I know it's so horrible, but I just, yeah, I just

love that scene. I just, I love it. I couldn't wait to see it. I loved reading

it and I couldn't wait to see them do it and actually seeing it.

And yeah, I've watched it a few times now.

I rewind a few times.

I think, yeah, that moment of her dropping that bomb, like Aidan is dead

didn't even think to ask.

Just how, like there's just a bit of Mammy Walsh in Rachel and a bit of

in Mammy Walsh. Yeah. Like you're being really inconsiderate here. Yeah.

But you don't even know that you're being. How bad you're being. Yeah.

you're so riled up.

Yeah. And Mammy Walsh is angry.

Yeah. Like she's angry about a lot of things.

Yeah. And in that moment, she's very, very angry with Rachel and it's a way to

hurt her.

Yeah. But that is. It is.

It's a weapon. She uses it as a weapon. She does. She uses it as a weapon.

Yeah.

I think Carrie Crowley as Mammy did an amazing job there.

Oh, completely.

And then, I mean, God loved the pair then, Mammy and Daddy Walsh.

Like, you know, this isn't just about the sisters, it's about their

and the way that she feels constantly undermined by him needing to be loved.

He's got the please love me disease as well.

Although he's not an addict.

Oh no I love Daddy Walsh so much. Oh no I adore him. I adore him but I feel for

Mammy Walsh because somebody has to be the bad cop and it's her.

And it's her. He's incapable of being bad cops.

He's giving money away left right and centre.

Like you can't be a bad cop and do that.

I do also love the I think it's so intense and so emotional that we

really feel for Rachel I think for like the first time in a really visceral way.

Yeah. I mean, the utter horror of him having died and it being her fault.

Yeah. And nobody telling her, like, has Anna tried, does Anna want to see me?

Like, I need to talk to my sister. And everyone's like, no, she doesn't want to

see you at all. Yeah, she's not going to talk to you.

Yeah, like she's so abandoned.

Like, she's been abandoned by the person she loves the most, which is Anna.

Well, I guess we're going to have to hold off and wait and see if they can

make it up.

Yes. Watch this space.

Absolutely watch this space. Louisa Harland, you absolute legend.

You are a complete gem, an icon, a great actor.

Thank you so much for joining us. And thank you to everybody for listening to

episode three of the Walt Sisters Companion Podcast.

Join us next Monday when we will review and regurgitate episode four, which is

on Sunday night, 9 .30 on RT1. Thank you.

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