Chris O’Dowd: ‘I was walking through a forest – aliens seemed to be everywhere’
The Irish actor and comedian returns to his hometown for his latest TV show!
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Previous Page Next PageWhen looking for inspiration for his latest project, Chris O’Dowd found it in an unlikely place.
The Irish comedian and actor was working on a movie in Toronto during the pandemic when the idea for a show involving aliens was sparked.
Released later this week, the series Small Town, Big Story follows Wendy Patterson (Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks), a woman who left her small hometown in rural Ireland and later found success as a TV producer in Los Angeles.
But after two decades in the Hollywood hills, she returns with a film crew in tow to work on a TV series (a dodgy historical drama titled I Am Celt), while also ready to confront a long-held secret.
One of the people standing in her way is her high-school boyfriend Seamus (Game of Thrones’ Paddy Considine) who is now the local GP and is still unsure whether to back her outrageous claims publicly.
Written and directed by Chris, the 45-year-old said he couldn’t help but shake the feeling he was surrounded by extra-terrestrials when he had the idea for the storyline.
Chris O’Dowd has explained the thinking behind making a show involving aliens (Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/ Getty Images)‘It felt like it was just everywhere at the time. When I was sitting down and writing it was a small-town story before something happened. I was feeling very untethered from the world. We were living in Toronto and were trying to make a film during lockdown,’ he told Metro.
‘I was walking through a forest that reminded me of home and aliens seemed to be everywhere. Seeing them, feeling them and I think over the course of writing the show I realised they are there for a lot of people and so I just kind of leaned into it.’
The six-part series begins with two towns competing to have the production filmed there – Chris’ hometown of Boyle and the fictional Drumbán – which wins out.
Despite his hometown not securing the win, cameras still rolled there for the actual TV show, with Chris also admitting the characters were inspired by people he knew growing up.
‘Nearly all of them really (inspired the characters). My imagination is poor, so I try and see people where they are at and sprinkle some craic,’ he laughed.
Small Town, Big Story follows a Hollywood production rolling into a small Irish town (Picture: Sky UK)
