Listen to Stream On with my guest Neil Morrissey — Why AcornTV hit a home run with Striking Out!
It is easy to see why Striking Out is the top drama/comedy series in Ireland where it airs on RTE One. Acorn TV here in the United States is the streaming home of series and it is well worth your time to check it out.
What makes Striking Out, so good is the writing, the acting, and the backdrop of Dublin. The focus of the show is on lawyer Tara Rafferty, played so well by the talented young actress Amy Huberman. They get things going in episode one as Tara her leaves her bachelorette party and heads home just in time to surprise her fiancé and co-worker Eric (Rory Keenan), who is, in bed with another woman.
Well she decides to break off the wedding, leave the law firm that is owned by her fiancé’s father and you guessed it — strike out on her own. It at that point that she seeks the help of my guest on this week’s edition of Stream On, none other than the outstanding actor Neil Morrissey.
He has the very meaty role of Senior Counsel Vincent Pike, a mentor to Tara and a man battling his own set of demons. I spoke to Morrissey about Striking Out, and his role as a lawyer who clearly loves practicing law but in his own special way.
Williams: Vincent Pike is a brilliant attorney with a very clever sense of comedy timing. It seems like you really enjoy playing the role?
Morrissey: I started things off with charm and then put the script on top. Look Vincent is battling his daemons there is no doubt, but he uses his talents as a lawyer and a bit of gallows humor to keep things moving.
Williams: Talk about Vincent’s relationship with Tara?
Morrissey: Clearly she sees him as her mentor and someone that she can trust to help her out of any jam she might get into both legal and personal. But Vincent clearly loves her, his wife can tell, others can tell, but he and Tara keep things professional.
Williams: You have a great backdrop in Dublin and I think that you showcase it in a way most people have never seen it before. It really looks like a modern world capital.
Morrissey: Our director Lisa Larsson, is outstanding. She uses drone shots flying in under the bridges to give you some great shots of the marina. She really uses the buildings lit up at night to really give Dublin that lively night look of a major world city.
FOR MORE OF MY CONVERSATION WITH NEIL MORRISSEY AND STRIKING OUT. PLUS, HE ALSO TALKS ABOUT ANOTHER ACORN TV HIT THAT HE IS ON — GOOD KARMA HOSPITAL. SO LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE — STREAM ON PODCAST POWERED BY AUDIBLE.