‘Small Town, Big Story’ stars Christina Hendricks and Chris O’Dowd: Hollywood retells the past to suit its purposes |

Christina Hendricks and Chris O’Dowd are set to shake up the Drumbán, Ireland with their all-new comedy series, ‘Small Town, Big Story’.
Set in a small Irish border town, the comedy-sci-fi film delves into themes of identity, within the setting of a Hollywood production that throws the spotlight on a secret that’s been kept hidden since the eve of the Millennium. Being one of the few shows set in Ireland, this one deviates from the usual twisted Hollywood tales to bring comedy, dry humour, and more, all within a rustic and rural setting.
In an interview with ETimes, director O’Dowd, shared his thoughts about the core message of the film and revealed if it aims to right the wrongs of Hollywood’s coloured narratives. Chris said, “I suppose in terms of the perspective that a small town may have in the eyes of a Hollywood executive, that didn’t matter to me so much. It was more the perspective of the people as they look at the rest of the world. The show is entirely is about identity and how we are shifting our identity very quickly. The town is not the only thing having a little identity crisis, but all of these characters go through these different identity crises.”In the show, Hendricks’ character, Wendy Patterson, returns to her home town with an entire film crew to shoot for a series ‘I am Celt’, a sort of Irish answer to ‘Game of Thrones‘. Speaking about Hollywood productions and their penchant for revisiting historic epics, Chirs shared, “A big part of retelling the past through Celtic storytelling and all of these things is that we make most of it up as we go on, to suit our purposes. This is exactly what Hollywood does to places where it goes. So I suppose this is a microcosm of that, that ‘don’t believe everything you see or hear’, but maybe believe the things that you might not otherwise believe.”
The new show that debuted on Thursday, February 27, on JioHotstar, balances Irish comedy and heartfelt family dynamics. In a way, the show’s plot mimics the success stories of lead actress Christina, who shot to fame with the hit show ‘Mad Men’ and her co-star Paddy Considine, who wooed the audience with his role in the Game of Thrones spin-off, ‘House of the Dragon’. As a big Hollywood stars taking over a small town, we asked Christina how they blended in. Hendricks acknowledged the unique filming experience saying, “It was a transition, but the town embraced us. We tried to not come in and make too much of a mess, and they were respectful to us, and hopefully, we were respectful for them. We sort of minded our own business as much as possible and weren’t trying to make a ruckus.”
The director added, “We filmed in my actual hometown, so it was a kind of welcoming enough space.”
Also starring Leia Murphy, David Rawle, Eileen Walsh, David Wilmot and many more, the 6-part series is available for streaming.