'Derry Girls' Finale: What's Next for Netflix Star Saoirse-Monica Jackson

When Derry Girls hit Netflix in 2018, American viewers were introduced to a "troubled little corner in the northwest of Ireland called Derry—or Londonderry, depending on your persuasion," the opening lines of the show told us.

The subtext of Lisa McGee's series was immediately clear—this was during the Troubles, after all—but what would soon become even clearer was that the show wasn't so much about political unrest in Northern Ireland in the 1990s as it was the people existing in the forefront of it all; particularly, five lovable, always-in-trouble teens more concerned with getting off with boys, being angsty and leaning on one another when things got hard, as they inevitably do for teenage girls (and one wee English fella).

With the third and final season of Derry Girls now on Netflix (it dropped October 7), it's time to say goodbye to the gang, including its fearless leader, Erin Quinn, played by Derry native Saoirse-Monica Jackson. She talked to Newsweek about life after the Girls.

Newsweek: Am I catching you in Romania?

Jackson: I was in Romania last week doing a job. I don't think I can talk about it. I had a great time. What a beautiful country. The people were lovely, so beautiful. It's never somewhere I would have thought of going before unless brought there by work, and I loved it.

Newsweek: OK, so I admittedly got a VPN a few months ago when Derry Girls was released in the U.K. because I was like, I'm not waiting, but now I've been rewatching it. What has the emotional rollercoaster been like? You wrapped filming, then it ran in the U.K., and now it's airing again.

Jackson: It never felt like it was fully over because we were sort of anticipating it coming out in the U.S. ... So it was really hard to like, have perspective on something that you hadn't looked back on yet. So it is very much right now, like the last farewell ... So I don't think I properly bid it farewell until now. It's really nice to have seen it all, people are having a response. I've seen the show; when it first came out in the U.K., I still hadn't seen it all, especially the season finale, so it was really hard to have perspective on something that you hadn't looked back on yet.

Newsweek: Are you and the cast—Nicola Coughlan, Louisa Harland, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell and Dylan Llewlyn—as close as I and all fans dream that you are? How do you say goodbye to something like this?

Jackson: It's a very strange situation, I think because it was such a mammoth change for all of us in our life. And it felt like such a special time. And I'm so glad that I had other people going through that with me at the same time. And we all care about the show so much. So I think, when you're in something like Derry Girls that means so much to people and you're recognized for this character and this wee gang, it sort of keeps you together forever, doesn't it?

Newsweek: You are so synonymous with Erin now as an actor in terms of your craft, what is that like? Is it difficult to break out and go into new roles now or is that just kind of like what an actor does?

Jackson: I think that yeah, that's what we do. And I think the amazing thing about Erin is that she's quite a complex character, you know, for everything that she stands for, for it being such a heightened comedic show, she's still quite complex in her views. Things aren't black and white for Erin ... I think it's more moving away from something and realizing that it won't be coming back again, it's just hard personally. When the show first came out, it was always something that you worry about. I was so consumed by the success and I couldn't believe how the show had turned out and I was so worried about messing up the opportunity of messing up this big break and I just wanted to do the best job I possibly could, so I think you just go headfirst with all those pressures. Now that it's over, I love what I do, and there's so much that I want to do with my career. I'm the biggest fan of our industry. I probably spend way too much time watching TV at home. You start to think that you know a lot of stuff and then you discover that you know nothing about it at all, and I think that just feeds your curiosity. It really feels like I'm at the start of something, and now's the time for me to [create] the kind of career I want for myself, and what Derry Girls has done is lifted the lid on the abundance of work that comes with being an actor.

Newsweek: I have learned so much about the Troubles and so much about Northern Ireland and complex politics that I, growing up as an American at the time when Erin grew up, I really knew nothing about it.

Jackson: It's not just the audience. I can't speak for the rest of the girls, but that's certainly the case for me. I think I've learned a lot more. I think I've formed a bigger perspective on the political situation at home, and it's weird for the world to be learning about your hometown's history at the same time you're trying to move on. Derry Girls gave me, in the same way that it has with Erin, a sense of maturity of wanting to move on and being grateful ... peace is so fragile ... It sort of blew my mind as well.

Newsweek: I want to talk about your upcoming projects. I have a feeling you won't be able to tell me much about The Flash.

Jackson: I'm very excited. The comic book, volume two has just been released. So I'm really excited. I just saw that last night. And it was just a brilliant experience. I don't think I'm actually allowed to talk about the character I'm playing yet, which is really ... annoying. For me, it's just been an amazing experience and you know, it's the first time that I've ever done a job where there's a world already out there that you can go on and investigate and build from and make your own important creative decisions on. I've never had that experience creatively before. So that was amazing. You know, just being a little nerd on my own and trying to get together to go to work. It sort of was a really, really lovely process to get the end result and I just had a great time on the job and you know, it was just amazing to go under that sort of level of production and Andy [Muschietti] the director was just honestly one of the nicest people I think I've ever met in my entire life and I just got on with him particularly so well—who knew that Argentina and Derry had so much in common? That's the thing I love about my job; the people I get to work with. The older I'm getting, the more I'm realizing that you can read as many books as you want or watch as many films or do as many acting classes, but nothing's going to make you better than the people that you're working with. That's why you should work as much as you can.

Newsweek: Has the outside noise around Ezra Miller affected your experience regarding the project?

Jackson: All I can say honestly is that I had a lovely time on the job and we had fantastic scenes together, and they're such a phenomenal performer and we worked really well together. I've left the job now, you know, so I'm waiting for the world to see it, so I don't think it's affected anything with me.

Newsweek: What about your other projects? Coffee Wars is another one on your IMDb credits.

Jackson: Carla, I don't know. I've not heard that's coming out. Is it actually coming out?

Newsweek: Wait, is that one that you've actually filmed?

Jackson: I filmed it a few years ago with Kate Nash and Sally Phillips, and it has such an incredible cast, but it was so long ago. It's sort of like one of these moments that you're wondering what's going on. I mean, if you're telling me it's coming out, happy days.

Newsweek: Well, now I need to factcheck it.

Jackson: Everybody else has asked me so maybe it is coming out! I do have another couple of [projects] but of course can't talk about it. And next year [there's one that's] really, really exciting for me. I'm sort of at a point in my career. It's the first time where I'm looking forward to the year ahead and there's work that will vary from each other. And that really, really excites me and I feel like I'm starting to understand. I mean, I don't think you can ever predict the future but I'm starting to sort of see the direction that things are going, hopefully, I mean. And it's annoying, very annoying that, I can't tell you about it. But, um, I think I'm in a really great place at the moment and I'm really looking forward to the next year.