From Cork to Los Angeles...

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Oliver O'Dea

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Irish actor Oliver O'Dea has been dubbed 'the next Colin Farrell'. We caught up with him on the set of his new movie, 'The Trench',  to find out more about this allusive star.

Q. Please tell us a bit about your background, where are you from? And who inspired you to become an actor ?

I was born in Hackney London and moved to Ireland when I was very young, I took up
boxing at an early age and played most sports. I've since lived in the US for a year and the
UK again for 9 years, I really love London and I will live there again someday. I was 6 years old and I saw my first Mickie Rooney film and I knew I wanted to work in films.

Q. What 3 words would describe yourself?

Loyal, Caring, Hardworking.

Q. Tell us about your latest projects ?

My lastest film "The Trench" is about a WW1 British Soldier who gets lost in a midst of fog and comes across a trench with a German soldier living in it, and they strike up an unlikely friendship. My next film is so far untitled and I play an inner-city Dublin heroin addict who tries to overcome his addiction.

Q. How did you prepare for your latest role ? Which part of the character do you most identify with ?

I'm still preparing for the film here in Dublin, working on accents losing weight and just building a character in my head, looking at people in the street and stealing things from their personality, their walk, their twitches and their personality. I'm very lucky the director has given me a blank canvas to work with, I was also lucky to be let loose with "The Trench" and play Henry as I saw him, The guy was lost, shell-shocked missing his wife and 3 children, exposed to the elements with no food for weeks. I wouldn't let the make-up girl near my because I wanted it to look real, gritty and bring them (the audience) as close to the real thing as possible. I wrecked my body losing 3 stone for that role.

Q. What's your dream role? Who would you like to collaborate with one day ?

Obviously a big blockbuster which opens at no 1 in the box office because then I could take care of my family and close friends and not worry about them, but what  I am doing now I love, the more complex the characters the better, I played artist Willem De Kooning (and was told on many occasions I played him better them Val Kilmer did) and I really want to play Cambridge Mathematician and Computer Scientist Alan Turing who
created the modern computer and died in 1954. I would love to work with Danny Boyle, Shane Meadows, Paddy Considine and Gary Oldman. Their my film heros.

Q. From an actors standpoint what is the most important thing a director can bring to the set ?

A clear idea of what he/she wants from early on, I have to know what's required and prepare for that. The director is the artist and I am the brush, but they must give me the chance to paint a little myself too because that's when the magic can happen.

Q. Can you give us the scoop on any future projects your working on?

A night with Harry Vault keeps popping up, its about a 70`s cross dressing performer who
died in Manhattan NY of a drug overdose during a performance in 1981, it may happen in
2010. The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg and Christine Bale is in talks, and another US Film
about the Afghan conflict is also in the pipeline. Busy, busy.

Q. What advice would you give to any aspiring actors ?

Never give up.

You can follow Oliver through Twitter: @oliverodea