It's 10 years since Love/Hate ’s dramatic finale reached fever pitch, concluding one of the most popular TV series ever launched in Ireland. Every Sunday night, the nation was gripped by the double-crossing, blood-shedding, wheeler-dealing escapades of Nigel Delaney and his friends and foes in Dublin’s criminal underworld. Stuart Carolan’s gritty crime drama drew strong reviews and certainly captured the public imagination — at the height of its success, hundreds of members of the public would gather to watch scenes from the show being filmed on the streets.
Love/Hate , which ran for five shocking and sensational seasons, also had a massive impact on Ireland’s acting talent, spawning a whole generation of stars that have gone on to other big successes. The Love/Hate factor still looms large, with one of its leading stars featuring in a major new Netflix series later this month. Killian Scott The Dublin-born actor will take a leading role in Kaos — a new show described as an irreverent dramedy inspired by Greek mythology - which is set to debut on Netflix on August 29.
From The End of the F***ing World creator, Charlie Covell, Kaos is centred around a dysfunctional family of gods and sees Scott play a rock star with a big heart and an ego to match named Orpheus. He’s in good company — his co-stars include acting legend Jeff Goldblum. Scott’s real name, in fact, is Cillian Murphy, but that name was already very much taken in the thespian world by a certain Cork Oscar-winner.
The series marks the latest role for Scott, who first shot to fame as the fizzy orange-loving criminal Tommy, whose brutal beating is recalled as one of Love/Hate ’s most-unsettling scenes. Here, we look at other stars who made their names in the series. Charlie Murphy Siobhán’s character journey from young gangster family member to key garda informant was brilliantly constructed by writer Stuart Carolan and Murphy.
After the shocking and violent events her character experienced in season three, Siobhán became a major and central force in the show’s finale. She has starred in several impressive TV shows in the years since, including the BBC’s Happy Valley with Sarah Lancashire and opposite Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders . Currently starring in the well-received US TV series Halo , watch out for her in Joy , the forthcoming story of the world’s first test-tube baby, Louise Brown.
Barry Keoghan Keoghan had already starred in a few independent films when he made his debut on Love/Hate with a controversial scene. As the babyfaced criminal Wayne, his shooting of a cat shocked viewers. In the years since, Keoghan has gone on to enjoy a hugely successful Hollywood career, working alongside some of the world’s biggest filmmakers.
He played a manipulative young man in Yorgos Lanthimos’s chilling The Killing of a Sacred Deer, shone in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk , and enacted a graveyard and dance scene we won’t forget in a hurry in last year’s Saltburn . Among his forthcoming projects are a return to Ireland to star in Bring Them Down , a thriller set among a shepherding family. Robert Sheehan As Darren, the young criminal with streaks of loyalty and kindness, Robert Sheehan’s character was one of the most popular in the series.
Sheehan was also starring in the UK hit Misfits around that same time, giving him two stepping stones to screen stardom. He has worked steadily in the years since — and since 2019 has another hit on his hands after debuting as Klaus Hargreeves in the award-winning series The Umbrella Academy . Tom Vaughan-Lawlor He gave us a star-making performance as the weirdly charismatic, riveting and ruthless Nidge, the gangland leader who would do anything to maintain power.
It was a remarkable role and the Dubliner made the most of it, building a varied and successful career. The actor has since used his chameleonic qualities to impressive effect on the big and small screen, starring in Irish dramas ( Maze ), entertaining real-life stories ( The Inflitrator ) and Hollywood juggernauts ( Avengers Infinity War and Endgame ). Based in the UK with his actress wife Claire Cox and their family, the Irishman can currently be seen on Netflix’s The Beautiful Game , about the Homeless World Cup soccer tournament.
Ruth Negga The Limerick-Ethiopian actress brought a powerful emotional resonance to the series as part of the lovestruck couple Rosie and Darren, with an onscreen chemistry that made viewers really invested in their fate. Already a star thanks to movies including Breakfast on Pluto , the success of Love/Hate further consolidated Negga’s career and just years after the series ended in 2014, she received an Oscar nomination for her role in Loving . She played Mildred Loving in the powerful true story of a couple who fought a legal battle after being arrested for their interracial marriage.
Negga went on to star in another iconic series — US show Preacher — and is currently starring opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in the legal series Presumed Innocent . She’s also set to star opposite Michael Fassbender and Domhnall Gleeson in director James Marsh’s adaptation of Kevin Barry’s novel, Night Boat to Tangier . Peter Coonan From his coining of the phrase ‘coola boola’ — which for a time felt like the most-used remark in Ireland — to his famous: “I’ve a bone to pick with you Nidgy!” Coonan’s Fran delivered some of the show’s best lines with aplomb.
He’s enjoyed a busy and diverse career on the stage and screen ever since. Highlights have included starring roles in Dublin Murders and Bad Sisters . He has two movies on the way — the Dublin-based drama King Frankie , and his Bad Sisters co-star Eva Birthistle’s directorial debut, Kathleen is Here .
Aidan Gillen Gillen’s John Boy had the knack for generating fear and a sense of menace into anyone who crossed his path. But his great failing was a fondness for the cocaine he was peddling which proved to be his undoing — and he met an early and violent end in the season two finale. Gillen has enjoyed a busy career in the years since, mixing up roles in Irish film and TV with international projects, such as Queen’s manager John Reid in Bohemian Rhapsody and Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish in Game of Thrones .
He also returned to the Dublin crime genre as Frank Kinsella in Kin . Currently starring in Mayor of Kingstown , he had several projects on the way, including an adaptation of John Le Carre’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold . Stuart Carolan After gripping audiences with the surprise and reveals of Love/Hate , writer and creator Carolan has enjoyed a fruitful career.
He followed Love/Hate with the TV series Taken Down and has worked as show runner on international series such as The Alienist , on US cable channel TNT. He also worked as writer and story producer on Guy Ritchie’s recent TV series The Gentlemen . Carolan has several projects — including a movie adaptation of Paul Murray’s best-selling novel, Skippy Dies — in development.
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