#hazel doupe

→ Peter And Wendy, An Unrequited Cycle

After finishing Say Nothing and combing through a few cast interviews, I found myself most captivated by Anthony Boyle’s take on the whole production. Before watching the show, I only had a vague awareness of him—I'd caught a couple of episodes of Masters of the Air and seen the Manhunt trailers approximately a million times, so when he popped up here, my initial reaction was, “Oh, he’s in this too? Good for him. Guess he has a great agent.” But almost immediately, I realized I owed Anthony Boyle an apology. I was unfamiliar with his game. Charismatic even in scenes where he’s lurking in the background, or has tights over his head, utterly sympathetic even when he’s supposed to be frightening, Boyle’s portrayal of Brendan Hughes stands out in a cast that’s uniformly excellent.

What struck me most was how convincingly he disappeared into this role. Having seen him play an American in Masters of the Air and knowing he was doing the same thing in Manhunt, I realized I had no clue where Boyle himself was from. Watching him here, I was stunned by the specificity and authenticity of his performance, only to learn afterward that he’s actually from West Belfast. That discovery felt like a confirmation: Boyle wasn’t just acting—he was inhabiting. His performance wasn’t just good; it was lived-in, layered, and deeply rooted in a way that made every second of it feel undeniably real.

I honestly think Boyle’s work in Say Nothing belongs in the same conversation as Ewan McGregor’s best performances in Scottish films—those moments where an actor is so fully in their element that you’re reminded of just how powerful it can be to see someone telling a story that connects with them on a cellular level. Boyle is part of that lineage of enigmatic, electric performers who can shift between accents and personas with ease, but who are at their absolute best when playing roles that resonate with their own lived experiences.

Im also watching Say Nothing and its really good! I also started to read the book. As an Irish person can you give me your perspective about it?

Sorry I completely missed this yesterday. I was binging the last few episodes, I couldn't tear myself away.

I thought Say Nothing was really good. It is such a complex and difficult subject with no clear right or wrong, only dark and shade. I liked that the series didn't try to give easy answers or take a moralistic stance. I think it portrayed the awful, messy complexity of the war as well as a piece of television could. I am sure it will provoke a breadth of differing opinions, and some will be angry, but I think it was a truly excellent attempt to portray this painful chapter in history with some nuance.

And not only that, but to make this story into such bingeworthy, pacy, riveting television without falling for Hollywood cliches and pat cliffhangers? I don't think I quite believed that was possible in a series about the war in Northern Ireland.

The acting was fantastic, such brilliant casting matches for the young & old versions of the characters! Lola Petticrew, Hazel Doupe and Anthony Boyle were particularly great, and I'm so glad that they chose West Belfast actors for two of those roles. I thought they were incredible.

But giving my perspective "as an Irish person" is kind of complicated. As an Irish person from the Republic I've had a completely different experience of events in the North compared to anyone who grew up there. A completely different personal relationship with our history. One of the strengths of Say Nothing for me was how it portrayed this contrast in the later episodes set in the '90s. My brain is still melted from being confronted with so many shades of the conflict all at once. Every time I felt conflicted about a scene, a later scene would address that conflict - not offering solutions or answers, but acknowledging that there were multiple other perspectives. Powerful stuff!

Growing up in the south, most of us had the option to tune out what was happening, to go about our days without our lives being directly impacted by the war. When I was very little, it was on the news every single night and I knew that after the grown-ups had had a few drinks, you didn't want the subject raised. But despite trying to figure out the words to U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', my childhood understanding didn't really go beyond "We want the Brits out but they won't leave because the Protestants want them to stay and there are more of them than Catholics, and they'll probably keep killing each other forever and I really wish it could stop"

I never experienced British bigotry towards me personally as an Irish person until I was actually in England - it's something every Irish person anticipates in their bones, but it wasn't in my face growing up.

I never even went across the border until I was 16 years old. I went to see a British band play in Belfast (think of that episode of Derry Girls where they travel to Belfast to see Take That, if the Derry Girls were from Dublin and they were going to see a punk band, not a boyband). My parents wouldn't let me go because they said it was too dangerous, but I went anyway. They were right. There was a bomb scare on the train on the way there and another bomb scare at the club after the gig. My friends and I were totally out of our depth. At 4am we fucked up and called the wrong taxi service to take us to a Catholic area and had army rifles pointed in our faces at a checkpoint. We were young and didn't know what we were doing and couldn't quite grasp that this was reality. It was frightening and sobering, and I did not go back until after the ceasefire a couple of years later.