Jamie-Lee O’Donnell has revealed she worked two retail jobs after she filmed the first series of Derry Girls because she didn’t know if the show was going to be a success.
The actress, who plays Michelle in the hit sitcom, accepted Christmas jobs in Eason’s and Swarovski so she could afford to pay her bills.
The 30-year-old told The Belfast Telegraph:“After I finished season one, because it took so long to come out, I found myself working in Eason’s and Swarovski. Both stores were across from each other, so it was handy.”
“I did a thing for BBC2, but my agent said, ‘It’s going to be a while before things come in’,” she recalled.
“All these expectations had to be adjusted, and the reality of it is you’ve got bills to pay, so I thought, ‘F*** it. I’m going to go and get these two Christmas jobs’.
“There was a lot of times where I didn’t want to sit about, but I thought, ‘What’s the point? I might as well work before I’m known’. We didn’t know Derry Girls was going to take off.”
“It’s surreal. Obviously, we hoped for this. We loved filming it,” Jamie-Lee added.
