“IRISH PEOPLE COMMUNED and loved the show.”
Talk to actor Robert Sheehan about his most famous character, Darren from Love/Hate. and you realise immediately that he’s very aware of how huge the series was.
His latest film, A Road Within, was most recently shown at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, and he has another release, Moonwalkers, that was just shown at SXSW.
Darren left Love/Hate in its third round, dying thanks to a bullet to the head.
Though fans fervently clung on to the hope that he would re-emerge unscathed in series four, it wasn’t to be.
But Sheehan was also sad to see the character leave his life.
When asked if he missed playing Darren, he told TheJournal.ie:
I do miss old Darren because the funny thing was we did two series of [Love/Hate] and Stuart Carolan, who created the show, he was like ‘I suppose that’s you done’.
Sheehan wasn’t giving up on him that quickly, however, and was soon in discussions about the young pup turning up in series three.
“He was like ‘absolutely’, and showed great enthusiasm for doing a third series together. I was mad into the idea. The two of us were like ‘that’s the final thing and that’s it,” recalled Sheehan.
It’s always, I’ve come to learn – the same with Misfits – it’s tough to watch a show carry on without you. Even if you’re happy with your decision at the same time, and the show continues, you feel a bit melancholic.
He added that he felt it more with Love/Hate than his character Nathan in Misfits, “because at the time it was so culturally… it was so popular and Irish people had kind of communed and enjoyed the show together”.
[They would] gather around together in the pub to watch the gangsters every week.
He doesn’t even have the famous blue hoodie that Darren would wear:
“I donated it to the Dunamaise Theater in Portlaoise. It’s on the wall there, bullet holes and all.”
Robert Sheehan was in Dublin for the 13th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, which takes place until 29 March.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say