Bodkin on Netflix is a dark comedy thriller starring Will Forte playing a podcaster. True crime has never been more popular and this creepy new comedy sees Will Forte as a podcaster investigating the disappearance of three strangers in an idyllic, coastal Irish town. He teams up with some fellow sleuthers to dig into the mystery but what they discover is a bigger, and weirder, story than they could ever have imagined. We’re told the series “challenges our perception of truth and exposes the stories we tell ourselves to justify our beliefs or validate our fears.”
Here’s everything you need to know about seven-part series Bodkin on Netflix….
Bodkin release date
Bodkin is a seven-part series that launches on Netflix from Thursday May 9 2024.
Is there a trailer for Bodkin?
Yes a Bodkin trailer has landed and begins with a knock at the door! Take a look below...
Bodkin plot
Bodkin follows an American true crime podcaster and his team, looking into the mysterious disappearance of three unconnected people from the close-knit town vanished during the Samhain festival, the Irish night of the dead.
Will has partnered up with a UK newspaper, so when investigative journalist Dove Malone (Siobhán Cullen) finds herself in hot water when a story she’s working on goes horribly wrong, the editors send her and super-organised researcher Emmy Sizergh (Robyn Cara) to help Gilbert on his podcast.
However, as they start pulling at the threads of the Irish mystery, they are hit with some crazy truths and must try to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the case, each other and, most painfully, themselves.
It soon becomes clear that many of the locals don’t want the trio poking around in the town’s past, and that some residents will stop at nothing to ensure the truth stays buried. But their resistance piques Dove’s interest and she and Emmy become determined to solve the case. What will they uncover?
Bodkin cast — Will Forte on playing Gilbert
In Bodkin, Will Forte stars as podcaster Gilbert who travels to Ireland from the States.
"Gilbert comes to Ireland to do this podcast, really needing for this one to be good," explains Forte. "He’s got a very sunny disposition, but he’s hiding a lot of things in his life that are not going well – financial things, his marriage. A lot is falling apart around him while he tries to keep a smile on his face.
"At first, some locals are genuinely interested in this podcast. They’re excited to think that somebody would do a podcast about their town. But others consider Gilbert, Emmy, and Dove to be a nuisance. They want to move past a mystery that happened 20 years ago. They don’t want to dredge up all these old, bad feelings."
* Will Forte is best known for starring on Saturday Night Live from 2002 until 2012. He’s also had roles in Netflix fantasy drama Sweet Tooth plus HouseBroken, The Great North, MacGruber, The Last Man on Earth, 30 Rock and Rock of Ages.
Who else is starring in Bodkin?
Bodkin also stars Siobhan Cullen (The Dry) as Dove, Robyn Cara (Ackley Bridge, Trying) as Emmy, David Wilmot (Station Eleven) as Seamus and Chris Walley (The Young Offenders) as Sean O'Shea.
Guest stars playing locals include Pom Boyd as Mrs O’Shea, Fionnula Flanagan as Mother Bernadette, Áine Ní Mhuirí as Sister McDonagh, Charlie Kemp as Damien, Pat Shortt as Darragh, Ger Kelly as Teddy, Denis Conway as Sergeant Power, John Olohan as Barry, Brendan Conroy as Cathal, Sean Óg Cairns as Garda Eoin, O’Driscoll as Margaret, Peter Bankolé as Charles, Sabine Timoteo as Annika, Amy Conroy as Fagan, Brendan Conroy as Cathal, Mae Higgins as Jo, Gene Rooney as Bridgit, Barry McGovern as Beckett, Fergus Mulligan as Krtek, David Pearse as Frank, Kerri McLean as Maeve, Charlie Kelly (s Fintan, Clodagh Mooney Duggan as Mary and Pauline McLynn as Brónagh McArdle.
Siobhan Cullen says: "I was sent a script and asked to audition, so I made a self-taped audition, and that was followed by a meeting with Jez Scharf and Alex Metcalf, our co-showrunners. Alex and Jez were clearly so passionate about the story and about the project, and that was infectious. I wanted to be a part of that, too. I suppose what attracted me to it initially was the script first and foremost — the story kept surprising me. Initially, I came in with some preconceptions of what the show was going to be and it absolutely wasn't. That first episode takes you on such a journey, and there are a lot of twists and turns; it just kept surprising me. That was what initially got me hooked.
"I thought the story was something totally different. It goes to places that you just can't predict, and it seems to break a lot of rules . As an actor and as an audience member, you always try to keep one step ahead of where a show is going, but I just couldn't keep up with this. It kept surprising me.
"Dove is an investigative journalist, quite a successful one, but she's currently in the midst of a scandal. If I had to describe Dove in three words, they would be guarded, persuasive, and determined. She's extremely career-focused. She's a bit of a lone wolf, likes to operate solo, but her boss thinks it's probably best that she lays low at the moment given this ongoing scandal back in London, where she worked before she was sent off on this project in Ireland to work with Gilbert and Emmy on this podcast case. She's quite scathing, initially; she doesn't think there's anything worth investigating. She looks down on podcasting in general, and doesn't really think it's journalism. So she's hesitant to be there, she's not exactly thrilled, but ends up realizing that there's more going on than they had initially thought."
Robyn Cara says: "Emmy is a researcher in the digital department at The Guardian, and she's assigned to help Gilbert and Dove make the podcast. She's very cheery, optimistic, very positive, but definitely has a lot of insecurities that are gnawing away at her. As you see her grow throughout the series, she definitely becomes stronger and gets more into herself."
Behind the scenes and more on Bodkin
Bodkin is being filmed in Ireland, The drama's creator Jez Scharf and Alex Metcalf will serve as showrunners and executive producers, alongside executive producers David Flynn, Paul Lee, Tonia Davis, Barack and Michelle Obama, Nne Ebong and director Nash Edgerton.
Bodkin is a Higher Ground production. Co-Showrunner and Executive Producer Alex Metcalf loved filming Bodkin in Ireland “The imaginary town of Bodkin is situated in West Cork, and it's a wild and fabulous landscape. Union Hall really appealed to us as a location and so did its connection to the ocean. The fact that there's a working harbour there, and it's incredibly beautiful. The locals in Union Hall have been incredibly welcoming and helpful, and receptive to our work in the town.”
