'I Was Close to Jacking It in When I Got Fair City Call ..It Was Just Great Timing' ; EXCLUSIVE

Daily Mirror; 5/27/2006

GORGEOUS actor Colm O'Maonlai was about to quit acting before he landed his Fair City role. The 39-year-old told the Irish Daily Mirror how he struggled to find work after playing handsome firefighter Tom Banks in EastEnders. And desperate Colm was on the verge of quitting the job he loved when he landed the role as Fair City's Garda Rory Goff.
Colm said: "I think somebody out there has been praying for me to get a job!
"I know it sounds a bit odd but I have been mostly gardening since EastEnders - seriously.
"It has been really quiet and for the last couple of years I have been really struggling.
"And recently I have been tearing my hair out, trying to get some work but television parts are getting fewer and fewer.
"It all seems to be reality television stuff and cheap programming.
"It's too bad for the likes of me but the few parts there are seem to be going to the established actors out there - the James Nesbitts of the world.
"So as far as my career goes, I was close enough to jacking it in. But then I started to think, 'What on earth else would I do if I gave up acting?'
"Luckily I hadn't got quite so far as deciding what I was going to do when I got the call from Fair City - getting this part now is great timing.
"It's great work and I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things."
Colm joined EastEnders in April 2002 as the twinkly-eyed firefighter who looked to be the first real love of pub owner Sharon Watts. But even though Colm was a big hit with the show's viewers, cemented by his nomination for Best Newcomer at the National TV Awards and winning the Soaplife Magazine title of Favourite TV Hero, he was axed from the show after only six months. And realist Colm said he knew being in the BBC1 soap could have made it difficult for him to get other acting jobs.
He added: "When I left EastEnders I wasn't expecting anything because in this game you can't afford to.
"I had a funny feeling about things because I had been around long enough to realise that being in a soap has been the kiss of death for a lot of actors.
"So I suppose I knew I had to just dig my heels in and try my best to keep my confidence up in the hope that a good, meaty role would turn up eventually."
Another drawback of being in a high-profile soap was the unwanted attention Colm attracted. These days he's older and wiser, and refuses to tell people exactly where he lives.
He explained: "I live in a town outside London with my girlfriend Lisa.
"We are as good as married because we've been together for almost eight years.
"I live on the outskirts of the city which is quite nice because it's at the centre of everything.
"But I never say exactly where it is because the last time I mentioned it I got a really strange letter. It was from a woman who lived in the area saying that she had seen my work, she'd just lost her husband and had a new baby. SHE wondered if I would accompany her to wedding to see how things panned out.
"I had to write back to her and explain that although I was flattered by the compliment, life doesn't really work like that.
"But then of course I bumped into her in the street which was really embarrassing -for both of us I'm sure."
Colm, whose brother is Hot House Flowers frontman Liam O'Maonlai, is looking forward to spending some quality time back at home in Dublin.
He said: "I am going to be in Dublin working on Fair City until the end of September at least.
"It's great and I am really pleased that I will be able to spend some time at home.
"When I was struggling people often asked me why I didn't just come back to Dublin but it wasn't that simple.
"Lisa is a teacher, she has a job in London, we have a house there and it wouldn't be that simple.
"And I was getting bits and pieces in shows like Doctors and The Bill. "But I am glad to get this part in Fair City as it's a good, meaty role I can get my teeth into."
Colm reckons that his character, detective Rory Goff, will make a few hearts beat faster. But he won't reveal whether the palpitations are among Carrigstown's single women or its criminal underworld.
He said: "Rory is a bit of a schmoozer at heart despite being an undercover policeman. He's a very determined character who likes his job and he's not afraid to take risks.
"But one thing I can say about him, and you'll see this for yourself on the show, he has very high standards of himself.
"Now that Rory has arrived in Carrigstown, there might be romance, there might be a bit of trouble too.
"Or maybe it'll be just a bit of troubled romance, who knows? You'll just have to tune in."

showbiz@irishmirror.ie

All the good roles are going to the James Nesbitts of the world

- COLM O 'MAONLAI

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