A biography for Dervla Kirwanhasn’t been written yet.
“I was pregnant with my first child and so gloriously happy. I felt fecund and powerful.”
“The actor's job is to put themselves in the shoes of the character they are trying to portray as truthfully as possible.”
“The main thing I've done for my children is not to give them a stupid name, like actors do.”
“Yeah, I talk to everyone. I think that's the secret, you know. Keep it friendly, keep it warm. People just want to connect, don't they, at the end of the day?”
“Who hasn't had an argument with their mother-in-law?”
“I am very scatty, I don't follow things through, I forget things. I am not perfect.”
“I don't have a great relationship with food.”
“I don't want to be known as 'oh, Dervla, when she's on stage she's very good but she's terribly dreary', or 'another heavy night with Kirwan.'”
“I mean, the human race wouldn't continue if anyone told you how hard it is having kids, would it?”
“Because I don't live there anymore, I've fallen in love with London again.”
“I'm obviously slightly ill, because there is a burning desire to be perfect in me. It's probably the Catholic, or the ex-Catholic in me.”
“I never read the good press and never read the bad press. If you believe the good press you're finished. If you believe the bad press, you won't be able to continue.”
“I am concerned that there's a cavalier attitude to the Irish Peace Process. What poor memories some have; I remember only too well the bag searches, the bomb scares and deaths. As they say, history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes.”
“True Dare Kiss' is a gothic drama about a highly dysfunctional Mancunian family who, after 20 years, reconvene for the funeral of their father. I wanted to play Phil because I really liked the character, and there is an element of mystery about her - which I can't reveal.”
“My kids will never need a bodyguard because they'll have me.”
“I never discuss my troubles in a relationship. It's best to just keep those thoughts to yourself.”
“I've no desire to be away from my family for 16 hours a day.”
“I can be a totally different person from one day to the next, so it is difficult for me to stay in one role over a prolonged period.”
“I am all for high art but I owe it to myself to be clever about it and do commercial things too.”
“I really want to work with Mike Leigh.”