Get to Know Unforgotten’s Sinéad Keenan
Unforgotten fans, meet the Season 5 newcomer Sinéad Keenan! Learn all about the actor stepping onto the scene as new DCI Jessica James. Plus, find out about where Keenan grew up, her dream job before acting, and her talented family members.
[Warning: This feature contains spoilers from the Season 4 finale.]
- 1.
Sinéad Keenan Isn't the Only Actor in the Family
Sinéad is the oldest of three siblings, both of whom are actors, as well. Her sister Gráinne Keenan has played a number of roles alongside her big sister over the years, including Unforgotten Season 5 as DCI Jessica James’ sister Debbie.
Aside from the roles beside her sister, Gráinne’s appeared in such series as Black Mirror, and in the 2012 mini-series Titanic, written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. Plus, Gráinne’s first MASTERPIECE appearance was in Victoria Season 2 as Mrs. Traill.
Her brother Rory Keenan is known for both theatre and screen roles, including Versailles, Peaky Blinders, and the hit 2004 film Ella Enchanted. Rory, too, made a MASTERPIECE appearance in 1999’s Aristocrats.
- 2.
Sinéad Keenan Almost Turned Down Unforgotten
Joining a popular series in its fifth season is no easy feat — especially when trying to fill the shoes of one of the series’ beloved lead characters. Keenan was initially a bit wary of saying yes to the role. “I got a call from my agent saying the people from Unforgotten were looking for Nicola Walker’s replacement and they wanted to give the script to three or four actors. Would I be interested?, Keenan told Radio Times. “…Of course I immediately said, ‘No, no thank you, very much. Anyone who’s following Nicola Walker is going to be going against the wind. She’s brilliant.”
After giving it some thought, however, Keenan changed her mind and accepted the role. But she is also “fully prepared” for fans to need some time to adjust to the change, she told Radio Times. “It’s a bit like if your parents split up and your dad brings home a new girlfriend. You’re like, ‘Nah, I will not be liking you.’”
Keenan credits one co-star in particular with helping ease her concern about taking on the role. “[Sanjeev], bless him, sent me a message on Twitter saying, ‘Look, it might be a bit daunting for you because we all know each other, did I want to meet up before we go to that lunch, or have a Zoom call or something?’ Which was incredibly thoughtful and kind of him,” Keenan told the Sunday Post.
- 3.
Sinéad Keenan's From Ireland...And So is Her Unforgotten Character!
Keenan was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and also spent a lot of time in Belfast, Northern Ireland where her mother was born. Throughout her career, she’s played many roles where she had to perfect an English accent, and while she doesn’t mind, she said she was thrilled to learn that she’d be keeping her natural Irish brogue in Unforgotten. “I usually don’t use my own accent,” she told Radio Times in an interview. “When they approached me, I assumed it would be an English accent but [Unforgotten creator] Chris [Lang] really wanted me to keep the Dublin one.”
Admittedly, it was a bit jarring, confessed Keenan. “It was odd at first because I’m not used to hearing myself like that when I’m working… On the plus side, there was enough to worry about without mastering another accent as well.”
- 4.
Sinéad Keenan's Path to the Screen Wasn't Her Original Plan
When she was younger, Keenan’s dream wasn’t actually to be a film or television star —she originally wanted to be a lawyer. Keenan’s dream stemmed from one iconic, ’80s crime drama series starring none other than Andy Griffith: Matlock. Keenan admittedly loved the series, with Griffith donning “his white suit, looking a bit like Colonel Sanders, always doing these grandstanding speeches in court.” She told Radio Times, “I used to love it as a kid and thought I might study law. Until I realized that was a lot of work and I’d rather play the character instead.”
And so Keenan started her on-screen career, appearing in hit series including: Being Human, alongside Aidan Turner (Poldark) and Russell Tovey (Flesh and Blood); Doctor Who, during David Tennant’s (Around the World in 80 Days, Harry Potter) final episodes; and the final season of Derry Girls. MASTERPIECE fans may even remember her appearance in Poirot in the 2009 episode “The Clocks.” And in 2021, she starred in the TV mini series Three Families, based on real-life stories of how three families were each affected by Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion law before it was lifted in 2019.
Her past film roles include Sunburn, co-starring fellow Irish actor Cillian Murphy of Peaky Blinders and Oppenheimer fame.
- 5.
Sinéad Keenan's No Stranger to Crime Series
While she may be new to Unforgotten, she’s certainly not new to working on crime dramas. Keenan starred in 2017’s Little Boy Blue, based on the true story of the shocking murder in Liverpool of an 11-year-old boy named Rhys Jones. For her role as the boy’s mother, Keenan won a Royal Television Society Programme Award in 2018, and was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award.
It was a role that Keenan felt immense pressure to get right. “Any work you do you want it to be good, but when it’s somebody’s real life you don’t want to put a foot wrong, especially when it surrounds such a tragedy,” she said to the Royal Television Society.
Keenan also starred in the 2021 legal drama series Showtrial, where, she not only played a DI, but another DI with a famous Wild West inspired name. “That’s right, it was DI Paula ‘Butch’ Cassidy,” Keenan told Radio Times. “First Butch Cassidy, now Jessie James. There’s definitely a theme here. I clearly give off cowboy vibes. Maybe all my jobs will be westerns from now on.”
