Eve Hewson: 'Sharon Horgan captures reality for women in Bad Sisters'

Totally. Me and my sister are two years apart, so we’re very close. We steal each other’s clothes and fight all the time, but we love each other, and we would literally kill for each other – I would happily do that. But my brothers are eight and 10 years younger than us. So we’re not a squash. My sister and I were more about changing their nappies and kind of being mini babysitters for them. It was a different kind of dynamic.

I read that you formed a band with your siblings over lockdown. How did that work out?

I didn’t form a band, but I found the rest of my siblings writing songs as if they’d formed a band, and I’d not been invited. Then I tried to get in on the action, but they were like, "You have to leave".

Why? Are you tone deaf?

No! I had too many great ideas, and they were jealous of how good I was!

Are you now close to your on-screen sisters?

Very! Almost too close. We are in communication with each other at all hours. We have many different forms of WhatsApp group. We literally talk on three different WhatsApp groups a day. We were just reunited last week in London [for the publicity tour], which was lovely. We also have three days coming up in New York. Lots of dinners and spa trips have been planned.

So, where do we find Becka at the start of the new series?

She’s matured in the last two years. She’s seen more of life, and she’s in a healthy place. She’s got this new boyfriend, she’s more of a grown-up – or she’s at least attempting to be.

What are her best and worst traits?

Her best are hard to choose, because I quite like a lot of her. I like that she’s like a million different emotions in one second. Her most annoying trait? Chewing loudly.

All the Garvey sisters are brilliantly complex. What do you think is so special about Sharon’s writing?

I guess how honest it feels. It feels as though these are real people, living real lives. The marriage of drama and comedy is so difficult to get right, and Sharon has such a specific tone. I think that’s why people love the show: you feel as though you’re watching real people. Oftentimes when a friend is going through some sort of challenge in their life, it feels very Bad Sisters-y. Like, "Whoa, this could literally be a scene from Bad Sisters."

Sharon can capture a woman in distress and make her a heroine, and also have this charm to her and be comedic, all wrapped up in one. That’s what I see when I look at my own friends going through their lives. Sharon can capture reality for women.

Did you appreciate filming back in Ireland?

It was great. I love filming in Ireland because I get to be at home. But it’s always really cold and rainy ­– we had four hurricanes. That’s the main challenge about shooting in Ireland – the weather is atrocious.

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Bad Sisters season 2 will premiere on Wednesday 13th November on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes, then new episodes weekly. Season 1 is available to stream on Apple TV+ – sign up to Apple TV+ here.

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