BUT HE had his fun, and that's all that matters.
Father Ted might have wrapped up production more than twenty years ago, but it's still firmly rooted in the minds of every Irish person, old or young, and lives on in the shape of reruns, memes, and now, stamps!
But no matter how popular a show, after a certain time you don't expect to hear anything new about it-- which is why the internet was buzzing after Pauline McLynn revealed a hilarious memory from her time on the show.
The popular actress, who played Mrs Doyle on the hit sitcom, spoke to Ray D'arcy on RTÉ Radio 1 to talk about An Post's special Fr Ted stamps to commemorate 25 years of the show, in 2020, when the conversation turned to one of the fans' favourite episodes.
The limited edition stamps were released to celebrate 25 years of the iconic show(An Post / Pauline McLynne / Twitter)In New Jack City, the aggressive Fr Jack is sent away and replaced by the always smiling-- but somehow even more aggressive-- Fr Fintan Stack, played by the legendary Brendan Grace.
Grace expertly delivered the ominous-but-hilarious quotes like I've had my fun and that's all that matters and If you ever say that to me again, I'll put your head through the wall, but he may have played the part too well, as some of the casts' parents were terrified of him.
"My parents and Ardal O'Hanlon's (Dougal) parents came to see the recording of the episode that he was in," she told Ray D'Arcy. "And they were frightened to death!"
"Because, of course, we remembered him from growing up as being Bottler, and ... his stand-up.
"He was one of the few people that you could go and see live in Ireland at the time, a comedian, and fabulously funny.
"And they came and saw him and he was really evil in that episode. And both sets of parents were quite shook afterwards!"
Writer Lissa Evans said when they were looking for the right person for the role
"For the role of Fr Fintan Stack in 'Father Ted', we must have auditioned 50 people - it was hard to portray a 'nasty' priest in a house that already contained Jack. Brendan strolled in, sat down and smiled, chillingly, throughout the scene. Instant perfection."
He had his fun and that's all that matters.
Brendan Grace surprised us all when he portrayed the hilariously dark and sinister Father Fintan Stack tormenting Father Ted and Dougal back in 1996.
By chance, that very episode is on tonight at 9:30pm pic.twitter.com/M9L99p1yQG— RTÉ2 (@RTE2) July 11, 2019
** Originally Published on: Sep 3, 2020
