Banagher actor stars in 'Little House on the Prairie' reboot

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Banagher actor Michael Hough stars in the Netflix reboot of popular Western series 'Little House on the Prairie'

Michael is the brother of Ger Hough, owner of JJ Houghs Singing Pub in Banagher, and stars as the character Eli James in the reboot.

He has previously starred in Murdoch Mysteries (2016-2024), popular Irish series 'Obituary' (2023), and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022).

"From the bogs of West Offaly to the frontier plains of the West… honoured to join the cast of Little House on the Prairie," Michael said.

"Cheers to Rebecca Sonnenshine and Joy Gorman Wettels for letting me loose as Eli James. They clearly hadn’t done a full background check."

The series was created by Rebecca Sonnenshine, a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

She was the recipient of a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and has attended the Film Independent Director's Lab and the Berlinale Talent Campus.

She described the series as "a labor of love for all involved", dedicating the reboot to her mother, who she said "showed me how to dream big".

Based on the semi-autobiographical Little House book series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Netflix adaptation follows the close-knit Ingalls family as they build a new life on the Western frontier, where the joys of nature and the struggle for survival are deeply intertwined.

The series spent a number of weeks in Netflix's top 10 series following it's release on Thursday, July 9.