RTE show favourite bags major role in huge series – but shock switch-up will leave viewers ‘flabbergasted’
KIN actor Sam Keeley is to go from breaking bones to cracking jokes after landing a role in comedy series The Dry.
The Irish Sun can reveal viewers will next see Offaly man Sam as the new love interest of Shiv Sheridan in the IFTA-winning comedy.
Sam, 32, is best known for playing terrifying Conor McGregor lookalike Eric ‘Viking’ Kinsella in RTE crime series Kin.
An insider on The Dry told us: “Kin viewers will be absolutely flabbergasted to watch Viking doing comedy. Sam as Viking is the loose cannon on Kin, who kicks off all the trouble with his drive by shooting.
“His mad, out of control rages fuelled both seasons, so the idea of Viking from Kin doing comedy on RTE is going to take some getting used to and everybody will be tuning in.”
But sources close to Sam say it’s exactly what he wants to do after quickly becoming the toughest man on Irish TV.
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Previously, the actor told how he kept being recognised after his stint in Kin — including by a former lag who thought they were in prison together.
Sam said: “It’s been really overwhelming that people love the character, so it’s been a lot of fun walking around and people shouting at me in the street. I was stopped in a bar one night and this guy goes ‘I know you from somewhere’ and he said: ‘Did I do time with you?’.”
And in a bizarre twist, Sam could once again end up going head-to-head with evil Eamon Cunningham — but this time on The Dry.
Ex-Kin baddie Ciaran Hinds plays Tom, Shiv’s dad in the comedy drama.
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The Belfast actor recently scooped a Best Supporting Actor award at the IFTAs for season one of The Dry.
A source said: “I’m sure Sam didn’t have to think twice about doing The Dry with an actor as respected as Ciaran involved, who he had worked with on Kin.”
Hailed as Ireland’s answer to Fleabag, RTE green-lit a second season of The Dry before season one had even finished its run.
The opening instalment starred actress Roisin Gallagher, 36, as recovering alcoholic Shiv, who returns to Dublin from London after ten years of partying and tries to lead a sober life.
NEW LOVE INTEREST
But she remains smitten by ex Jack, now a successful artist, who is played by Moe Dunford.
While Shiv finally saw through the painter, she will be falling for Sam in the new season, who will be jetting in from his home in Iceland to film the new series.
And Ciaran, 70, whose real-life wife Hélène Patarot played his mistress Mina in the first season of The Dry, said he was looking forward to what lays in store for the dysfunctional family
He said: “Who knows what’s going to happen next time? They are going to start it again and shoot for two months.
“It’ll be interesting to see what conniptions the family have this time. The quirks, the foibles, the serious issues that are in there as well — the alcoholism, the grief and abandonment.”
The second season of The Dry picks up seven months on from the events of the first.
Writer Nancy Harris said: “I’m so thrilled about this second season of The Dry and to be getting to bring more of the Sheridans back. The characters are all deepening and developing and they all have challenges — it’s going to be quite the roller coaster, and not just for those who are trying to stay sober.”
