Derry Girls star Judith’s fears over Brexit unrest

Actress on growing up in the wake of Troubles

DERRY Girls star Judith Roddy has opened up on her Brexit anxiety, fearing a hard border could bring unrest to Northern Ireland.

The 38-year-old actress guest stars in the second series of the hit show as Ms De Brun and is currently portraying Bernie Butler in Darklands on Virgin Media One.

Judith told the Daily Mirror: “Everyone is worried about Brexit and it’s difficult to speak about, obviously nobody wants a border.

“I live in London and I’m speaking about Ireland as if I’m living there, it’s a very complicated conversation.

“With the Good Friday Agreement being addressed in the second series of Derry Girls, in such a sophisticated way and with humour, to go back to having to fight for that again would be incredibly sad.”

Living in Derry it was normal to engage with soldiers and to play military-style games, Judith said: “I slightly missed the Troubles but there was a presence when we were growing up.

MASTERMIND

“But it was all completely normal, you’d go past a soldier on the way to school camouflaged in a bush and I’d be eating a piece of toast and we’d say, ‘How are you doing?’ and they’d say hello back. Myself and my little brother used to play, Give Me Your Licence on the stairs, I’d stop him and wouldn’t let him pass until he showed me his fake driver’s licence.

“But I think it’s great what Lisa [Mcgee], the director has done with Derry Girls it’s brilliant, a good splash of having a laugh at ourselves. “It’s a reflection and also a celebration of a time and it shows how far we’ve come.”

The Fall actress said playing a strong female lead in Darklands as the mastermind behind the gangs success has been refreshing.

She added: “Bernie is a fictional character, so you’re just drawing from other bits of yourself that you wouldn’t get to explore, it’s quite a masculine figure head part.

“People would expect to see a male, so it’s sort of fun to have Bernie as the matriarch, as an actor you rarely get to play those sort of parts.” Darklands will be available on Virgin TV Ultra HD from November 25.