EXCLUSIVE: Bad Sisters star Michael Smiley has boarded Irish dark comedy Obituary, as the show for Hulu in the U.S. sets the rest of its cast and enters principal photography in Ireland.
Smiley will play lead Elvira Clancy’s (Siobhán Cullen) protective and troubled father Ward Clancy in the APC/Magamedia-produced six-parter that was first revealed by Deadline late last year.
Smiley, whose past credits include the BBC’s Bloodlands and who played well-meaning-but-troubled-neighbor Roger Muldoon in Sharon Horgan’s Apple TV+ hit Bad Sisters, is joined by Ronan Raftery (The Rook), Danielle Galligan (Shadow and Bone) and David Ganly (Moon Knight) as the show rounds out cast and enters principal photography in County Donegal.
Obituary, which has been pre-bought by Irish network RTÉ, follows an unpaid obituarist working at a small town newspaper. When she ‘accidentally’ kills a nasty piece of work in the town, she discovers she might have an untapped bloodlust and starts relishing using crafty methods to kill off the town’s unpleasant residents.
Ray Lawlor is writer, John Hayes is director and Nell Green is producing. APC Studios’ Laurent Boissel and Magamedia’s Paddy Hayes are executive producers of the series, which will premiere on Hulu in the U.S. later this year. Obituary is produced in association with Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland, BAI and The Wrap Fund.
