The 5-hour mini-series chronicles the 1986 nuclear disaster
Irish actors Barry Keoghan and Jessie Buckley are among an impressive ensemble cast in HBO’s latest mini-series ‘Chernobyl.’
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The show, which premiered on May 6 in the US and May 7 in the UK and Ireland, is a 5-episode mini-series that chronicles the 1986 nuclear disaster in the then Soviet-controlled Ukraine and its devastating aftermath.
In the show, Co Kerry native Jessie Buckley plays Lyudmilla Ignatenko, a pregnant woman whose fireman husband was one of the first responders to the disaster. Though parts of the mini-series are fictionalized, Buckley’s character is based on a real person.
Buckley told The Irish Mirror: “The script completely blew me away.”
“I wasn’t born when it happened but when I was at primary school there was a charity set up by Adi Roche for children affected by the explosion. They would come and live in Ireland for a year and go to my school. So I felt very emotionally involved.”
“But the pressure is your responsibility to tell these people’s stories.”
“There was one day I was on set and there were various extras from Lithuania and Ukraine.”
“There was this woman beside me crying her eyes out. At the end, I gave her a hug and she said her son had been a victim of that explosion.”
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Barry Keoghan, who made his acting debut in RTE’s drama ‘Love / Hate,’ features in four of the five episodes as Pavel, whose duty as a soldier is to kill any infected dogs wandering the area.
While filming ‘Chernobyl’ in 2018, Keoghan told the Irish Independent: "I have turned down a lot this year waiting for the right thing to come along, so fingers crossed."
Having starred in films such as 'Dunkirk' and 'The Killing of A Sacred Deer,' Keoghan has proven that he has fine taste in choosing acting roles.
‘Chernobyl,’ by most accounts, is set to be just as critically acclaimed.
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Check out the trailer for ‘Chernobyl’ here:
'Chernobyl' airs in the US on HBO on Mondays at 9 pm, and in Ireland on Sky Atlantic.
Have you seen 'Chernobyl' yet? Share your thoughts on the mini-series in the comments
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