Love/Hate actress Susan Loughnane speaks to Irish Tatler about playing an addict and the
beckon of UK TV
(May 9) – Relative newcomer on Irish screens Susan Loughnane is quickly making a name for herself playing drug
addict Debbie on hit RTE drama Love/Hate. Speaking to Irish Tatler she talks playing an addict, being accosted by
people thinking she’s ‘Debbie’ and crossing the water to appear in two series in the UK.
A native of Malahide, she moved to New York to attend the famous Lee Strasbourg Theatre and Film Institute in New
York. Famed for its method acting practices, she acknowledges the experience was invaluable ‘It was an incredible
experience. I even ended up painting there. I did a commission for a bar so I was able to fund myself too, so that was
great. Although she admits she was still very shy, and lacked confidence ‘When I went to New York that was just
beaten out of me. You have to stand up for yourself and it was great for me’.
Susan has come to prominence in the role of Debbie in RTE drama Love / Hate and admits she was lucky to land the
role from a position of relative unknown ‘I was just so lucky that Maureen Hughes (the casting director) took a leap
with me, the same with Stuart (Carolan – the creator and writer) and David Caffrey (the director). They trusted me
with such a big role and its paid off, because Stuart has written me back in and he’s given me a really really incredible
story line.”
To portray an addict believably she spent several months learning about addiction and researching the experiences of
addicts and what drives them ‘It’s the type of role that there is no end to the research you can do, there is always
another book you can read. There was a lot of work to be done on getting the feeling of [heroin], because it is quite a
unique experience. I met a lot of ex-addicts, finding out what sort of drugs makes them feel certain ways, and why they
took them’
So good has her portrayal of a drug addict been that she confesses she is regularly accosted in the street by people
thinking she is Debbie, she has even been asked for drugs, something her director is quite pleased with ‘I told the
director David Caffrey and his reaction was ‘that’s just what we want!’ So he was delighted. I get why he is, it’s not
particularly what I want. But it is great that they come up and talk to you as if you are the character’
With filming on season three of Love / Hate is almost wrapped, the UK beckons for Susan. She has just finished
filming a Mad Men style drama for the BBC called ‘Loving Miss Hato’ which was a departure from her Love/Hate
character ‘It’s a really funny run, my character is nice but a bit dim, a total contrast to Debbie’ She is also in the
middle of filming a pilot with Hubbard Casting of Lord of the Rings fame for a full fantasy series based on the legend
of Cu Chullain with Owen Macken of Merlin fame.
Read her full interview in Irish Tatler on sale now only €2.10