Jamie-Lee O'Donnell

Particularly because of the Troubles, there was a real pull-together of communities. We had a lot of young women that were representing us in Parliament and things like that.

I imagine a lot of people from my background would feel like this too - when the tides start to turn, it feels like your identity is shifting as well.

I get a lot of people asking me out and shooting their shot like you wouldn't believe, there's a lot of, 'Are you in Belfast do you wanna go out? 'Fancy a game of pool and a pint?'

I don't go into my DMs that often but when I do I don't usually open pictures because you just don't know what's there, same with videos and voice notes.

I think the big family thing is that the loudest gets heard and everyone wants to be the loudest. I know my family can literally end up shouting. It's not aggressive - it's just volume.

I didn't go to drama school. It wasn't in the pay grade of my family at all. I looked into some of the schools and the top ones were just so expensive. And it's a shame because I sometimes feel that you have to work twice as hard if you come from a working class background.

I feel like I'm doing really good projects and working with really great people; I just hope that it continues.

Obviously the Troubles is such a massive and important part of our history and it's not something 'Derry Girls' shied away from either.

We didn't know 'Derry Girls' was going to take off. It's surreal.

I've always been into acting since I was very young.

I was a very dramatic child.

I have always been a very determined person.

I went through a period where people kept sending me videos and pictures of random women with curly hair and being like, 'I can't believe I'm standing beside you.' I'm like, 'That's a random woman. Don't do that.'

I remember believing that I just wouldn't get work, so I just consciously had to practise other accents, but I enjoyed doing it.

Even as a kid, I would practice characters.

I've always wanted to do my own little tribute to Derry and a tribute to the community and to the people who made me who I am and who were really my backbone growing up.

Being able to go and buy shopping the first couple of times, and not having to check what anything cost and tally it up in your head as you're going around, that was a big moment for me in realising that things had shifted.

I grew up knowing women are hilarious. There was a lot of respect.

Even as a young girl, if I had something to say, I was always listened to.

I do think more should be done for people from less financially secure backgrounds to come into the arts and feel comfortable and welcome. Like, it's their right to be there because it's everybody's right.

Doing a northern English accent... I tried my best.

Even in dramatic times, there's some sort of a silver lining.

Derry Girls' did really well really quickly, so we didn't even have to wait for the season to finish before we saw the impact.

There are times that I have to say no to a photograph, like at 8:30 A.M. when I'm out to buy bread and I look like absolute roadkill.

I love Christmas. I don't have any children, so more than the day itself, it's about the build-up.

I love putting on the Christmas jumpers and big coats and going out for Christmas pints. Or brandy - Christmas is the time of year I'd be up for having a brandy.

I like to exercise, going to the gym. Reading a book. Anything quiet, I like. Just being outdoors as much as possible, going to the beach and stuff. Hanging out with my friends, going for coffees and chitchat is really lovely.

Within the industry - I can only speak for myself - but I think everybody has different goals and ambitions and different versions of success. So, it's individual how you think about it and what you want out of it.

I just try to stay as creative as possible, and also allow myself downtime between jobs if I feel I need it; if I feel I'm getting a bit burned out.

I think people should be more proud of themselves. Why not?

Derry Girls' is about more than just growing up in Derry. I think the humour translates to anywhere, really.

It's a survival instinct to find the lighter side of things, especially when the reality you're faced with is quite dark.

At the start I had a lot of women messaging me and asking me out and thinking I was gay, some of them were saying they were so glad to see a gay actor on TV. It's weird how people assume.

Derry Girls' is about more than just growing up in Derry.

Humour is almost like a coping mechanism and everybody's up for having a bit of craic to try and pull through and see the brighter side of things.

Have I ever dated a Protestant? Probably, without realising.

Everybody tries to do the Derry accent, and if I'm outside of Ireland, people always give it a wee go. It's really, really hard to do. But I've heard some brilliant ones.

For people looking in, it might have seemed like the Troubles was the focal point of Derry life but, from stories I've heard, it wasn't. Day-to-day life was so normal for them.

I think people are shocked that I'm a lot quieter than they thought. They think I'm going to be this really boisterous and wild person but I'm not really.

A lot of people pretend to be me if they have a Derry accent and curly hair.

Being a struggling actor was a huge part of who I was. Now I've realised I'm not terrified of what comes next any more. And that's great, but in its own way, scary, too.

I'd love to do something with action someday, something really physical.

Being from Derry, working hard is just what we do.

When I was coming up as an actor, even when I was going to Irish roles, I was advised to pick a different accent because mine was so strong.

It's what every actor wants to hear: that you do a piece of work that you really love, that you're really passionate about, and people globally respond so positively. It's the dream.

It was a big surprise learning how many women work in men's prisons. There are people with mental health problems, people who have made awful mistakes, people who've stolen from the corner shop... all those people are treated the same in terms of where they end up.

I would describe Bloody Sunday as a day in Derry history, Irish history, that changed the course of history. It was a civil rights march, the day people were marching for the rights that they deserved.

If you grow up in a certain place where you are afraid of the police, it definitely does something to your decisions, how you feel about yourself, if the people who are supposed to protect you and look after you, you are brought up afraid of them and not trusting of them.

Maybe it's no wonder many people think there's a mental health crisis in Derry, something experts recognise as linked to Troubles-related trauma.

I don't have memories of that time, but my parents were obviously around during the Troubles, and lots of members of my family, and they tell me that that's what it was like.