On Location with Eoin Macken

by Natasha Wolff | March 25, 2015 8:53 am

Now that NBC medical drama The Night Shift is in its second season, the cast is starting to feel a bit more at home in their adopted home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Like any new kid, series star Eoin Macken was overwhelmed by the possibilities when he left his home in L.A.’s Venice neighborhood to film the series, but just a few months later the Irish-born actor knows the Duke City just as well as any native. And that knowledge can come in handy in some unexpected situations.

“I got a flat tire here last week, just leaving the studio,” Macken says with pride, “and I knew where to go to get my tire changed! When you first come to town, you don’t know where to take a walk or where to buy milk or which bar to drink at. Now I know.”

Small victories aside, Macken says it’s not just New Mexico that he and his co-stars are settling into, but the series itself. 

“I think the pacing of this season is better,” he says, having just completed filming the season’s tenth episode. “Everyone knows the characters[1] now, so there’s a certain calmness to things. This kind of show is interesting, because there’s a lot of action but there’s also drama and comedy, and now that we have the action part down, there’s more time for the others. There’s a newfound balance.”

If there’s anything that isn’t quite working, Macken says, it’s not on camera, but in his attempts to enjoy Albuquerque’s most beloved regional flavor, the green chile, which is served locally on everything from cheeseburgers to pizza.

“I can’t do chilies,” he says, “I’m Irish and that stuff will kill me. Every time I eat one, I can’t feel my face.”

Source URL: https://dujour.com/culture/eoin-macken-night-shift-interview/