Casting announced for Netflix's Marian Keyes adaptation 'Grown Ups'

Including Sarah Greene, Barry Ward, Aisling Bea and Robert Sheehan.

Netflix has today announced the cast for their upcoming eight-part adaptation of Marian Keyes' best-selling novel Grown Ups, which has started filming in and around Dublin.

Set in south county Dublin, Grown Ups follows the chaotic lives of the Casey clan, 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. Despite their age and responsibilities, the Caseys are far from grown up.

The cast includes Sarah Greene as Jessie, Barry Ward as Johnny, Aisling Bea as Cara, Robert Sheehan as Liam, Amy-Leigh Hickman as Nell, Adrian Dunbar as Canice, Sinéad Cusack as Rose, Karin Hanczewski as Ed, Katelyn Rose Downey as Saoirse and newcomer James Agnew as Ferdia.

Speaking about today's casting announcement, 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. 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). 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."

Produced by See-Saw Films and Picking Scabs, Grown Ups has been written and created by Samantha Strauss and will be produced by Liz Gill, directed by James Griffiths and Ciaran Donnelly and executive produced by Samantha Strauss, Helen Gregory, Andy Noble, Shay Spencer, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Liz Watts, Marian Keyes and James Griffiths with Simon Gillis as co-executive producer.

On Grown Ups, Samantha Strauss said "I know I'm not alone in being obsessed with every word Marian Keyes has ever written, and it is a true life highlight to be trusted with her characters as we bring the Casey family and the world of Grown Ups to Netflix. James Griffiths, our set up director is already crafting something beautiful and very human. I am pinching myself to be in the company of our preposterously glorious cast and our fantastic crew as we shoot here in sunny Ireland."

To which Helen Gregory added "See-Saw are thrilled to be collaborating with Picking Scabs in bringing Marian Keyes' wonderful novel to screen. We're so excited to be working with such a talented cast who we know will bring such warmth, wit and deep emotion to our family of characters."

And Manda Levin said "Lifting the Casey family from the enchanting and beloved pages of Marian’s novel is no mean feat. But the thoughtful, subtle team at See-Saw have built a dream team with which to do it, and the creative synchronicity between Marian and our glorious showrunner, Sam Strauss, has been something to behold. We are giddy, now we are starting to see this best-in-class cast bring to life the characters our audience will laugh with, love with, and cry with."

Grown Ups will air on Netflix