Sam Keeley is 'fiercely proud’ of Kin and ready to film second series ‘tomorrow’

Actor Sam Keeley said he would love to do a second series of RTÉ’s hit drama Kin.

The Offaly man plays Eric ‘Viking’ Kinsella in RTÉ’s hit crime drama series, Kin.

The actor saw his character survive a drive-by shooting that killed his young cousin in the first episode of the series.

“I’d love to do a second series - it’s written so well. Peter McKenna did such an amazing job and we’ve got an amazing cast the stories incredible.

“I’d do it tomorrow if I could, because I love this show and I’m fiercely proud of it. I think there’s so much room here to develop these characters and this world and take them to a place that would even go beyond what we’ve done in the first season. Hopefully we’ll know soon once the finale airs,” he said.

The final episode of the first season airs on Sunday night and it is sure to be explosive.

Keeley said he had to ignore all social queues and allow the aggression to come through in order to portray his character.

“A lot of it is peeling back all social cues, and way you conduct and navigate yourself, especially in this world that these guys operate in. It’s a very volatile place and it’s in the name Viking - I like to think whether it was given to him, or he gave it to himself, he definitely explores the stereotypical connotations of a name like that in terms of aggression and forward moving energy.

"So for me it was all about that, being abrasive at every turn and just allowing yourself to be like a child basically,” he said.

The 30-year-old said the response to the show has been amazing, he said: “It’s been really overwhelming and people love the characters so it’s been a lot of fun walking around and people shouting at me in the street.

“I was stopped in a bar the other night and some guy was looking at me and he goes ‘I know you from somewhere’ and he said ‘did I do time with you?’ and everyone laughed because they thought he was referring to the show.

"But it turns out he actually meant it and then he figured out he knew me from the show so people get the lines blurred it’s good craic,” he said.

Keeley said many people compare his character to MMA star Conor McGregor but he said he that there are just “unavoidable parallels” between the two.

“I guess the look I had at the time is very similar to some of the looks that Conor has rocked at certain times.

"Of course I’m playing a character from Dublin and obviously Conor’s from Dublin and Viking’s a martial artist so I guess those parallels are unavoidable.

“But in terms of whether or not I modelled the character on him, no, I mean Conor has obviously made a huge impact on the martial arts community and I think he definitely has influenced some facets of characters who get involved in stuff like that - so I would imagine that there’s an energy there that you could see between the two.

"But no, I didn’t specifically go out and model Viking on him, I think there’s just parallels there,” he said.

Kin director, Diarmuid Goggins, said there is room for the characters to grow in a potential second season.

“Peter always says when he was writing the series the characters spoke to him, he’s so involved in that world. So everything the characters have done, including the finale, the characters wrote themselves.

“In that way it’s true to the series and to the characters, and it’s as true as it can possibly be, and it’s hard to know how the audience will take that.

"I feel in some ways there is a conclusion there but at the same time there’s so much room to grow and scope for the characters to take further afield if we’re lucky enough to get a second season.”

Goggins said that people will have different reactions to the finalé.

“I think like with everything, some people will love it, and some people won’t be so mad about it, but I think it’s truthful.”

He said Ireland’s range of diverse actors has grown “hugely”.

“What we’re tending to see certainly in Irish casting is much more diversity coming into the room and doing self takes. There was a time when there was less of tha,t and our actual diverse range has grown hugely which is incredible. It’s not as much about diversity as it is about the right actor, and for me it’s just about the right actor coming in and performing,” he said.

The season finale airs on RTÉ One on Sunday, October 31 at 9.30pm.