Apple TV+’s Bad Sisters is the latest comedy by Sharon Horgan, the creator and actor behind comedies like Pulling and Divorce. Debuting in August, Horgan gets to explore dark comedy roots with a show set around a close family of Irish sisters who find themselves in a web of lies and deceit as they plan to kill a particularly misogynistic member of the household.
Garnering positive reviews for its plot and ensemble, the show is bound to make viewers check out more screen credits that the cast has been involved in. This leads to a diverse watchlist that includes mainstream Netflix shows, French satirical comedies, and recent A24 dramas.
Sharon Horgan – The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022)
Rent On Vudu
Bad Sisters showrunner and leading star Sharon Horgan plays the eldest of the titular sisters, serving as a matriarch figure to her family. Early this year, Horgan also appeared as Olivia, Nicolas Cage’s ex-wife in the meta satire The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
With Nicolas Cage playing one of the most surreal roles of his career, the action comedy deals with his misadventures as a Hollywood star after he gets embroiled in a criminal conspiracy. At the same time, the movie also delves into his obsession with acting and cinema that comes at the cost of his family as characters like Olivia show. Horgan evokes enough dramatic prowess and sarcastic charm to add some sense of reality in Cage’s life of exaggerated theatrics.
Anne-Marie Duff – Sex Education (2020-)
Stream On Netflix
The other major Garvey sister is Grace, a woman who must deal with her repulsive husband who is otherwise hated by her other siblings. Anne-Marie Duff has a knack for playing troubled characters as is evident from her supporting character in Sex Education.
Straying away from the bittersweet coming-of-age tones in the Netflix original comedy series, Duff plays a relatively serious character called Erin. Struggling with drug addiction, she brings drama as Maeve’s mother. Both mother and daughter constantly clash against each other in a particularly tragic storyline that delves into addiction and parental neglect.
Eva Birthistle – The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)
Stream On Netflix
The middle sister in the family, Eva Birthistle’s Ursula harbors a secretive life of her own that is explored in the further episodes. Birthistle has previously appeared as the recurring character Hild in the Netflix period drama The Last Kingdom.
Set during the reign of Alfred the Great, the show focuses on the struggles of a man who is born a Saxon but raised by Norse Viking warriors. When the latter plan to invade the Saxon lands, conflict ensues. Birthistle stars as a nun-turned-warrior called Hild who serves as an ally to the protagonist Uthred.
Sarah Greene – Penny Dreadful (2014-2016)
Stream On Showtime
A Garvey sister who starts a new life with her wife and child, Sarah Greene’s Bibi is the first one to suggest doing away with Grace’s dominating husband John Paul Williams.
Greeene was previously seen in the historical fantasy drama Penny Dreadful which dealt with the story of an explorer searching for his daughter while encountering all sorts of literary fiction characters of the era, from classic novels such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Greene plays Hecate, the eldest daughter of Evelyn Poole, a series protagonist who secretly leads a coven of witches.
Eve Hewson – The Knick (2014-2015)
Stream On HBO Max
The youngest sister in the Garvey family is a free-spirited individual, played with enough charisma by Eve Hewson. The Irish actress has been appearing in movies since 2011, but she made her TV debut with The Knick, the medical drama series directed by Steven Soderbergh.
The show is set in the 1900s with The Knickerboxer Hospital struggling to hold its ground in New York City. As the new head surgeon attempts to fight medical myths while dealing with his own opium addiction, his fellow surgeon fights for basic respect as the city seethes with racism. Eve Hewson is in the main cast as a nurse named Lucy Elkins who grows fond of a young surgeon at the Knick.
Brian Gleeson – Mother! (2017)
Stream On Prime Video
One of the two Claffin brothers is played by Brian Gleeson who appears as a life insurance agent intent on preventing any payouts to the Garveys once John Paul Williams is killed. Gleeson’s other “brother” appearance includes a role in Daren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller movie Mother!
Starring Jennifer Lawrence in the titular role, Mother! is an allegorical adaptation of the Bible dealing with major events from the scripture such as the creation of Adam and Eve, the clash between Cain and Abel, and the birth of Christ. Gleeson is credited as “younger brother,” a metaphor for Abel, the son of Adam and Eve who was killed by his sibling Cain.
Daryl McCormack – Peaky Blinders (2013-2022)
Stream On Netflix
Daryl McCormack’s character Matthew Claffin is pursued by his brother to expose the Garvey sisters’ twisted secrets. Peaky Blinders fans would remember the actor as the character Isaiah Jesus.
Starting his stint on the show with Season 5 and then turning into a main cast member in the next season, McCormack replaced actor Jordan Bolger who had been playing the character since the sophomore season. As the show delves into the Shelby criminal family of Birmingham and their evolution in the early decades of the 20th century, McCormack’s Isiah Jesus is a member of the Peaky Blinders and a particularly close associate of the youngest Shelby brother Finn Shelby.
Claes Bang – The Northman (2022)
Stream On Peacock Premium
Danish actor Claes Bang evokes a certain villainous energy which he channels in many of his supporting roles including that of John Paul Williams, Grace’s domineering husband in Bad Sisters.
Bang was seen early this year, also playing the primary antagonist in Robert Eggers’ ambitious Viking saga The Northman. An adaptation of the Norse tale on which the Shakespeare play Hamlet is based, the movie is a tale of revenge and violence as a lone warrior vows to kill the ,am who murdered his father and snatched his crown. But as Alexander Skarsgård’s Amlet comes closer to Claes Bang’s Fjölnir, he must consider the moral repercussions of his choices.
Assaad Bouab – Call My Agent (2015-)
Stream On Netflix
Asaad Boub, an actor with mostly French screen credits, appears alongside Horgan’s protagonist as her flirtatious colleague. While Bouab has appeared briefly in mainstream shows like Homeland and Peaky Blinders, the French-Moroccan actor shined in several episodes of Call My Agent.
The French-language comedy is set in the world of talent agents as they deal with the whims and fancies of their high-profile clients (mostly actors and celebs playing themselves). Bouab has an interesting role as the unpredictable dating app entrepreneur, one of the show’s typical uber-rich characters who are tone-deaf and cut off from reality.
Michael Smiley – Kill List (2011)
Stream On DIRECTV
Playing Grace’s concerned and lonely neighbor in Bad Sisters, Michael Smiley has appeared in several character roles, but he is perhaps best known as one of the leads in Kill List.
Smiley stars alongside Neil Maskell as a former British soldier who turns to being a hitman to earn some extra cash. While the former’s character is comparatively laid back, the latter is struggling with inner demons from a failed mission in Ukraine. As the two collaborate for a job involving three killings, they go down a dark rabbit hole of cult-like sacrifices and horrors of Lovecraftian scope.
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