Northern Lights: Actor Stephen Jones nominated for IFTA award

Glenview actor and playwright Stephen Jones is proud to have been nominated for the Irish Film & Television Award (IFTA) for ‘Best Script—Drama’ for his writing in the TG4 drama series ‘Northern Lights’.

The show, based on the stage play also written by Stephen, stars him and Sligo native Elva Trill as two grieving strangers, Lloyd and Aine, respectively, whose worlds collide when Lloyd finds Aine standing on Grattan Bridge and decides to intervene, fearing the worst.

This latest venture is set in Capel Street and the Northside Quays and marks the Tallaght Community School alumni’s screenwriting debut.

The gripping six-part drama delves into realistic and mature themes such as grief, love, and friendship and aired on TG4 throughout November.

It has also aired in Belgium, and it will air in the UK this month and the US this summer. This week, we sat down with Stephen, who is also going to be appearing in ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ at The Gaiety Theatre from April 16–27, to discuss ‘Northern Lights’ and the nomination; the IFTAs will air on April 20.

What was it like growing up in Tallaght? How did that influence and inspire your career?

Growing up in Tallaght, I met all sorts of characters that I still have fond memories of.

I made many friends at Tallaght Community School that I was close with, and it was amazing the different directions we took in life.

Two of my childhood friends are now professional football players.

I had always had an interest in acting, writing, and, just in general, that sort of area of creativity.

So I was off filming these different things even back then.

That kind of inspired my interest in creating stories and trying to portray them for the entertainment of others as well as for my own personal enjoyment.

Tell us a bit about ‘Northern Lights’!

Well, it’s a story about grief, love, and friendship that focuses on two strangers that meet in Dublin.

It’s a six-part drama.

I’m really happy with the platform and publicity it has gotten internationally, not just around the country!

To think our little drama set in Ireland could reach the shores of Belgium, the UK, and the US!

It’s great to think that I could create a story that has such a far-reaching impact.

There was definitely a bit of doubt considering it was my first screenwriting project but I am glad to see that enough people know about it and have praised it to think, “I’ve done my job well.”

This was your screenwriting debut.

Were there any challenges that came with that?

Of course, there were definitely a few challenges.

There were times where you couldn’t really be sure that something will come across the way you wanted it to.

But I had written the original play so I still retained an idea of the story and the direction it went.

The play was also quite recent at the time of writing the adaptation so the details were still fresh in my mind.

My job was also made a lot easier with the help of the show’s story consultant, who would advise and guide me on what to tweak and what to dial back on to best appeal to viewers.

Thoughts on being nominated?

It’s lovely!

A nice little bonus that adds to the joy of creating something new.

Obviously, it would be nice to win but to even be nominated is such an honour.

I can still walk away happy knowing that I told the story I wanted to tell, and I told it well enough to be nominated for an IFTA for it.

I cannot state enough that I couldn’t have done it alone; I had a lot of people helping me along the way, and if I win, I’ll certainly have a job of trying to thank every single one of them in my speech.

Who would you like to thank for helping with ‘Northern Lights’ and helping you secure this nomination?

Oh God, countless people!

First off, I would like to thank everyone who worked on the original stage play and helped it become so popular and big as it is that it was considered worthy of a screen adaptation.

I would also like to thank the hundreds of people who were involved in the cast and crew of the show.

It’s all well and good to write the script and act, but it all falls apart if there are not so many other people helping with directing, costume design, lighting, cinematography, blocking, sound design, makeup, hairstyling, production design, editing, music, etc.

I think together we created a special labour of love, and I am proud of each and every single one of them.