‘Slow Horses’ Ruth Bradley Joins Bill Burr & Chris O’Dowd In Ireland-Set Comedy ‘Bender’

EXCLUSIVE: Slow Horses’ Ruth Bradley is set to star alongside Bill Burr and Chris O’Dowd in Bender, the coming-of-age comedy shooting in Ireland this summer, which we announced last fall.

Described as Superbad meets Derry Girls, Bender is based on the late-’70s, post-punk Dublin coming-of-age experiences of Adrian Cunningham, who penned the script with Ciaran Bartlett. Set against the frenzy surrounding an impending papal visit, the story follows a suburban Dublin family navigating mounting financial pressures amid a bleak economic recession.

Bradley plays a sharp-tongued, no-nonsense matriarch trying to keep her family together and neighborhood gossip at bay while her husband Tom, played by O’Dowd, wrestles with joblessness and wounded pride.

As previously announced, Burr plays a gruff American record-store owner who convinces a ragtag gang of teenage misfits that their best, and possibly only, chance to lose their virginity before graduating high school is at a massive open-air mass for the visiting Pope.

Pluribus‘ Adam Bernstein is directing, with Stephen McCormack of Reflektor Media and Craig Verdon producing in partnership with actress Lesley-Ann Brandt (Presumed Innocent, Lucifer) through The Mal Picture Company and Cunningham through Martello Films. Burr is serving as an executive producer.

A three-time winner of Best Actress at the Irish Film & Television Awards, Bradley is best known for her role of MI5 agent Emma Flyte in Apple’s Emmy and BAFTA-winning spy thriller, Slow Horses, opposite Gary Oldman and Kristen Thomas. She broke out with a role in the Irish crime drama Love/Hate, with additional credits including the BAFTA-nominated The Gold, Humans, The Fall, Guilt and Ted Lasso.

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Chris O'Dowd Joins Bill Burr In Coming-Of-Age Comedy 'Bender'