Writer / Director of new Screen Ireland Funded Series Darklands, Speaks on Discovering New Talent
Posted: 7th October 2019
Irish writer and director Mark O'Connor has established himself as a maverick in independent Irish cinema in the last number of years. Studying at the New York Film Academy in Ballyfermot , Co. Dublin, O'Connor made his first feature in 2010; the crime drama, Between the Canals. Further features Stalker and the King of the Travellers were released in cinemas, but it was 2017’s Cardboard Gangsters which proved to be a milestone for the filmmaker, becoming the biggest Irish release at the box office that year.
Now, O'Connor makes his first move to television with his series Darklands, a six-part crime drama series centered around a teenage MMA fighter with a bright future, who is torn between his own ambitions and family loyalties to his brother, who is heavily involved in crime. A unique aspect to the series is that O'Connor cast several unknowns in lead acting roles.The series lead in Darklands is Dane Whyte O’Hara, an experienced young MMA fighter who was just 15 when filming started and was stunned to get the role as he had originally applied to be an extra.
O'Connor is no stranger to discovering new Irish talent, having cast Barry Keoghan in his first feature, which also served to be Keoghan's acting debut. Keoghan has gone on to become a Hollywood star but it all began when Keoghan spotted an ad looking for local talent in a shop near his north-inner-city home.
“I found it very challenging and thrilling to be honest, it was really intense. The casting process was much larger, much more work," O'Connor said speaking to the Irish Examiner.
Full interview and article here:
Darklands Debuts tonight on Virgin One tonight at 9pm.