Paramount+ recently hosted a press conference for the second season of MobLand, featuring stars Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. The talented duo play Conrad and Maeve Harrigan, the ruthless heads of an Irish organized-crime syndicate in London. Premiering on September 18, 2026, season two follows the Harrigans as a violent turf war for control of the city coincides with escalating fractures inside the family empire.
If it looks as though Brosnan and Mirren are having a great time with these characters, it’s because they are. “It’s just absolutely pure joy of playing this character,” said Brosnan. “I’ve ultimate freedom given to me by Jez Butterworth, who writes this and embroiders these incredible scenes and dialogue, which has such kind of rich lyricism but is also centered in real emotions.”
The following are spoiler-free highlights from the press conference held on September 15, 2026.
Asked if power is a gift or a curse for Maeve, Mirren offered:
“I would say it’s probably both because you can’t only have one side of coin, you know? You have to take both sides of the coin at the same time. And the higher you aim, the further there is to fall. The great Icarus myth tells us that. You can fly too close to the sun in your ambition, and it will bring you down.
[Laughing] And who knows whether Maeve will be brought down or not. We’ll see. Well, the audience will see as the series continues. But certainly, she plays a dangerous game, not just for other people, for herself as well.”
Mirren delved into Maeve’s complicated relationship with family loyalty and power:
“Maeve is not exactly a holding-the-family-together person, is she, really? Considering what she’s done in the past.
You know, power is everything, I guess, or the success of the family within the community that the family operates in, the underworld, is all important to her. And I think she will sacrifice anyone to that, honestly. And it’s very interesting. You know, I love the female characters in MobLand because every single one of them have agency and complication. They’re not, not a single female character, they’re just as a cipher, you know, from the youngest all the way through.”
Both Mirren and Brosnan discussed how they embraced the series’ heightened elements:
Helen Mirren: “We’re leaning into the Gothic of the piece and relishing that, loving that. I think the great thing about the relationship between Conrad and Maeve is that, yes, you know, they can go out and commit mayhem, murder and mayhem. But when they’re at home, they’re like an old married couple. It’s like, ‘Why are you leaving your socks in the middle of the bedroom?’”
Pierce Brosnan: [Laughing] “That’s it.”
Helen Mirren: “You know, ‘I’m tripping over them. Put your bloody socks away!’ Or ‘You know where your belt is. It’s been there for 20 years. It’s in the same spot.’
So, they are this absolutely mundane, ordinary, old-time married couple. And I think it’s a juxtapositioning of those two elements that people find so, so interesting – funny and appealing.”
Pierce Brosnan: “Juxtaposed beside the violence and the mayhem and the subterfuge and the backstabbing. And these kinds of mangled, warped lives of people who really have been joined at the hip since they were very young, in the bogs of Ireland and the backwaters of Ireland, on the streets of Dublin coming out of The Troubles, coming of that, that history that Ireland has lived with. So, all of that is kind of woven in again by Jez Butterworth.”
Mirren and Brosnan explained how authentic writing grounds their characters’ relationship:
Helen Mirren: “[It’s] with great writing. And when you see Maeve and Conrad at home, in the bedroom, in the bathroom, they’re always one of them’s on the loo and the other one’s shouting from the bathroom into the bedroom. You know, the mundane domestic life of Maeve and Conrad is so identifiable. It kind of anchors them in this world.
I always love those scenes, Pierce. I don’t know about you.”
Pierce Brosnan: “I know I enjoy them.”
Helen Mirren: “I so look forward to those scenes.”
Pierce Brosnan: “They are very good.”
Helen Mirren: “Because they’re so recognizable, aren’t they?”
Pierce Brosnan: “So familiar. It’s like almost their own little play within this madcap world. And that’s what grounds it. That’s what makes the audience, I think, not only their characters but, you know, the other characters, the relationships, but very much the mom and dad at home trying to run this empire of violence and mayhem.”
Helen Mirren: “Yes. But at the same time, you know, arguing about putting a t-shirt in the wash, right wash bag, right washing thing, you know?”
Pierce Brosnan: “The dogs.”
Helen Mirren: “Or the dogs.”
Pierce Brosnan: “The dogs.”
Helen Mirren: “Yeah, who’s feeding the dogs? Let’s not forget the dogs.”
Brosnan shared his enthusiasm for playing someone as dangerous and monstrous as Conrad:
“Oh, I embrace the world of Conrad. It’s been a gift in my life. It really has. It was an unexpected one. But Guy Ritchie just came bearing this wonderful gift of playing this man. It’s liberating. It’s wonderful to crack the mold of what you’ve created over so many years or how people perceive you. And I’ve played into it for many reasons, because I enjoy that world, playing that sophisticated, suave, call it whatever you want, character.
I started working with Remington Steele, which brought me to America. I based the whole character on Cary Grant, and it somewhat stuck with me. And I played it to the best of my abilities. But now to play Conrad at this time in life…”
Helen Mirren: “Fantastic.”
Pierce Brosnan: “It is. […] I don’t know who came up with the idea of throwing my name in the ring for Conrad.”
Helen Mirren reflected on the subtleties of her character, sharing:
“Well, you know, the deliciousness of the dialogue – you just want to serve the dialogue. And certainly Maeve, unlike Conrad, who’s a volcano, you know, Maeve is a snake-y river, you know, snaking around and working her way in and out of everybody’s lives. I guess she’s the ultimate manipulator, really.
But at the same time, she operates completely instinctively. She doesn’t really think about what she’s doing. Her emotions are very on the surface, and she just goes with the emotion: jealousy, fear, hatred, desire, you know, whatever it is, love. And I love playing that sort of character who just is very, very immediately reactive.”
Both stars spoke about the unique thrill of MobLand at this stage in their careers:
Pierce Brosnan: “I think we both revel in playing Maeve and Conrad. And we await now season three and are so grateful that we are turning that corner. And the curtain will go up on November the 15th.”
Helen Mirren: “And I love you say, ‘the curtain goes up,’ because I think one of the great pleasures both Pierce and I get from MobLand is the theatricality of it. We both started in the theater, and now we can do theater without having to do eight shows a week.”
New episodes of MobLand season two stream on Fridays on Paramount+.
