In this podcast, we catch up once again with actor, writer and filmmaker Hugh O’Conor, whose quasi-autobiographical comedy series Showkids - co-written with Amy Stephenson and Shane Langan - is available to watch on RTÉ. We talk with Hugh about his expansive career, from performance and working with the greats at a young age, to training at NYU, and his move into directing features, animation, and now this witty and heartfelt show.
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Showkids is set around a very special after-school drama class for talented kids, run by the brilliant but super-intimidating Miss Bethany Jessop (Amy De Bhrún). The show is seen through the eyes of 12-year-old Sam Curtain (Flynn Gray), whose constant daydreaming has begun to cause mayhem in his life. When his parents, Sally & Con (Philippa Dunne & Killian Sundermann), stumble across Miss Jessop’s, they wonder if drama might be the perfect way to harness Sam’s overly active imagination?
An initially reluctant Sam soon realises he’s discovered his tribe – other kids with equally vivid imaginations, inspired by Miss Jessop to use drama to help solve the problems they’re going through in their own lives. As well as experiencing his first, terrifying taste of showbiz, Sam has finally found somewhere he is free to let his cares and dreams run wild – but this time, with a purpose!
Showkids is available to watch now on the RTÉ Player.
About Hugh O'Conor
Hugh is an award-winning filmmaker, actor and photographer. He won the 1991 Youth in Film award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the young Christy Brown in the Oscar-winning My Left Foot (1990), and was nominated at the 2001 SAG awards for Best Ensemble for his performance as Pére Henri in the Oscar-nominated Chocolat (2000). In 2013 he won the Irish Times Theatre award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Fool in King Lear at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1975, he studied drama at Trinity College, Dublin and film at New York University as a Fulbright scholar. He wrote and directed several shorts with the Irish Film Board, including Corduroy (2010), which was selected for the Generation 14+ programme at the 60th Berlinale.
His debut feature, Metal Heart (2018), written by the Booker Prize-nominated Paul Murray, and his animated adaptation of Nikolai Gogol!s The Overcoat (2018), directed by Sean Mullen and Meelis Arulep, were award-winners at their premieres at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2018. Metal Heart had its US premiere at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where Hugh was nominated for the Panavision Spirit award. The Overcoat, voiced by Cillian Murphy and Alfred Molina, was nominated for Best Short Animation at the 2020 IFTAs, and acquired internationally by Amazon Prime.
More recently, his short animation Worry World (2023), directed by Jess Patterson, and voiced by Florence Adebambo and Domhnall Gleeson, won the Oscar-qualifying James Horgan award at its premiere at the 2023 Galway Film Fleadh. It went on to win the Audience Award for Best Animated Short at the 2023 Newport Beach Film Festival, and Best Animated Short in 2024 at Animation Dingle, Manchester Film Festival, Boyne Valley International Film Festival, and Best Script at the 2024 Writer’s Guild of Ireland Zebbie awards.
In addition to film and theatre work, Hugh has directed music videos for artists including Sinéad O!Connor, and was series director for Irish National Opera!s acclaimed 20 Shots of Opera, which was nominated for the Special Jury Prize at the 2021 Irish Theatre Awards. In 2019 he received the Maverick Award from the Irish Film Critics’ Circle, as well as the Jim Sheridan Award for Achievement in Irish Film at the Irish Screen America festival in Los Angeles. His photography has been exhibited at the RHA, the RUA and is in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.
His family series Showkids (2025), starring Flynn Gray, Philippa Dunne, Amy De Bhrún & Killian Sundermann, for Deadpan Pictures, aired on RTÉ1 in 2025.
Film Ireland Editor
