Sinead Keenan plays Patricia
Interview with Sinead Keenan, who plays Patricia in My Left Nut
Published: 26 February 2020
Mick and Oisín’s writing is fantastic. They have that ascerbic Belfast wit and the script is sharp as a tack.
Who is Patricia?
Patricia is a woman who was left widowed with three young kids. She’s dealing with her own grief and that of her children’s following the death of her husband. Challenging enough as that is, she is then faced with navigating the change in her relationship with her son as he becomes a teenager. Being a widow, she has to be mother and father to her children - all things to all men, if you like.
She's been dealt a particularly hard hand in losing her husband so young. Despite this she shows immense strength and tenacity and is incredible with her children. She is a good ‘Irish Mammy’ if you like, but she wouldn’t be letting the kids get away with much. Faith is also very important to her and has helped her get through her loss.
What are the main challenges she faces?
The main challenge Patricia has faced so far is losing her husband at such a young age, leaving her with three young kids to raise on her own. This kicks up a notch when Michael tells her that he has found a lump on his testicle.
What is Patricia’s relationship like with her son Mick?
For the best part I think it’s a very good mother-son relationship, or as good as it can be with a teenage son. Michael’s way of dealing with his father’s death was to simply bury it, if you’ll excuse the pun, and hasn’t spoken much about his dad since he died. When he finds a lump the absence of his father is felt all the more acutely, and Mick starts asking questions about his dad and his illness which Patricia answers honestly.
Why did you want to join the series?
To be perfectly honest Kay Mellor, the executive producer, wrote me a very nice email asking me to play Patricia, and being a huge fan of hers for years it was a no brainer! Of course Mick and Oisín’s writing is fantastic. They have that ascerbic Belfast wit and the script was sharp as a tack, which was incredibly tempting.
What was it like to film in a location where your mum grew up?
Growing up I spent a good bit of time in Belfast. My Nana and Papa lived off the Ormeau road so I used to be up and down that road a lot as a kid. I have lovely memories of playing up around Sunnyside Street - it was really lovely to be back.
Tell us a bit about your co-stars and what it’s been like working with them?
Many of the cast were newcomers and they were great. Nathan is a lovely fella! He had just received his A-level results. He is a lovely actor, very smart and instinctive. Whatever *it* is he has it.
Why do you think this drama is so important?
It’s not easy to talk about your private parts, at any age! But I would hope if anyone watches MLN and is worried about a health problem like finding a lump, or is grieving, or has mental health issues I would hope the take-away from it would be how important it is to talk to someone. The received wisdom is that boys and men aren’t very good at that. It’s that ‘a problem shared, is a problem halved’ kind of thing, as trite and clichéd as it sounds.
What should audiences expect from the series?
As Gay Byrne used to always say, there’s something for everyone in the audience! There really is something in it for everyone, but mainly a lot of laughs. And maybe just a few tears.
