Going Derry Free

Saoirse-Monica Jackson on life after Derry Girls and her role in a new Netflix comedy series.

- Shannon Keating

WHEN DERRY GIRLS, the Channel 4 sitcom turned Netflix comedy juggernaut, ended in 2022 after a rapturously received threeseason run, actress Saoirse-Monica Jackson found it hard to fully separate from her character. Jackson was 23 when she was cast as Erin Quinn, the ambitious, face-pulling, somewhat arrogant ringleader of a posse of teenagers in Northern Ireland at the tail end of the Troubles. "I was growing as a young woman in my early 20s, leading this massive, successful show, and my own personal growth was so woven in and running parallel to the story lines," Jackson tells me during a late pasta lunch in early June in London's Shoreditch neighborhood. Her real life then wasn't quite as chaotic and ridiculous as Erin's, but they were learning similar lessons, like the importance of "standing up for yourself and discovering that you're enough." Even as the show earned accolades, Jackson was riddled with insecurities about her place in the industry. "I get anxiety sometimes thinking about my early 20s," Jackson says. "It feels like one big panic attack-one big blur of messy mistakes."

Jackson is petite-she is often mistaken for a teenager-with an open, friendly face; wide-set green eyes; and a snub nose capable of fantastic comedic contortions, all framed by loose blonde curls. She's funny and has the type of self-effacing charm that puts people around her at ease.