When a project brings together the creative minds behind Minions and Chernobyl, you know you are in for something completely unexpected. Toss in a flock of crime-solving sheep, and you have The Sheep Detectives, a movie that has instantly become one of the most talked-about releases of the year.
As you may have seen I chatted to the star of the film, Hugh Jackman, and I also sat down with Irish comedy legend Chris O'Dowd to discuss his hilarious and deeply poignant role as Mopple the sheep. We talked about his initial reaction to the wildly inventive script, the secret power of the Irish accent, and why the British countryside isn't too bad of a backdrop for an Irish story.
When I first saw the trailer for The Sheep Detectives, I had to admit to Chris that I wasn't entirely sure what I was watching, but I knew I was absolutely into it. It turns out, he felt the exact same way when he first received the script.
"It's such a fun story," Chris told me. "It really is so fun. And it's unusual that any project comes to you where it's the director of Minions [Kyle Balda] and the writer of Chernobyl [Craig Mazin]. I think that's quite a combination. It might be a first, you know."
Intrigued by the pedigree of the filmmakers, Chris picked up the 2005 international bestselling novel the film is based on, Leonie Swann's Three Bags Full.
"I read the book and really enjoyed it. It's such a mad mishmash of ideas, really, but essentially it is like a Babe: Pig in the City meets Knives Out kind of a murder mystery set on a beautiful lush countryside. I was very happy to be involved with an amazing voice cast."
While The Sheep Detectives is packed with laughs, it doesn't shy away from deep, meaningful themes. The sheep discuss God, love, and memories in profound ways. One of the writers even noted that Chris brought a "beautiful humanity" to his voice acting, a compliment that led to a fascinating insight into his craft.
"Well, it's a lovely way to be described. I don't know if I'd ever thought about myself like that," Chris said with trademark humility. "But I do think that there is something in the Irish voice that does make it slightly more emotional."
He went on to share a brilliant lesson from his drama school days that perfectly explains why Irish actors always seem to hit right in the feels.
"They kind of described words as having two parts, where there's the consonant part and the vowel part. The consonant part gives it its power and its energy, and its vowels gives it its feeling. And so when you elongate the vowels as we do in Irish or in Southern, it makes it almost automatically sound like it's more soulful."
That soulfulness is put to perfect use in Chris's character, Mopple. While some of the other sheep are focused strictly on solving the murder of their beloved shepherd (played by Hugh Jackman), Mopple carries a different kind of burden.
"He is the collective memory in lots of ways," Chris explained. "He remembers everything through sense memory because of how he eats and is obsessed with food, and will then be able to recall things that have happened while he was eating. I suppose like we remember a good meal or whatever."
But Mopple's unique ability to remember the details of what everyone said at any given time comes with a heavy emotional price.
"It means that he remembers things that the others have been luckily enough to forget, and the tragedies and the pains. Part of the message that comes across in the film through Mopple, I suppose, is that sometimes it's worth remembering some of the tragedy to remember the good bits too."
Of course, playing a food-obsessed sheep is just the latest brilliant move in a career built on scene-stealing performances. From his breakout days as Roy in the beloved sitcom The IT Crowd to winning over global audiences as the lovable Officer Rhodes in the smash-hit movie Bridesmaids, Chris has always had a knack for balancing laugh-out-loud comedy with genuine heart. He's proven his dramatic chops in films like Calvary and The Sapphires, and recently, he's been dominating the small screen. Chris has been captivating audiences by leading the acclaimed Apple TV+ sci-fi comedy series The Big Door Prize, further cementing his status as a master of the soulful comedy he learned back in drama school. Whether he's navigating mysterious destiny-predicting machines or solving a murder mystery in a pasture, Chris continues to prove why he is one of Ireland's absolute finest exports.
We couldn't wrap up the interview without addressing the elephant, or rather: the sheep, in the room. While The Sheep Detectives was filmed in the picturesque English countryside, true fans of the original book know that the story has distinctly Irish roots.
I had to point out that the film really should have been set in an Irish town.
"Well, you know the book actually is set in an Irish village, right?" Chris laughed, referencing Leonie Swann's original setting. "So Three Bags Full... was set in Ireland, and it's nice having an Irish voice in it, I suppose, for that reason."
However, ever the diplomat, Chris had to concede that the film's stunning UK backdrop did the job perfectly.
"You can't complain about that lush British countryside, that does look pretty good too," he smiled. "They're allowed to have fields as well. God bless them."
Catch Chris O'Dowd alongside an all-star cast in The Sheep Detectives, out now in Irish cinemas.
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