{"id":126782,"date":"2025-11-09T21:02:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T21:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/126782\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T21:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T21:02:12","slug":"lola-petticrew-calling-it-the-troubles-minimises-what-it-really-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/126782\/","title":{"rendered":"Lola Petticrew: \u2018Calling it the Troubles minimises what it really was\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Although still fledgling, Lola Petticrew\u2019s career already has brought about many memorable moments. Having Gillian Anderson scream at them in a pitch-perfect Belfast accent is up there with the best. \u201cWhat a dream!\u201d says Petticrew now, their own accent thick and melodic. \u201cShe smashed it to pieces, it\u2019s so tough and there are some terrible ones out there [ahem Wild Mountain Thyme] but Gillian is phenomenal.\u201d <\/p>\n

Of course, no one was surprised to hear Petticrew\u2019s Irish<\/a> accent. Only last year did the actor make waves (and earn an Ifta award along with a Bafta nod) for their role as an IRA soldier in FX\u2019s adaptation of Patrick Radden Keefe\u2019s nonfiction book Say Nothing. The series was wrenching in its depiction of the Troubles<\/a> \u2013 and Petticrew, completely compelling as the real-life Dolours Price. Their performance was an embodiment of political disillusionment, like watching a flame extinguished in slow motion. The show put Petticrew on the map, adding their name to the growing list of Irish stars to watch. <\/p>\n

This new project is also based on a book, Louise Kennedy\u2019s 2022 novel Trespasses, and it too takes place during the Troubles. Petticrew plays Cushla Lavery, a young Catholic school teacher living on the outskirts of Belfast, who falls in lust and then love with a prominent barrister (Tom Cullen) more than twice her age and married. More of a deterrent than either of those things is the fact he\u2019s Protestant. What unfolds is a classic tale of forbidden love \u2013 stolen glances and secret trysts \u2013 set against a very specific backdrop of political violence and moral ambiguity. Anderson plays Cushla\u2019s mammy, a glamorous woman who smokes and drinks like it\u2019s going out of fashion. <\/p>\n

As Cushla, Pettigrew is, dare I say it, unrecognisable: a bookish, waifish woman with avian features. Today, I have to do a double take at the gothic vision in front of me \u2013 jet-black hair, chunky silver jewellery and a large tattoo on their upper thigh that is only just visible through tights. \u201cFor so long I didn\u2019t get tattoos because it would mean more time in the makeup chair, but it\u2019s so worth it,\u201d they say, glancing at the artwork. \u201cWhen you spend so much time being other people, it\u2019s nice to feel like me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cushla is not entirely unlike Petticrew, who also grew up Catholic and in Northern Ireland. Trespasses, though, opens up a different way of looking at the Troubles than what Petticrew was taught. \u201cTypically we view that period of history through a very masculine lens, so to see it through this romance was really interesting,\u201d says Petticrew, who still lives in Belfast. \u201cIt\u2019s such recent history and we\u2019re only now picking apart the threads and finding all these angles to tell that story.\u201d <\/p>\n

Petticrew is a ceasefire baby, meaning the Troubles were, strictly speaking, over by the time they were born. \u201cBut it permeates every part of my life and every part of my being,\u201d they say. \u201cI still don\u2019t think there is enough talk about the intergenerational trauma after the conflict: more people died post-ceasefire by suicide than died during the entire war.\u201d They let that fact linger in the air a moment before piling on another. \u201cOne of the most gruesome legacies of the Troubles is the poverty. Where I come from the rate for child poverty is one in three. It\u2019s shocking and it\u2019s a direct result of England\u2019s occupation in Ireland.\u201d <\/p>\n

Listening to Petticrew speak, their passion is obvious \u2013 and fortifying. \u201cThere is nowhere near enough mental health services available for the insurmountable trauma caused,\u201d they continue. \u201cAnd that has a real-life socio-economic effect, so when someone like the British government \u2013 who, I mean really it was at their hand what happened \u2013 refuses to fund those services, it\u2019s political violence every day.\u201d <\/p>\n

If Petticrew wasn\u2019t an actor, they\u2019d make a fantastic politician. When they speak about their issues with the Troubles as a term (\u201cit minimises what was a war in a way that suits the British government who want to see it as a little trouble across the pond in a place they don\u2019t care about\u201d), I find myself nodding vigorously in agreement, a little embarrassed that the thought hadn\u2019t occurred to me before. <\/p>\n

\"Star-crossed<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Star-crossed lovers: Tom Cullen and Lola Petticrew in \u2018Trespasses\u2019 (Channel 4)<\/p>\n

So far, Petticrew has sought out Irish projects as much as Irish projects have sought out Petticrew. \u201cIn drama school I was so worried I was never going to work because of my accent and so actually getting to work in that accent is a real gift,\u201d they say. \u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to tell stories from home; it\u2019s my favourite place in the world.\u201d Those Irish stories have ranged from these recent politically charged period pieces to romcoms (2020\u2019s Dating Amber) and mystery-thrillers (2021\u2019s Wolf). <\/p>\n

Are they concerned about being pigeon-holed? \u201cA lot of men play soldier after soldier after soldier and nobody gets bored of it, and when English people play English roles, nobody asks if they\u2019re worried about pigeonholing,\u201d they respond. \u201cFor some reason, that\u2019s a fear only reserved for Irishness. \u201cBut I don\u2019t feel that way. If I only told Irish stories for the rest of my life, I\u2019d be happy.\u201d As for the world\u2019s sudden embrace of the Irish, Petticrew chalks it up to Derry Girls. <\/p>\n

Petticrew grew up the eldest of four children to parents who both work in healthcare, with a few of their siblings following in their footsteps. Recently, Petticrew has been thinking about where their profession stems from, walking that thought all the way back to childhood when they would bring a small suitcase chock-full of costumes to school everyday. <\/p>\n

\"Sisterly<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Sisterly bond: Hazel Doupe and Lola Petticrew in \u2018Say Nothing\u2019 (FX)<\/p>\n

Still, the pipeline from classrooms to film sets was far from established. \u201cWhere I\u2019m from it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s something that\u2019s achievable,\u201d they say. \u201cA lot of things don\u2019t seem achievable because the system isn\u2019t set up for people from my background to succeed in whatever field. So there\u2019s an element of feeling that even when you\u2019re younger, this is not something for you.\u201d Until a friend of Petticrew\u2019s auditioned for drama school in Wales and suddenly the door was open. Only a crack, but just enough. \u201cEven now I think to myself, this could all go away tomorrow,\u201d they say. \u201cAnd that\u2019s fine; I have a lot of happiness in other places in my life.\u201d Namely at home with their partner and their dog. <\/p>\n

Thinking back to that suitcase of costumes, Petticrew becomes a little emotional. \u201cTo know that it was always evident in me, that this was something in me that I\u2019ve always had a love and passion for even before I knew you could make a career out of it,\u201d they say. \u201cChildren know who they are and I think a lot of adulthood is navigating your way back to that. I\u2019m about to turn 30 and I feel like I\u2019ve become my 13-year-old self again in the purest, most wonderful form. It shows that when children are telling you who they are, we need to listen \u2013 and that\u2019s a massive conversation happening within the trans community: when children tell you who they are, believe them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hollywood? You\u2019d have to drag me kicking and screaming<\/p>\n

Petticrew knew who they were early on, coming out as bisexual at a young age. That openness wasn\u2019t entirely welcome at her all-girls Catholic school, where homophobia was rampant. \u201cIt definitely felt restrictive. I wouldn\u2019t say that my experience was wonderful but I had a lot of great friends.\u201d Including their English teacher, with whom Petticrew stays in contact. \u201cLiterally such a clich\u00e9: \u2018queer student stays in touch with English teacher,\u2019\u201d they joke. \u201cWhat a surprise!\u201d Today Petticrew calls themselves a \u201crecovering Catholic\u201d \u00e0 la Sinead O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n

While they came out as bisexual relatively early, it was only recently that Petticrew came out as non-binary. \u201cIt\u2019s still tough,\u201d they say of navigating the entertainment industry since doing so. \u201cPeople are getting a bit more used to it and on sets, typically [everyone is] fantastic; they\u2019re curious and friendly and I\u2019m an open book, they can ask me anything; I don\u2019t mind if they mess up so long as they lead with love.\u201d It\u2019s the wider industry, they add, that is more troublesome. \u201cBut look I\u2019m in a very privileged position because I think it\u2019s a lot harder for trans men and trans women. There\u2019s much more work to do for trans people.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Grief<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Grief lessons: Lola Petticrew and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in \u2018Tuesday\u2019 (A24)<\/p>\n

I wonder whether in light of their Bafta nomination and Ifta triumph, Petticrew has given any thought to the ongoing conversation surrounding gender-neutral awards categories \u2013 something fellow non-binary actor Emma Corrin has endorsed. \u201cI think it would be fantastic. Why not?\u201d they reply. \u201cBut it\u2019s not something I\u2019ve given much thought to because \u2013 while of course it\u2019s a really lovely thing for your peers to recognise your work \u2013 I don\u2019t tend to pay that side of things much mind.\u201d Such a gentle rejection of awards and accolades is lip service for many actors, but coming from Petticrew, I believe it. On whether they ever hear the siren call of Hollywood, they scoff: \u201cYou\u2019d have to drag me kicking and screaming!\u201d For all the seriousness of the topics we discuss, Petticrew is great craic, as they say. <\/p>\n

In a few days, they\u2019ll fly back to New York to continue filming a series inspired by the 1987 film Black Widow. In it, Petticrew plays a serial killer on the run \u2013 an American serial killer, mind you, accent and all. While some might draw thematic parallels between their projects so far, Petticrew is keen to try everything. \u201cMy \u2018thing\u2019 I guess is getting really talented women to play my mammy,\u201d they laugh, referring to Anderson and also Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the latter playing their mother in A24 drama Tuesday. \u201cThere\u2019s no end goal for me,\u201d they add. \u201cI think the best things come as a surprise.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2018Trespasses\u2019 starts tonight at 9pm on Channel 4. All episodes are available to stream now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-126782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}