Kildare native Aisling Bea to star in Netflix’s Grown Ups, now filming in Ireland

Netflix has announced that 'Grown Ups’, an 8-part drama series based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Marian Keyes has begun filming in County Dublin.

The streaming giant has announced Kildare native Aisling Bea is set to star in their new series 'Grown Ups' as Liam, alongside an all-star Irish cast.

The series which is set in south Dublin, 'Grown Ups’ follows the chaotic lives of the Casey’s, a noisy tight-knit Irish family, who are bound together by a tangled web of loyalty, resentment, money, memory and love. 

 When the rock of the family, the ‘good son’, dies unexpectedly, it sets off a seismic emotional reckoning. 

 Over the course of the next year, the Caseys will fall in and out of love, confront old wounds and make some new ones. They’ll be forced to face not only their grief, but the exhausting, relentless, and often ridiculous struggle of being an adult. 

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As well as officially announcing the production of the series beginning in Ireland, Netflix has unveiled a stellar, predominantly Irish cast for the upcoming series. 

Sarah Greene (Bad Sisters, Normal People) takes on the role of Jessie, while Barry Ward (Bad Sisters, The End of the F**ing World*) will play Johnny. 

Aisling Bea (This Way Up, Get Away) joins the ensemble as Cara, and Robert Sheehan (The Umbrella Academy, Misfits) stars as Liam. 

Amy-Leigh Hickman (YOU, Our Girl) plays Nell, and Adrian Dunbar (Line of Duty, Ridley) steps into the role of Canice. 

Sinéad Cusack (Marcella, MotherFatherSon) will portray Rose, with Karin Hanczewski (Call My Agent: Berlin, Tatort) appearing as Ed. 

Rising talent James Agnew, a recent graduate of Dublin’s Lir Academy, makes his screen debut as Ferdia. 

Rounding out the cast is Katelyn Rose Downey (Clean Sweep, Blade Runner 2099), named a 2025 Screen International Star of Tomorrow, who will play Saoirse. 

On her best-selling novel becoming a Netflix series author Marian Keyes said: "The filming of Grown Ups has begun in Dublin, and it feels like a succession of dreams come true. On 15/10/2020 at the height of Covid, I had a zoom call with Samantha Strauss from Picking Scabs (a See-Saw Films label). She was on Australia’s Gold Coast adapting Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers. I was closeted in my Dublin bedroom, once again in lockdown. 

She continued: “Sam had optioned the book (Grown Ups) six months earlier, but this was our first time to speak; our emotional and creative connection was immediate. Her questions were relevant and intelligent, and she was adamant that the show needed to be shot in Ireland.  Countless books are optioned and very few ever make it to the screen. (I’ve been there many times lol.) Funding is usually the biggest challenge. But from that first conversation I believed Sam and I trusted her. Then Netflix came on board and again it was so easy to like and trust the people involved. (For a long time, the only people I met related to this production were women).” 

On the predominantly Irish cast Keyes explained: “Then casting began and it was above and beyond my wildest dreams: what an incredibly talented group of people. Likewise, the two directors and the hardworking crew. Being part of this, seeing it all come together has been so exciting and so much fun. I’m honoured by the hard work and commitment of everyone involved, I’m beyond grateful for all the care that’s been taken with my characters and most of all, I’m enormously proud."