Irish Eye on Hollywood:
Mike O’Malley Helms Survivor’s Remorse

Mike O'Malley.

By Tom Deignan, Contributor
October / November 2016

Mike O’Malley would not appear to be a likely choice to work as a top producer for a TV show such as Survivor’s Remorse on the Starz network.

The show – which is also produced by NBA great LeBron James – depicts the highs and lows of an African American kid from the projects of Boston who suddenly finds himself living life in the fast lane after he is drafted by a professional basketball team.

Still, O’Malley has extensive acting and writing experience – including an Emmy nomination for his work on Glee – and he was smart enough to assemble a writing crew that could make the characters in Survivor’s Remorse seem both entertaining and authentic.

“Not only was it intentional to find younger writers and people of color who could write about what people in their 20s are going through – which is four of the five main characters in the show – [but it was critical having them] talk about what’s important to them, as relatable to these characters,” O’Malley told the L.A. Times. So, as the paper added, “the self-described ‘white, Irish Catholic with three kids,’” was able to establish a creative “space where the young folk and those of different backgrounds have room to meaningfully contribute to a show about a black family.”

Survivor’s Remorse is now in its third season and has already been renewed for a fourth. O’Malley, meanwhile, continues his acting work. He was seen recently in the Tom Hanks film Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood. ♦

More Irish Eye on Hollywood:

John Crowley to Direct “Goldfinch” Adaptation

Finola Dwyer Shopping “Brooklyn” TV Spinoff

Irish Talent in Toronto

The Gunn Brothers

Margaret Atwood’s Canadian Irish Murder Thriller Gets TV Treatment