{"id":12562,"date":"2022-03-21T23:00:35","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T22:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1603902"},"modified":"2022-03-21T23:19:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T22:19:13","slug":"holdings-siobhan-mcsweeney-unpacks-sex-scene-in-episode-2","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/holdings-siobhan-mcsweeney-unpacks-sex-scene-in-episode-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Holding\u2019s Siobh\u00e1n McSweeney unpacks sex scene in episode 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Flora Carr\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 21 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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*Warning: spoilers ahead for Holding episode 2*<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holding\u2019s Siobh\u00e1n McSweeney has revealed she was \u201cvery apprehensive\u201d going into the sex scene she filmed for episode 2 opposite Conleth Hill, who plays protagonist Sergeant PJ Collins.<\/p>\n

The ITV drama series, adapted from Graham Norton\u2019s novel of the same name<\/a>, features a romantic storyline between lonely Garda PJ, and the married alcoholic\u00a0Br\u00edd Riordan (McSweeney).<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, McSweeney (best known as Sister Michael in Derry Girls<\/a>) explained what filming the sex scene meant to her as an actress who isn\u2019t \u201cusually allocated romantic leading status\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI\u2019m not normally asked to play romantic leads like that, or have love scenes. So I was very apprehensive. But I was apprehensive for another reason which is the reason why\u2013 I\u2019ve been asked a lot about that scene, and the reason why is because we don\u2019t get to see it a lot. Women who look like me aren\u2019t usually allocated romantic leading status.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been told repeatedly by our films and television and our plays that women like me perhaps serve your coffee, and mind your children, but we don\u2019t get to have great sex on-screen. So you\u2019re carrying the weight of that history, that propaganda, that only certain lives are worth leading, and you\u2019re going with that and then you\u2019re going in with the male gaze going, \u2018People are going to be looking at me.\u2019 And you feel very vulnerable around that. But then you have to go, \u2018F*** it. F*** it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>

She continued: \u201cLife teaches us that what we see continuously on television is not true. It\u2019s just not true. And love and sensuality and tenderness is not just the bastion of the skinny and of the young and of the boring. And it was one of the reasons why I wanted to do the part because we haven\u2019t seen it and it\u2019s f*****g ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

On her on-screen character, she said: \u201cBr\u00edd is a character that you don\u2019t get that often. I\u2019ve never gotten her and I\u2019ve never seen her on screen before necessarily.\u00a0I had worried about it for so long [before the sex scene] and I know Conleth had as well. And when it happened, it was lovely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I love about the two characters is that that they both have their own hang-ups. PJ is obviously the protagonist and the driving force in the show, and he has his own demons and his own issues, but so does Br\u00edd. And she\u2019s not just \u2018love interest\u2019. She has her own internal world going on. So their romantic story doesn\u2019t follow a normal route, but why would it? Everything about them is something that we haven\u2019t really seen before. But it\u2019s very special. And I think a little bit heartbreaking really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n