Colin Farrell, Steve Coogan, Charlie Heaton Join ‘Bad Bridgets’ Film

Colin Farrell (Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruges), Steve Coogan (Philomena, Legends), Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things, Industry) and Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina, Echo Valley) have joined the cast of Irish period revenge thriller Bad Bridgets, Netflix unveiled on Tuesday.

Also cast for roles in the feature written, produced and directed by Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt have been Himesh Patel (Yesterday, The Odyssey), Niamh Algar (The Iris Affair, Mary & George) and Simone Kirby (Kneecap, His Dark Materials).

The new names join Emilia Jones (CODA, Task) and Alison Oliver (Wuthering Heights) in the production from LuckyChap, run by Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerly, Josey McNamara, and Milan Popelka, and Peppiatt’s Coup d’Etat banner. The executive producer of Bad Bridgets is Cáit Collins, the cinematographer is BAFTA winner Ryan Kernaghan (Kneecap, Trespasses), production design is courtesy of Oscar and BAFTA winner James Price (Poor Things), and the costume designer is Oscar and BAFTA winner Kate Hawley (Frankenstein).

“When a mysterious letter offering escape leads a young Irish woman to 19th-century New York, she is pulled into the unruly world of the Bridgets, where mayhem follows in her wake,” reads a logline for the movie.
 
The script was inspired by the history book Bad Bridget: Crime, Mayhem, and the Lives of Irish Emigrant Women by Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick and has been developed with the support of Belfast’s Queens University. It is being produced with support from Northern Ireland Screen. The book was optioned by Peppiatt and his Kneecap producer Trevor Birney in 2025.

The book looked at the world of a swath of Irish women emigrants who were deemed troublemakers, highlighting that for a period of time, Irish women outnumbered Irish men in prison. The project was a hot sales titles at last fall’s American Film Market.

Bad Bridgets will start shooting on location in Northern Ireland and Ireland in mid-July.