There are certain roles that stick to an actor for life, whether they want them to or not. For Saoirse-Monica Jackson, that role was Erin Quinn, the wildly dramatic, endlessly quotable teenager at the center of Derry Girls. What’s interesting about Jackson’s story, though, is what happened after the cameras stopped rolling on that show. Instead of settling into one comfortable identity, she’s spent the past few years quietly building a career that stretches from the West End to Hollywood blockbusters, proving there was always more to her than one unforgettable character.
Where It All Started
Jackson was born on 24 November 1993 in Derry, Northern Ireland, and grew up splitting her time between the city and Greencastle in County Donegal, where her family ran a small village pub. That upbringing wasn’t just background noise. It shaped the voice, the humor, and the rhythm she later brought to her most famous role. She was educated at St Cecilia’s College in Derry before heading to Manchester, where she trained at the Arden School of Theatre and graduated with a degree in acting.
Her early career wasn’t instant fame. Like most actors, she paid her dues first. In 2016, she landed a small but notable part as Sasha in the Sky miniseries The Five, created by Harlan Coben. That same year, she stepped onto the stage in a Birmingham Repertory Theatre production of Of Mice and Men, playing Curley’s wife. A brief appearance in the BBC drama Broken followed in 2017, along with a role in the West End production of The Ferryman at the Gielgud Theatre. None of these were headline grabbing moments, but they gave her the grounding that would matter once the spotlight actually found her.
The Role That Changed Everything
In 2018, Channel 4 introduced the world to Derry Girls, a sitcom set in 1990s Derry during the final years of the Troubles. Jackson was cast as Erin Quinn, the self important, painfully earnest ringleader of a friend group trying to survive teenage life against a backdrop of political tension. She was 23 when she landed the part, tasked with playing a schoolgirl years younger than herself, and she leaned into it with a physicality that became the show’s signature.
Jackson has spoken about pulling from her own life for the role. She drew on memories of her own teenage years in Derry, along with a bit of inspiration from exaggerated expressions she’d noticed in a younger cousin, blending that with comedic instincts closer to Jim Carrey than to typical sitcom acting. The result was a performance full of face pulling, over the top reactions, and comic timing that made Erin one of the most quoted characters on British television.
Derry Girls ran for three seasons and nineteen episodes between 2018 and 2022. It became a genuine cultural moment, especially for how it portrayed Northern Ireland with humor and warmth rather than treating the Troubles purely as tragedy. The show won a BAFTA and turned its young cast, Jackson included, into household names almost overnight.
Stepping Out of Erin’s Shadow
Following a role that beloved is a real challenge for any actor. Audiences tend to freeze performers in the character that made them famous, and moving past that takes deliberate choices. Jackson didn’t rush into anything flashy right away. Instead, she picked up smaller, varied projects that let her stretch in different directions.
She took part in Unprecedented: Real Time Theatre from a State of Isolation in 2020, a project built around the strange realities of the pandemic, and appeared in Urban Myths, a series built around dramatized takes on stories involving well known public figures. In 2021, she played Emma Callaghan in the film Finding You, and the following year she narrated Murder in the Badlands, guiding viewers through true crime cases across several episodes. None of these were career defining on their own, but together they showed an actor testing different formats rather than chasing one type of role.
Building Range Across Film and Television
The bigger turning point came with her move into larger productions. In 2023, Jackson appeared in The Flash, the DC superhero film starring Ezra Miller and Michael Keaton and directed by Andy Muschietti. Landing a role in a major studio blockbuster, even a supporting one, put her in front of an entirely new audience outside the UK and Ireland.
From there, her workload only grew. She took on the romantic comedy Upgraded in 2024, and more recently she’s been attached to a run of new dramas, including the Channel 5 series The Trial and the BBC gangster drama This City Is Ours, where she plays Cheryl Crawford. She’s also been connected to projects like the historical series The Decameron and the thriller series The Doll Factory, both signs that producers see her as someone who can carry serious, layered material rather than just comedic ensemble work.
Her theater background hasn’t disappeared either. Between screen projects, she’s continued taking stage work, which speaks to an actor who values craft over simply staying visible.
Why Hollywood Is Paying Attention
What makes Jackson’s trajectory stand out is the range itself. She’s moved from a beloved sitcom to Shakespearean style stage work, then into a DC film, then into gritty British crime drama. That kind of variety isn’t accidental. It reflects an actor deliberately avoiding typecasting, picking roles that stretch her rather than roles that simply keep her in the public eye.
Compared to some of her Derry Girls castmates, who have leaned more heavily into comedy or stayed closer to UK television, Jackson has pushed further into international and genre work. That willingness to take risks on unfamiliar territory, whether it’s a big budget superhero film or a dark psychological thriller, is often what separates actors who fade after one hit show from those who build lasting careers.
The Person Behind the Performances
Jackson has stayed fairly grounded despite the attention. She’s spoken warmly about her connection to Northern Ireland and has used her platform to highlight causes tied to her home region, including work with Children in Crossfire, a charity focused on children affected by poverty and conflict. She’s also been open about how much Derry Girls meant to her personally, not just professionally, describing the show as something that let her celebrate where she came from rather than run from it.
On a personal note, Jackson married Scottish DJ Denis Sulta, known offstage as Hector Barbour, in August 2025, in a ceremony in County Kerry. The couple had been based between London and Germany before eventually settling in Liverpool. Details of the wedding, including her father walking her down the aisle to a cover of the Derry Girls theme song, made headlines in outlets like British Vogue, showing just how much public interest still follows her outside her work on screen.
What Comes Next
With multiple projects either recently released or currently in production, Jackson’s career shows no sign of slowing down. Her recent shift toward darker, more dramatic material like This City Is Ours and The Doll Factory suggests she’s actively courting roles with more weight than the comedic parts that first made her famous. If that pattern continues, it wouldn’t be surprising to see her name attached to bigger international productions in the coming years.
The bigger picture here is simple. Jackson has already proven she can carry a beloved ensemble comedy. Now she’s proving she can do serious drama, blockbuster action, and stage work too. That kind of range is rare, and it’s exactly the sort of thing that gets an actor noticed well beyond the UK.
Final Thoughts
Saoirse-Monica Jackson‘s journey from a small pub in Donegal to sets in Hollywood wasn’t built on luck alone. It came from steady, deliberate choices: taking smaller roles to build a foundation, throwing herself fully into the role that made her famous, and then refusing to stay boxed in by it afterward. Erin Quinn will likely always be the role people mention first, but everything Jackson has done since suggests that’s just one chapter in a much longer story. For anyone keeping an eye on where British and Irish talent is headed next, she’s a name worth watching closely.
Frequently Asked Questions saoirse-monica jackson
Who is Saoirse-Monica Jackson? She’s a Northern Irish actress from Derry, best known for playing Erin Quinn in Derry Girls, who has since moved into film and drama roles on a wider international stage.
What was Saoirse-Monica Jackson’s first acting role? Her television debut came in 2016, playing Sasha in four episodes of the Sky miniseries The Five, followed shortly after by stage work including Of Mice and Men.
What has Saoirse-Monica Jackson done since Derry Girls ended? She’s taken on a mix of projects, from a role in the DC film The Flash to dramas like This City Is Ours and The Trial, along with continued stage work.
Is Saoirse-Monica Jackson working on any Hollywood projects? Yes, alongside UK television work, she’s appeared in major studio productions like The Flash and has upcoming roles in projects such as The Decameron and The Doll Factory.
Where is Saoirse-Monica Jackson from? She was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, and grew up splitting time between the city and Greencastle in County Donegal, where her family ran a pub.
