NEW LIFE:His love of acting finally became Will O'Connell's job for life, writes Brian O'Connell
THROUGHOUT SECO-NDARY school, Will O'Connell had no obvious career path mapped out, besides a desire to perform on stage. Having discussed his ambitions to be an actor, his family persuaded him otherwise, and encouraged him to pursue third-level education with a view to securing regular, paid employment.
After achieving high academic results in his Leaving Certificate in 1991, he found himself enrolling in Trinity College Dublin to study science.
"I did pretty well in secondary school and got to choose from a wide variety of courses. All I really ever wanted was acting, and once I took that out of the equation, I somehow ended up with science, studying chemistry, physics and maths in Trinity. I got through the first year but realised I was pretty unhappy, and wasted a lot of my time in the college drama society."
After a year, O'Connell left college life and planned his next move. Several years passed where he went from job to job, enrolling in a drama degree along the way.
On weekends he supplemented his income by playing music, but it got to the stage where he felt drawn to the idea of a stable, pensionable job.
Responding to an advertisement in The Irish Times for a market researcher with MRBI, O'Connell was successful in his application and entered the company at the bottom rung of the ladder.
"It was difficult to get work at the time and I had grown disillusioned with odd jobs here and there, so when the market research job came up it caught my eye. I was in my early thirties at that stage and I was sick of going from job to job and wanted above all else to get on the career ladder.
"The job didn't require too much in the way of specific qualifications - it was more about on- the-job training."
O'Connell started out working as an interviewer, on €26,000 per annum. His initial role involved cold calling members of the public and gathering information. "It was a pretty tough experience, to be honest and required you not to take some of the responses personally! I mean, speaking to someone friendly was a rare occurrence."
Six months in, O'Connell was promoted, moving up the ranks to manage teams of interviewers. He was now responsible for making sure others gathered sufficient information and achieved their quotas.
"I ended up with a desk job doing what was called an executive position, where I was meeting clients and managing different research prospects. At first I was delighted with both the job and my career progression. I felt that, long term, it could turn into something very worthwhile and rewarding."
The role combined O'Connell's scientific background with an ability to communicate effectively, both one- on-one and to a group. Part of the job required running focus groups, and O'Connell's natural aptitude for performing stood him well.
The hours were long though and as he rose through the ranks, the role became more and more demanding. Employees worked late in the evening and often came in on Saturdays to finish off their work. O'Connell began to think twice about his priorities in life. His desire to perform and act remained as strong, and he felt compromised. He began to get depressed.
"Two years into it, in 2005, I realised I was very depressed. I had been getting depressed a few years earlier and it was beginning to re-emerge. I was a single person with no dependents and I didn't have the responsibility of a mortgage. All I had really was my job. In the back of my mind I still wanted to give acting a go, so I decided to leave.
"The day I decided to leave I had part-time work playing the piano, so I knew I had some form of income to rely on. I also had a bit of money saved, so that gave me a financial cushion.
"The other thing, which helped enormously, was that my colleagues and employers were very supportive at the time. When they realised this was what I really wanted to do, they told me to go for it."
O'Connell took a part in a production put on by students on a director's course at Trinity College. There was no pay involved, but his performance got him noticed and helped him make some important contacts.
"After the play I began the process of sending out my CV. My ambitions then were to get onto the Abbey Stage within one year. I worked hard at it, checking message boards for acting jobs, keeping an ear to the ground, and started looking for an agent.
"One vital ingredient to being an actor is that you need to be absolutely sure that it's what you want. I had experienced a so-called proper job, so I was absolute in my convictions. That helped me greatly."
Within eight weeks of leaving his role as a market researcher, O'Connell found himself getting a role in Julius Caesar in the Abbey. "The fact that I got on the Abbey stage quite quickly was a big benchmark for me. After a year I got an agent and that also made a big difference, as I didn't have to go chasing roles as much. Now people were coming to me, to a certain extent. It was really only after a year that I felt able to say, 'Yes, this is working.'"
Having said that, an actor's life in Ireland is full of uncertainty and financial worries given the size of the market. O'Connell says it's an aspect of the job you have to accept.
"You just have to submit to the fact that you're going to be moving from job to job with a large degree of uncertainty. If you know that's a price worth paying, then it's just a matter of getting on with it.
"Someone told me that if an actor gets three plays a year in Ireland, then he/she is successful. I've managed to do that and a little more so I am really pleased.
"In terms of finances, you need to be good at self-budgeting. The reimbursements are inconsistent - you might get paid a lot at once, and then maybe nothing for a few weeks."
So far this year, O'Connell has taken small roles in two films, and appeared in Caligula at the Dublin Theatre Festival. Currently he is in rehearsals for Hue and Cry, which opens at Bewleys Theatre on October 20th, before touring to Sofia, Bucharest and Paris. It's a case of so far so good then.
"As an actor you can't be afraid to sell yourself, and need dedication and perseverance. You must also have a willingness to knock on doors and network. A certain amount of luck helps too."