Back to School with Gráinne Bleasdale, the Galway Actress and Voice of Irish Bluey
We caught up with Gráinne to chat about her work, life in Galway, and Bellie and Whizz at Big School – a brand new season of the beloved show on which Gráinne plays Whizz the Hare.
Hi Gráinne! What has your journey into the world of TV been like?
I got into acting when I was a teenager, with my first big break on Aifric! I was 15, it was my first taste of the TV world, and I fell in love with it. It was such a huge opportunity. Aifric went on to win IFTAs, and it's still watched in classrooms, which is amazing. Since then, I've been doing lots of voice-acting work, and I've been trained as a puppeteer. I've been presenting and I've been acting too. I'm currently in Ros na Rún at the moment, this is my eighth season.
I don't think I was designed to be a person with a nine to five office job. I wanted an exciting life, and by God, I got it! You can be unsure about what your next job is going to be, but I think that's what makes it exciting. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Left: Gráinne as Sophie on Aifric, Right: Gráinne as Michelle on Ros na Rún
You've done lots of lovely kids shows over the years. Was that a conscious choice?
I kind of fell into the kids shows, but it really suits my personality. I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of person. The serious stuff isn't my kind of thing. And working with kids is so much fun – it gives you so much energy! Especially with puppets. I think puppets aren't only for kids; they're for adults as well. You can have such craic with them, and you get away with a lot when you have a puppet on your hand.
Photos by Seán T. Ó Meallaigh
What roles have you been enjoying lately?
We did Bluey this year, which was a really big opportunity because it's so popular worldwide. To be able to translate it to Irish and give it a life as Gaeilge was amazing. The team that was working on that was Telegael in Spiddal, so it was done locally, which is lovely.
I've also been on stage with Coldplay. They have a song with puppets on stage as it plays, and wherever they perform they hire puppeteers from that country. When I got the call, I thought it was April Fools! We were on stage with them for four nights in Croke Park, which was really cool.
Talk to us about Bellie and Whizz at Big School!
This new season of Bellie and Whizz is all about them starting school. It's a really lovely idea because it's for children and their parents to watch together, to help with the transition into primary school. Bellie and Whizz get themselves into lots of different situations and explore all the big emotions.
It gives children an idea of what's ahead, from being nervous on your first day to making new friends, and explains things like manners and patience too. It's great craic as well – it's not all serious! It's very light and very sweet.
What's your favourite thing about working on the show?
There are so many things! This year they've added a new set of a classroom in a forest. A big shout out to Tommy Casby who created and built the set – it's absolutely incredible. It's all set in a forest and it looks like the real deal, but it's got that magic spark as well. It's just so beautiful.
The classroom has all these new characters in it as well. There's Mrs. Hedgehog, there's Martina the Pine Martin. There are all these wonderful characters, so it was just chaos in the classroom, having all these puppeteers trying to create a scene together. It's a lot of fun.
It's lovely to work with the kids as well, because what people don't know is the kids' segments in the show is not scripted at all. It's all organic which I find very refreshing.
You're a Galway girl through and through – what is it you love about the West?
It's funny because I moved to Dublin for a few years, but my heart was always in Galway. I was born and raised in Rossaveel, and I just always knew I would go home. I do travel a lot for work, but I always come back. The Gaeltacht, Connemara, it's such a unique spot. Rossaveel, the Aran Islands...you just couldn't live in a more beautiful part of the country. Of the world.
Even in Galway City, I think we are spoilt with the amount of culture, music, theatre and restaurants. The food is amazing. I could go on!
Do you have a dream character you'd love to voice in Irish?
The first thing that comes into my head is The Simpsons. I'd love to do the Simpsons as Gaeilge. It would do so well...I'm putting that out into the world now and manifesting!
Bellie and Whizz at Big School airs on RTÉ KIDSjr 9:55am with a repeat 13:50pm, and is streaming on RTÉ player.
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