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Clinton Liberty in House of the Dragon more of an
ability for those from di\ erent cultures and backgrounds to actually mix and make something new and interesting. Absolutely, Aaron. You hit the nail on the head. It’s true. We’re like a small village! We’re, like, seven degrees from anyone in the world, you know? So, your aunty might know his uncle, and his uncle might know his grandfather, and it’s a beautiful way because it allows us to, as you said, be this melting pot of talent, and what emerges is something beautiful that the world gets to witness and see. Whereas, it’s quite diBerent in bigger cities, where it’s almost diBerent countries within the same city or country. But Ireland is a beautiful place. We have the opportunity to be able to mix with diBerent people with diBerent ethnic backgrounds, as well as our grassroots Ireland in diBerent counties. So, it’s beautiful. Do you find that the characters that you’re portraying now are, in anyway, reflecting on you as a person? Do you find that you have a better understanding of who you are through the characters you’re playing? That’s a beautiful question, Aaron, and I was only just talking to my mam and my sister about this the other day. Absolutely, yes. So, I played a character last year called Addam of Hull in House of the Dragon. Addam is a shipwright, he’s the sort of lowest of the low in society, and he wants to build his way up, and what I admired about this character is that he never gives up hope. No matter how destitute he is or his surroundings are, he never, ever gives up hope. And the funny thing is that, House of the Dragon being the biggest show in the world – the 22 biggest TV franchise, ever – for me, I was in a really tough place when I booked the show. I remember I was at my barbershop, I had no money at the time, I was in a bad relationship – I was just in the lowest of the low – but I never gave up hope, and when I oBicially got the job, which has fundamentally changed my life and my career, it’s also a testament of the character Addam, who… – Spoilers! Sorry for anyone who hasn’t seen season two! – …gets a dragon, and it’s sort of life imitating art, art imitating life sort of dance, and I think it’s absolutely beautiful. Now that you have experience in the big studio system with HBO, how do you feel about Ireland’s industry, which is much more reliant on public funding? How do you find the two contrasts? Do you think there are better opportunities for, for example, culturally relevant films that aren’t reliant on making a billion dollars? Yeah, absolutely. I think there’s an advantage and benefit to every film, small or big. A small film could send an important message; a big film could definitely send an important message. So, I don’t really think in terms of scale anymore; I think in terms of authenticity, as seen in Kneecap, that has completely taken the world by storm. So, for me, I think in terms of authenticity, and, in Ireland, there’s nothing more authentic than Irish storytellers. So, the world is our oyster. Do you have any advice or wisdom for anyone who is trying to get into screen media in Ireland? Be that acting, screenwriting, directing, or anything else. Yes, I would say that if you can see it for yourself, it’s possible. I don’t want to be clichéd, but never give up hope; it is definitely possible. Another thing is, go to a lot of forums, go to a lot of talks, go into a lot of meetings that you see about anything within your industry because there is where you get a better understanding of who the individuals within the industry are, and you then get people used to seeing your face and trusting your face, to trust you with a job. That goes across the board, from being an actor, to being a first A.D., to being a director, writer, it doesn’t matter. Get your face seen at these forums and these industry meertings and then, obviously, if you want to have training, go for it, but other than that, yeah, just practice, practice, practice, work, work, work, and try and go to as many things as you can, because that’s what I did. I went to as many meetings as I possibly could, as many talks – like these – as I possibly could, and it yielded something positive. Thank you very much for your time. The final thing I’ll ask is, what can people expect from you in the future? What can they see you in? Well, eh… Well, that you’re allowed to talk about. [Laughs] Yeah, that I’m allowed to talk about! Well, they can definitely see me in Feed, and Feed is a vampire horror story movie about a female vampire called the Dearg Due, who has been buried for centuries and centuries, and it follows a group of young social media influencers, as they, basically, end up in the feeding grounds of this vampire, and the film follows who is going to survive at the end of the film from this absolutely awesome monster. That’s going to be coming out this year – September, I believe – so, I’m really excited about that.