December 17, 2024 • 46 mins
This week, Tommy is joined by actor Colin O’Donoghue who became a household name by playing Captain Hook (aka Killian) on the smash-hit series, Once Upon a Time. The show tells the story of what happens when fairy tale legends and modern life collide. Once Upon a Time instantly became a fan-favorite series, going on for 7 magical season on ABC. Between film, tv, theater, singing and voice over work, Colin has proven that he is a man of many talents, leaving audiences with memorable and powerful performances time and time again. Today, Colin opens up about how his life completely changed once he booked a huge role on Once Upon a Time, why he was surprised when he got the part, that very special first day on set with Robert Carlyle, how new generations keep discovering Once Upon a Time, what working with Jennifer Morrison was like for all of the years together, how moving on from playing Captain Hook was a difficult transition, where he keeps his iconic costume, if Once Upon a Time deserves a revival, if he would jump into a Hook spin-off, his thoughts on that controversial final season of the show, how he tries to move past anxiety and nerves to be present in the moment, how his approach to acting has changed over the years, if any new music may be on the way, the surprising legendary celebrity he found out he is cousins with, and so much more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me,
Tommy Tadario. So every once in a while a TV
show will come around that it lives beyond its time, right.
New audiences keep discovering it, original audiences keep rewatching it,
and it's because the show makes you feel so good inside.
(00:21):
It provides you comfort, it gives you hope. Well, my
guest today is a huge part of one of those
shows that I am talking about. Colin o'donahue. He became
a household name through starring in Once Upon a Time
on ABC. Once upon a Time, It's about a brand
new world, one in which fairy tale legends and modern
life collide. Colin played Killian, also known as the iconic
(00:45):
Captain Hook, in a very magical and enchanting world, and
his performance is nothing short of brilliant. Colin is such
a gifted actor who can do it all, film, theater,
TV voice work. He's an actor who pours every inch
of his being into the characters that he creates. And
today we are celebrating that fan favorite work, but we're
(01:05):
also getting to know the human behind the actor a
bit more intimately. So let's see if today we can
get Collins say something that he has never said before.
Colin of Don Hue, How you doing, my man.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I'm good, thanks, so are you?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I am good? I am good. It's so good to
see you. It's been a minute, but it's always a
pleasure to hang out. Yeah, yeah, thanks for having me
of course. Of course, Well I've been following your career
over the last few years. You've been up to all
sorts of exciting things, including the theater, which I am
a huge fan of. So we're going to dive into
that and in a little bit of course. But I
(01:45):
guess to start this conversation, man, you have so many
credits to your name. You've done so much, you know, film, TV,
voiceover work, animation, all the different things. But there's one role,
of course in particular that kind of blew you up
and made you this household name, and that's of course
killing In aka Captain hook In Once upon a Time, right,
It's it's such a beloved fan favorite role. When you
(02:08):
booked that job with that role, did you have any
idea that your entire life was about to change?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
No? No, to be honest, I I was. I was
living in Ireland, so I didn't once upon a time,
hadn't the first season hadn't come out over here. When
I sort of taked for it and met with or
when I'm an auditioned for it and met with Ellie
and Adam. I knew it was a big show in
(02:37):
the States, but I didn't realize just how big it
was till I was on the show. And I also
didn't think I was going to get get the part.
When I got centered, I was kind of like, there's
no way that I'll ever be playing Captain Hook. I
still had an image of Dustin Hoffman, you know what
I mean, and or any other previous nation of Hook
(03:00):
was kind of slightly older. So I kind of thought, no,
there's not a chance. So I just went in and
did whatever I wanted, and luckily the guys responded to
But I never thought. I never knew just how big
a show it was, and just how big the character
was kind of going to become.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
That's so interesting. So you weren't, you know, gripping this role.
You weren't like, I have to get this role or
my career is over. You went in very nonchal Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, I wouldn't say nonchalant, but it was sort of
I had just done a big movie with Anthony Hopkins,
which had opened number one all over the world, and
you know, that was my first kind of big thing.
And then there was a couple of conversations about these
other movies that were going to happen, which I couldn't believe,
(03:50):
but they never did. So I did a pilot for
ABC the year that Once Upon a Time was a pilot.
So it was Angela Bassett and I were the two
leads in. It was called Identity, and it was about
a guy who's kind of living a double life. But
he's a detective and he's investigating identity fraud. But it
turns out he's living a second life. He's married to
(04:13):
the he was married to the sister of an Irish
mob boss. Now I was American and stuff like that.
But we thought that show was going to go. It
looked like that show was going to go at the
same time Once upon a Time did, and so I
was kind of I didn't know what to expect. Basically,
one I wouldn't say nonchalant, because it's just I didn't
think I was going to get it, and I thought
(04:34):
maybe I might have gone for something more dramatic. I
guess you know. I was coming off the like The
Right was a horror, but it was sort of like
a psychological horror, sort of exorcism movie, and Identity was
very much a drama, you know, So that's kind of
what I So I sort of, well, I'm not going
(04:56):
to get it anyway, so I'll just go in and
lo and behold. The next I got a phone call
after I went in and auditioned, So I'd already had
kind of had a bit of a relationship with ABC anyway,
and I auditioned for it. It seemed to go well.
The casting people thought it was really good, and I
got a call to going to meet Eddie and Adam
the next day, and I was goind of like, okay.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
All right.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And then I'd known that Captain Hook was teased a
comic Con that year, so I knew that the character
coming on. I knew wasn't an important role for that season,
but I didn't know that it was going to become
become what it was.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I mean, I think that's a great lesson for anyone
that when you go into something and of course you
want it and you want to do your best work,
but when you can find a way to not let
that define you right in such in such a way
that it can actually mess you up. Like you went
in you wanted the role, but you weren't like, oh
my god, well.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I mean I very much like the thing is, I
wouldn't want people to think I didn't. I very much
wanted the role. Yeah, right, so I wouldn't have gone
for it. I just didn't think that I was going
to be Wifert is the thing. So so that took
the pressure off, which I think is what I'm more
trying to say is I didn't feel the pressure of
having to go, Oh, you know, I really I really
hope I get to I really want to get this,
(06:12):
because in my head, I was like, there's no way
I'm going to get it.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I was like, they're going to see a whole broad
spectrum of people. Somebody in there mid to late forties
is probably going to get it. So like at the time,
I was thirty one maybe, and I was like, well,
I'm not going to get it anyway, So you know,
I'll just go in and I'll do the character the
way that I very much wanted them to do and
(06:37):
to play it. And I just look at worked for
the Guys.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Well, thank god, man, I mean, that's destiny. It was
meant to be. So you didn't get to see the
first season, as you mentioned, because you didn't you didn't
have it in Ireland. You get the show. You know,
they teased Captain Hook of comic Colm. But when was
the moment do you remember it? Was there a specific
moment where you thought, oh, man, like I'm I'm part
of something pretty big that could changed my career.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It was my very first day on set one because
I was working with Robert Carlisle that first day, and
Bobby was one of my genuinely one of my heroes
growing up, especially as an actor, you know, Train Spotting.
I watched every single movie of his, The Full Monty,
I watched every movie of his as a teenager and
(07:22):
into my twenties, and I honestly think he's one of
the greatest actors of the last forty years. And I
was standing there in full leather pants and eyeliner. They'd
gotten a ship called the Lady Washington, which ended up
being the Jolly Roger, and we were going out around
(07:43):
the sound at Vancouver and we were sailing on this
real ship on Robert Carlisle was there and there was
like camera boats and stuff. Yeah, this is a lot
bigger than I expected. And that's the moment that I
kind of went wow. But then the other time was
when the when the show screened and the character, you know,
(08:05):
my character's first episode, episode four and season two came on,
and then it was like, you know, we didn't really
have social media so much back then. I think Twitter
was kind of starting off. There was stuff that it
wasn't like nowadays where everything is on and I was
kind of you know, the response was immediate from people,
(08:28):
and you know, you see people would see me then
walking down the street to go you know, and I
was like, oh, this is this is crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
You know what I love about the show too. It's
kind of I think one of the last shows to
have that twenty two twenty three episode. You know, Mark,
you don't see that anymore. You're six, No, I mean you.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
See them, you see them kind of with sort of
procedurals or you know, like any of the like cop
shows or the you know, medical dramas and stuff you
see a little bit more. But yeah, I think we
I've got a feeling that we might have been one
of the last I think it might have been even
the last one that had like we did two seasons
(09:08):
and twenty three episodes, you know, the rest of all
twenty two and that's and there are our long episodes
like that's a that's a lot to do in the
season and try and keep people engaged. And it's a
testament to the writers more than anything that you know,
they were able to keep people watching that watching the
show week in week out for twenty two weeks. I mean,
(09:31):
when you think about it, like that twenty two weeks,
it's massive.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah. Was it rewarding being on a show with that format,
Like do you do you miss that kind of format
or do you prefer the shorter episode series?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
It was, Yeah, I mean I enjoyed it because you know,
my wife came over with me and then we had
our two kids were born in Vancouver, and so we
had a family. You know, we set up a life
there for nine months of the year and very much
made friends with people who became like a surrogod family.
So in that respect, yeah, I really I really enjoyed that.
(10:05):
You know, the kids obviously being born there were young
enough for us to be able to be away from
from Ireland for that length of time. I think it's
really difficult. You know, Like I'm not a right, I'm
not a writer, so I'm not in the writing room.
I think that that's where that level, or that amount
of hour long TV shows I think to sustain that
(10:28):
can be very, very difficult. And sometimes you know, I'm
not talking about Once upon a Time whatever, but sometimes
the quality gets diluted a little bit because you have
to kind of drag out the storyline that you want
to accommodate that many episodes, And in that way, having
a shorter season allows you to maybe you know, fill
(10:50):
those episodes with a lot more to keep people engaged.
But I grew up you know, TV shows over here
and in the UK and in Ireland and stuff. Eight
ten ten episodes is a season of something, you know
what I mean. Anyway, so that's what I was used
to watching.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
So the world's catching up to you guys now.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yeah, Well, I just think it's just so hard to
invest the time for people to spend writing and keep
people engaged, you know. I think that there is a
scope for those types of shows that go on for
that long, you know what I mean. But like the
so many things now are so gritty and drama. You know,
(11:31):
you want everything wants to be snappy and quick, and
you couldn't do that over twenty two episodes.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And what's cool is people are still craving that because
so many different generations are now rediscovering the show and
streaming it and watching it. And it's not only for
the original watchers and the fans, but all new demographics
are now getting really on board the Once upon a
Time train, which I imagine for you is such a
cool thing to see.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, it's great, Like I never thought that I'd be
a part of something that would would be like that.
That was the great thing about Once Fun of Time
was that it was a show but hope more than anything,
and never try to be really super gritty or hard
hitting or anything like that. You know, there's dark moments
in it, but it was just about hope and it
was something that families could watch together. So now what's
(12:17):
happening is with Disney Plus is that people are you know,
people who've grown up watching it are let's say we're
in their late teens watching Once Fun of Time now
probably have kids of their own or whatever, and they're
beginning to watch it and there's a whole you know,
there's a whole gamut of people now who are rediscovering
it on Disney and like it's pretty great. Like it's
(12:39):
pretty incredible to think that that people are still crazy
about the show.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, it's a timeless show and that's a testament to yes,
the writers, but also you guys, the artists who brought
this to life, that people want to keep watching it
over and over and introducing it to people that they
know will love as well. And the characters and the
actors everyone across the board, which was fantastic. I feel
like you worked probably the most with Jennifer Morrison exclusively
kind of for like five years. You guys were doing
(13:06):
a ton of scene work together. Yes, teaming up with her.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
It was great. It was great. We just managed to
capture something that that clicked, you know when I. When
I came on, there was a suggestion that would sort
of be a bit like Lost whether there was the
Sawyer hate Jack kind of storyline, So they wanted it
to sort of start out as a kind of a
love triangle between Hook and Emma and Neil. So I
(13:32):
sort of knew that was going of fasile in the background,
you know, like Eddie and Adam had said to me, Look,
we want you to kind of be the Sawyer character,
the bad boy that people kind of wouldn't respond to,
you know, but you know, we we sort of we
worked a lot together. We just it just clicked. You
can't you can't quite manufacture it. It just sort of
(13:54):
either it happens or it doesn't happen with that sort
of stuff, and luckily for us it did. I mean
I was very low on the show. Somebody was asking
me recently, you know, is there anyone that you hadn't
worked with that you would liked to have? And I
pretty much worked with nearly everybody on the show. I
don't think there's you know, the only people I can
think of were like young snow white or young like.
(14:14):
Other than that, I think I was pretty much in
in stuff with with everybody. Hook managed to manage to
be in everybody's business.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Hook got around a little bit. Huh.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I was gonna say that, and then I thought I
better not.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
It's true, man, It's true. And how fun to get
to work with different people and then you get to reunite.
You just reunited with a bunch of people in Paris,
I believe at a convention in Paris.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, and I'll see Becks and Alana in Germany this weekend.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
So is it like no lost time, just picking up
where you left off?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It is funny, like I saw I saw Jen for
the first time in years in Birmingham, but a month ago,
just over a month ago. And it is weird because
once we all get together, it is like we're just
back on said, the relationships, the way people talk to
each other, it's like no times past.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Was it weird or difficult as an artist to have
to let go of playing Captain Hook when that time came?
Because he was such a part of our life. You
did play him, as we said, for twenty two to
twenty three episodes this season. You invested a lot of
time into this role. So when you finally had to
move on from that, was that a weird transition?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
It was? I mean, I was the next sort of
work that I got. I really wanted it to be
very different and because of that, but you know, I
loved I didn't want to say goodbye to Hook, you know,
because I love that. I love playing the role, I
love the character. But yeah, no, it was. It was tough.
I mean, I think I think when you play a
(15:48):
role like that for so long, it's kind of always
It's always there, you know, And especially because people are
finding the show again and rewatching it and stuff like that, Like,
I think it'll always be I'll always be Captain Hook
in some way, you know what I mean. But I
was ready to try something different, but you know, I
(16:08):
was sort of lucky. I do small projects in between
on the hiatus and stuff like that, and try and
pick stuff that was so different from Hook. But yeah, no,
I think I think it's tough when you play like
especially one that people related to so well, it is
tough to let that go a little bit.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Do you feel like there's a piece of that character
that you kind of kept with you throughout the years.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
I've kept my beard.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Not negotiable, Beard's not going anywhere. Huh.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, I say. I actually shaved it a month ago,
and I said, oh, why do that. I grew it back.
But I don't look, I don't think well, I mean,
I don't think there's anything of an eight hundred year
old pirate that you sort of really keep with you
day to day, day to day life. But I look
back very fondly on on what we did and the
(17:06):
opportunities I got to be a part of something like
Once and I still have. I have the costume here
and stuff like that, so I don't walk around the
house wearing it, but it's here.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Is it on a manquin like on displayer in the Cloud? No?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I want to get a monnequin, but I just didn't have. No,
I never got around to it, So it's sitting in
a sitting in a in a wardrobe.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
It would be pretty epic if one day one of
your kids wants to be that for Halloween and you're like, well,
I have the costume.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I know, Yeah, it'd be great. And they've told all
the friends. See some of their friends now are beginning
to watch Once Fun of Time, so like they sort
of when I pull up to pick them up. Now
you can see them sort of looking at you.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
You know, Oh my god, that's so cool. Though, what
a cool feeling. You're probably the coolest dat in the
world now.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I doubt it. Bush. Yeah, if you say so, Yeah,
I'll take that.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
So here's a million dollar question. Does Once upon a
Time deserve a revival?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I mean that's a big question. Yeah, I guess I
think it's a that's a question for the bosses really
in Disney, I guess, you know, there's people love it
and people still love it, so there's a world where
I think it could exist again.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
So what you're saying is you're not opposed to possibly
revisiting it one day.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I don't know if I'd be a part of it,
but yeah, maybe.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You would like the opportunity to decide at least. Yeah, okay,
all right, that's fair. I mean there's been some time
now for simmering on ideas for a spinoff. Have you
thought of anything you would you would want to see
should that day come.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I think it should be a Captain Hook centric spin off, so.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Well played, well played. Yeah, but you know what, all
jokes aside that would be there would be way way
there would be plenty of material for that kind of
a series, I think.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I think so.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I think so going back to the theme of you know,
hope and being a show that really so many people
find such good in was that part of the appeal
year after year continuing to play this character is that
there's this idea that everybody kind of can get their
happy ending.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
I think so, you know, I think I mean, for me,
it was I just liked wearing the leather pants. But no,
I think there was a lot of that. I think
everything everything that was being made at the time, and
I'm maybe even still now, I'm not that I'm a
positive I think it's great, but everything was super greaty
and everything had to be really hard hitting and you know,
(19:36):
all that kind of stuff, and to be a part
of something that people would just say, look, I watched
that with my grandmother, watched my parents, you know, like
you'd have There's very few shows that you would have
kids from whatever, ten years old up to people in
their eighties watching and all loving like that's a massive
(19:59):
achievement to be able to go across the whole gamut
of ages and have people like that. You'd be stopped
by some people that you wouldn't expect, like a sixty
year old man would stop in the streets saying, oh,
I watch it with my family. We absolutely love it,
you know, and then you'd have like kids or you'd
have so and that is simply because sometimes people just
(20:20):
want to watch something that's going to make them feel
good and entertaining and hopeful. You know, we all meet
a lot of people, a load of fans of the
show who really talk about how the show happened through
really hard times, you know, and how that was their escape,
(20:42):
was watching Once upon a Time. And I'm not so
sure if it was a show about drugs or addiction
that that would be the case. So I think that
that is what the ipeal was, that it allowed people
an hour no matter what they were doing in their lives.
It allowed them an hour on a Sunday us escape
into fantasy. And to be a part of that is
(21:05):
an honor, really, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, And it was so creative, like every season had
such a different spin and it kept you guessing where
it was going to go. And you know, from season
one to the last season, and even the last season
it was quite different, right, And I know, I know
it was more of a controversial season for some people
and whatnot, But for you for that season, were you
pleased without it all kind of ended?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
I was delighted. I loved it, you know. For me,
it was great to be able to do another version
of Hellian and to play a different version of Hook.
For Hook to have a daughter too, Like I just
my wife had just giving birth to our daughter that year,
and I had a young son, and I thought, and
(21:46):
having kids was such a massive thing for me, and
I thought, I have that love. And what I liked
about it too was that it wasn't trying to replace
Emma or that whole storyline. It's a different kind of
love and it's it was a really deep thing, and
I thought that that was really important. You know, it's complicated.
The last season is complicated because people have their opinions thinking,
(22:08):
you know, they think that they wanted the same show,
but it couldn't have been the same show because some
people's contracts were up, they were ready to move on.
And so how do you go about with the same
world when when you won't have a lot of the
people who who made that exist, So you have to change.
And I think the writers were brave the way they
(22:31):
went about it. And look, Once upon a Time was
a good show that you could have a curse for anything,
you know, and you could have parallel universes, you could
have parallel worlds, you know. So no, I thought it
was I thought it was good. I thought it was
really good, a good way of going about it.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Yeah, well, you my friends, season after season nailed the role.
I mean, but you did, and it's no surprise. He
as a fan favorite, and he was in some pretty
wild circumstances and you put it all out there and
you were you know, you delivered. I imagine that character is
a lot more we'll say, extroverted and in the spotlight,
(23:10):
more than you like to be. Like you strike me
as someone who's a bit more shy, a little bit
more introverted, Is that right?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah. I wanted him to be the opposite
of me. And I remember trying to figure out what
it was about people that I met who I just
couldn't take my eyes off or felt like, oh, there
was such a charisma there, and you know, I was
trying to figure that out and I realized it that
when somebody looks you in the eyes, most people don't
(23:39):
do it day to day because a bit like I'm
doing now, you sort of look around when you're talking,
and then you when somebody really focuses on you, they're
only listening to you. Do you know what I mean?
It's only you in the room. There's something really kind
of think about that. So that's what I wanted to
hook to be like. I wanted them to be like,
oh yeah, Okay, oh, you know what I mean and
(24:00):
straight in. But I'm not like that at all, So
I'd rather just sit in the corner of the room
and not talk to anybody.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Probably, Well, you chose a very interesting profession for a
shyer guy. So how do you how do you, you know,
put yourself out there and then not let anxiety or
stress or nerves kind of prove.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Well, it's interesting because you know, I think I became
an actor to pretend to be somebody else. Like I
get terrified before I go on stage and stuff that
I get really nervous. But when I discovered acting, I
realized that there was an opportunity to take on the
skin of somebody else and I didn't have to be
me for whatever length to time. That was not that
(24:40):
there was anything wrong with me, but it just I
could pretend to be somebody else, live a different live
in a different world for that hour or whatever. And
there's quite a lot of actors I think, I like
that are quite shy and stuff. But that's why we
do it, is that you can you can just pretend
to be another person for that time, you know. Like
(25:04):
sometimes I think when people meet actors, they expect them
to be like a character they've played or whatever. But
writers are writing the dialogue for us. We're not, you
know what I mean. You know you improvise sometimes, but
most of the time you were taking on the skin
and you were saying somebody else's words, so you don't
have to. It just allowed me to pretend to be
somebody else.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
That makes sense. And like you said, artists are not
the characters they play. So when you walk into a room,
if you're going to a social gathering where you don't
know a lot of people, is that like your worst nightmare?
Do you not enjoy that?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I don't fully enjoy it. No, I don't fully enjoy it.
I sort of slink in if I can at the
back and sort of stay for a while and then leave.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
We need but man, listen, we need introverts and extroverts
in this world. But I always find it fascinating to
your point, when someone is so commanding on screen, it's
their actors. It's your job, right, like you're playing a role.
So yeah, I imagine sometimes when people meet you, if
you are a little shyer, if you're a little more reserved,
they're like, oh, it's it's not Captain Hook No, it's not.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah, I mean, look, I could go in and pretend
in some respects, when you know, you go do things
you are like, I'll be playing a character of myself
kind of to get myself out of you know, if
I have to go in and speak to people whatever,
you know, it'll be I don't mean that in the
sense of line team, but it's like you have to go, Okay,
(26:28):
I have to be on here and then so you
sort of pretend a little bit that you're a little
bit more outgoing than you are. But yeah, I'm not.
I'm not really that outgoing.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Well, I mean, hey, you throw it all into your work,
which is respectable, very respectable. And Colin, you've been working
a long time, You've been doing all sorts of different projects.
How would you say, even from your one stage, or
even before that, how is your approach to acting changed
from that point to today.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Oh I don't that's a good question, student. I don't
know that it has changed, to be honest. You know,
I was always just really grateful to have an opportunity
to get to do something I would really love to do.
I know an awful lot of people who are doing
(27:18):
jobs where they're not happy at all. They don't enjoy it.
They make a lot of money, but they're miserable, you know.
And I was like I was working before I had
any kind of what you would consider a success, you know.
I was working for ten years as a jobbing actor
around Ireland, doing plays too, sometimes ten people in the audience,
(27:41):
sometimes one hundred to couple of hundred, not getting paid
a lot of money, but really enjoying it and honing
your craft and doing the best work that you could
do and feeling like you were a part of that world,
even though it was a struggle. So I was just
always really grateful to have a job, and I think
that's the most important thing. It's really like, it's a
(28:04):
really it's a really difficult profession. Not everybody gets the
opportunities that you know, I've been blessed to get. Yeah,
it's it's like for you, like to get on a
show like Once upon a Time or whatever, it's like
one in a million. Sounds really for someone like me
from a small town in Ireland, like that's not a
(28:27):
common occurrence and you have to grasp it with both
hands but be grateful for it and really appreciate the
fact that you you know, you're in something that you
know looks like it will be around for a while,
that people really respond to. So I don't think my
approach to acting has changed. I just want to work.
(28:48):
I want to do I want to do the best
work I can. I want to try and do something
where people will respond to it and get something. My
my thing was I always if I'm doing something, I
always want somebody to leave watching it, whether it to
play or it's TV or to film, feeling something whatever
(29:08):
that is. But I want them to feel something. And
that's part and parcel of what. You know, Like, people
have been acting for I don't even know how long,
maybe a thousand years whatever, there's been tour, you know,
hundreds and hundreds of years anyway, And originally it was
go around telling stories to people of what was happening
(29:29):
in the world at that stage and being a reflection
on you know, it was an important thing because most
people would never have that. Like I feel like being
an actor is an important job for me. It's not
saving lives, but it's important for people to have escape.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
It depends who you're talking here, because a lot of
the work you guys do is credited with helping people
still be here today, so you know.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, well that's my point, is that like to be
on once upon a time where people literally would say,
I feel like that show saved my life because I
was in a really dark place and it just allowed
me to come out of that. Now whether or not,
look you sort of you know, I don't really know
how to respond to it sometimes, but to be a
part of something like that is, you know, you have
(30:14):
to be grateful for that and appreciate it. And yeah,
so I just look, I love being an actor and
I just want to I just want to work and
do good work, whatever that is.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
And I love that you said you want to make
people feel. That's one of my favorite things about live theater.
And my husband and I try to see shows really
like every two weeks if we can, because to be
in a room with people experiencing something together collectively, it
just doesn't happen anymore. You know, we're all connected on
our devices and phones, and it's a very me, me, me,
you know world that we live in. And even with
(30:46):
streaming now, you watch so many movies from home instead
of a theater. So to be in an actual playhouse
and see, yeah, musical theater production or play, I think
is thrilling not only because of what you're watching, but
to see how other people are feeling and experiencing the art,
either in the same way as you are in a
different way, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Yeah, it's an incredible thing theater. You know, as long
as it's good, right, right, right, But it's an incredible
thing to be able to create a world. You know,
when people walk in and they see a stage, you
know it's a stage, and you know you're an auditorium whatever.
But if you're in a show that manages to suck
people in, for them to believe that they're watching something
(31:25):
real on something that's so clearly fake, it's an incredible
experience for everybody. And it's very palpable. You can you
can very much feel it on stage when it's clicking,
and you have there's an energy there that you know
you don't get from film and TV. You know, you
feed off the audience's energy when you're on stage and
(31:47):
vice versa. When you're watching something it's really clicking, you're
like getting this incredible energy and it's you know, it's
an amazing thing. But yeah, it's like theater is a
whole different keellfish. I hadn't done it in fifteen years before,
and I did a show there in the summer, and
luckily it was the show that people really responded to.
(32:07):
And it's just an incredible it's just an incredible thing
to be able to know that there's maybe a thousand
people in the audience, you can hear a pin drop
and nobody's on their phone. Yeah that's you know, yeah,
And I do think it's it's something i've you know,
I've started to I really like taking my kids to
the cinema and there's something about just sitting in a
(32:31):
room with other people when people aren't just doing this
and oh yeah yeah and texting whatever, just to have
people focused on the one thing. It's really it's really
quite something I think.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Yeah, I do too, And it's clear those are probably
many of the reasons why you return to the stage
for the first time in like fifteen years, Is that right?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:51):
I think so.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I think it was around about fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah, yeah, So I guess the next move is New
York City and Broadway. We're ready for you, man. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Well, I was lucky that the show, the show I
did was a big hit in the West End, and
it was the West End production that we did, so
which I think they were talking about going to New
York with it, but not not with me, but I
think there was talk. But yeah, I mean, it's a
big The only thing about theater is it's a big commitment.
You know, it's a lot of work. It's great, but
(33:21):
it's a lot. It's a lot of work in a
different in a different kind of way. I had always
thought that maybe I wouldn't go back to do another
play because all I remembered really was I remember loving it,
but I just remembered how nervous I used to get
every night before I went on stage. And that's terrifying,
just in case you try on stage and you forget
your lines. I was always, for the last number of years,
(33:43):
have just been terrified about that. And I actually spoke.
I remember speaking to Robert Carlisle on the set of
Once Upon a Time about it, because he had a
theater company in Scotland, you know, and I'm just saying,
I don't know, Bobby, if I could go on stage again,
I think I'll just be too scared. But I did,
and luckily, luckily it was okay.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I'm a man of many talents. Like I said earlier,
you also sing song, right.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Yeah, I'm in my guitar room at the minute, so
I don't know many. I think I've got twelve guitars
up in the wall here, maybe even more so. Yeah,
I was in a band for years and years and years. Actually,
when I was working as a sort of jobbing actor,
I was really making money playing in a band, gigging
four or five nights a week. So yeah, I'm not
(34:35):
playing as well. I played the guitar a lot and
piano and stuff, but I'm not really writing a huge
amount of stuff. But it's nice. I just love music
is such a massive part of my life.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
It's something for you, right.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, I don't think I do a music I don't
think if that's if that was gonna be your next question,
would do musical? I don't think. I don't quite think
I have the voice for a musical, but who knows.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Actually, no, funny enough, I wasn't gonna ask that. I
was gonna ask if you're ever going to drop a single?
These days, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
I keep getting asked up by people and.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
I tell you people want it, man.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Yeah, well maybe I will. My kids are getting a
little bit older, so maybe i'd have time. I definitely
wouldn't have had time before. And you know, I've been
lucky that a part obviously during COVID and stuff like that.
But you know, I've been lucky to be pretty busy.
So yeah, maybe I will. Maybe we'll. You'd have to
promote it for me.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
If I do done done coming to New York, We'll
have you on the show in person. It'll be great.
It'll be great. Yeah, Colin, I don't know much about this,
so I don't know how much you can talk about this.
But when people found out you were coming on the show,
I got a million questions about the Gray House. Okay, yeah,
and a lot of people are wanting to know what's
going on. Are there any updates? What can you tell
(35:49):
us because there seems to be a lot of excitement
about it.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah, I don't know, is my answer. I know that
they had a Castle Cruise screening in September in la
I was over here. I wasn't able to go, and
then I don't know. I'm sure they'll come out pretty soon.
I think it's all finished. The scripts were incredible. It's
an amazing story. My character kind of is in and
(36:13):
out quite a bit, and it's based on a true story.
But I don't think. I don't think I'm able to
tell exactly what it's about just at the minute. I
don't know, is the thing. I haven't been told what
I can and can't say. But it should come out
pretty soon. I would think. Kevin Costro and Morgan Freeman
produced it. And it's obviously it's a Civil war story.
(36:37):
So yeah, so hopefully it'll be Hopefully it'll be out
pretty soon. All right, Well, it was great. I got
to ride horses and jump up and off them and
do things and stuff. That was good.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Well, we look forward to that. I also look forward
to you one day, maybe playing James Bond. I heard
that might be of interest.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
I mean, I'd like to play James Bond, and I
think I've got a feel and I'm too old, now
is the problem.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Never say no, Never say never. We're putting it out there, man.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, if you can make that happen, that'll be good.
But yeah, I suspect I'm too old.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
All right, Well we'll see you. Never know, Never say never, Colin.
As we wrap up the name of the show, as
I've never said this before, and I created the show
because I wanted to have real conversations with fan favorite artists,
and a lot of what we talked about today allowed
us to get to know you a little bit more
aside from the characters that you play, which to me
(37:26):
is such a rewarding conversation. I so much more enjoy
that than when I'm on a red carpet for three
minutes with somebody, or maybe or a minute and a
half with somebody you're you know, you know how that
those go. They're so quick and there's not substance there.
So this is why this show was born, and the
name of the show was born from that too. So
I'm wondering, is there anything else today that you've never
(37:48):
shared before that you want to say?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
I was thinking about this, you know, there was a
couple of things. I could go either way. It doesn't
have to be very serious or cand of just be
kind of lighthearted, whatever you want, because I'm pretty I
think even though I'm quite and stuff, and I think
I'm pretty open with people about you know, being shy,
and you know, I've talked before, but being bullied as
a kid, and that was a massive impact on me,
(38:14):
but you know, I think I was. I was thinking
about it. What would I say? And my son is
doing his school play Christmas play soon, and he's playing
one of the Beatles in it, so he's playing Paul McCartney.
And he found out recently for my mum that Paul
(38:36):
McCartney is my second cousin. So that's something I've never
said before. My second cousin once removed, so his his
his mother was my grandmother's first cousin. And we never
knew that. None of us ever knew that. So that's
something I've never said before.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
How did you how did you connect that?
Speaker 2 (38:59):
So? Well, we found out my grandmother was invited to
he got married, his previous marriage. He got married in
Ireland and tracked down from what I can gather, track
down family, you know, sort of closer family, and she
got an invitation to the wedding. No, she didn't tell
anybody until afterwards. And my grandmother, who's passed away since,
(39:21):
didn't go. Said no, she was a far you know,
they had a farm and stuff like that, and she
listened to Irish country music and had no interest in
the Beatles whatsoever. And yeah, it didn't go and then
told told us afterwards, told the family afterwards that she
had been invited and turned out that we were late.
(39:43):
But the interesting thing about it all is my mother
was born in Liverpool. My mother and her sister, who's
just younger than her, was more but they were the
two eldest. And it turns out that they were born
on a street that's only ten minutes walk from where
Paul McCartney grew up. So these two cousins live ten
minutes away but didn't know each other really, But that's
(40:05):
that was back in whenever Whenever it was so it
wasn't like today where you sort of have a track
and everybody. But yeah, so it's kind of lighthearted and
something a bit of fun. I've never met Paul McCartney
and I probably never will, but yeah, we're related to
our family are related to them, so that's my thing.
I've never told anyone before.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
That's so cool. I feel like you have to reach out.
I mean, come on, he.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Would have no interest in responding to anything from me.
I'm pretty certain. I'm pretty certain Paul McCartney's too busy
to want to say all oad Captain Hook.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Clearly music runs in the family, so you know what,
now this all makes sense.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Yeah, so my son was delighted because he was playing
Paul McCartney thing my mom told him last week. He
was like he couldn't get over it. So but yeah,
that's my thing. I was kind of going to go
down a deeper route, but then I thought, nah, keep alike.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
So well that's such a tease. Now now now I
feel like I want the other one too.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
No, no, no, I mean like it's it's like I said,
I've been you know, when I do interviews it so
I'm pretty open. But you know, I don't really you know,
I don't really shy away from talking about being a
kid and being bullying and how that affected me, and
how that was went into sort of the idea of
becoming an actor and pretending to be somebody else, you know,
(41:28):
because I didn't particularly like who I was, But there
was nothing I've realized now since there was nothing wrong
with that person. There's nothing wrong with the person I
was or who who I am. It's just I felt
from the way that other people had treated me that
there was but that was never on me. That was
on them, you know, And I think, you know, I've
(41:51):
talked quite a bit, and I've done some stuff for
bullying charities and stuff like that, and I've talked about
it a little bit that you know, oftentimes people are
attacking you because of a deep insecurity and them that
they want to make it about you, and it's not
really anything to do with you. You're just the target.
(42:11):
And it's hard to realize that, and it's hard to
appreciate that until you spend some time reflecting it and go, well,
there's never anything wrong with me. I was a good person.
There's nothing wrong with me. So, you know, stuff like
that I think is important. But I've talked about it before,
so that's why I sort of said I'll keep it light.
But it's just an interesting thing, you know that people
(42:33):
don't realize. I don't think when they're bullying somebody or
treating somebody a certain way, people don't well, some people
probably don't care, but people don't realize the impact. Like
I'm forty three and I still have deep insecurities from
stuff that happened when I was ten or eleven, you know,
(42:55):
and so people don't realize the impact that can have
on somebody for the rest of their life because they're
lashing out because of something that's going on with them
at home or whatever it is. But you know, I
always think it's so important to especially nowadays with you know,
social media and people so disengaged from engaging with people.
(43:20):
I think it's it's important for people to sort of
it's just be nice. Just treat people nicely. You know,
say thank you, somebody holds the door open for you,
say please when you're ordering something at a restaurant. Stuff
like that I think is so important, and I feel
we are losing that a little bit because everybody has
(43:42):
such an expectation of wanting to be treated like a superstar,
no matter what it is. And you know, I think
that you have to I think that you should have
to work hard to to be to be respected, but
I think you also need to be respectful of people
to get respect. Does that make sense, Yeah, it does,
(44:02):
it does.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
I think that's right on the money. And it's a
reminder that is good to put out there. Man. I
think you're you're right on with that, and it's a
it's a good thing to remind people that kindness and
manners are things that are not antiquated. It's it's we
still need it today.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
You know yeah, yeah, I mean it's one thing that
drives me absolutely ballistic. It's just a little thing is
when you hold the door open and people just walk
past you. Mm hmm, Like I don't have to hold
the door open for you, but please thank you would
be nice.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
You know, well, Colin, when you come to New York,
I will hold the door open for you, and I
expect to thank.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
You good good when we're promoting my album There.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
We Go, There we Go. This was awesome. I I
really really enjoyed this conversation. Like I said earlier, I
had so much fun diving into the work that people love,
but also just getting to hear more about your story
and learn more about Colin and the man behind the
characters that people love so much. And I think as
an intro you did pretty well. How do you feel
you had a good time.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
I think my cheeks have gone right because I feel
really embarrassed. But yeah, I think I think I've had
a good time. It's been good. Thank you so much
for having me well, thank.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
You for hanging out. I am. I am a fan
of your work. I look forward to cheering you on.
I look forward to the album dropping. The Broadway show
coming and whatever else you have up your sleeve.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Thank you very much, all right, man, be well, thanks Tommy.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
I've Never Said This Before is hosted by Me, Tommy Didario.
This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Piglisi at iHeartRadio
and by me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more rate review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
(45:48):
tell your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy de Dario
Speaker 2 (46:00):
M
Hey guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me,
Tommy Tadario. So every once in a while a TV
show will come around that it lives beyond its time, right.
New audiences keep discovering it, original audiences keep rewatching it,
and it's because the show makes you feel so good inside.
(00:21):
It provides you comfort, it gives you hope. Well, my
guest today is a huge part of one of those
shows that I am talking about. Colin o'donahue. He became
a household name through starring in Once Upon a Time
on ABC. Once upon a Time, It's about a brand
new world, one in which fairy tale legends and modern
life collide. Colin played Killian, also known as the iconic
(00:45):
Captain Hook, in a very magical and enchanting world, and
his performance is nothing short of brilliant. Colin is such
a gifted actor who can do it all, film, theater,
TV voice work. He's an actor who pours every inch
of his being into the characters that he creates. And
today we are celebrating that fan favorite work, but we're
(01:05):
also getting to know the human behind the actor a
bit more intimately. So let's see if today we can
get Collins say something that he has never said before.
Colin of Don Hue, How you doing, my man.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I'm good, thanks, so are you?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I am good? I am good. It's so good to
see you. It's been a minute, but it's always a
pleasure to hang out. Yeah, yeah, thanks for having me
of course. Of course, Well I've been following your career
over the last few years. You've been up to all
sorts of exciting things, including the theater, which I am
a huge fan of. So we're going to dive into
that and in a little bit of course. But I
(01:45):
guess to start this conversation, man, you have so many
credits to your name. You've done so much, you know, film, TV,
voiceover work, animation, all the different things. But there's one role,
of course in particular that kind of blew you up
and made you this household name, and that's of course
killing In aka Captain hook In Once upon a Time, right,
It's it's such a beloved fan favorite role. When you
(02:08):
booked that job with that role, did you have any
idea that your entire life was about to change?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
No? No, to be honest, I I was. I was
living in Ireland, so I didn't once upon a time,
hadn't the first season hadn't come out over here. When
I sort of taked for it and met with or
when I'm an auditioned for it and met with Ellie
and Adam. I knew it was a big show in
(02:37):
the States, but I didn't realize just how big it
was till I was on the show. And I also
didn't think I was going to get get the part.
When I got centered, I was kind of like, there's
no way that I'll ever be playing Captain Hook. I
still had an image of Dustin Hoffman, you know what
I mean, and or any other previous nation of Hook
(03:00):
was kind of slightly older. So I kind of thought, no,
there's not a chance. So I just went in and
did whatever I wanted, and luckily the guys responded to
But I never thought. I never knew just how big
a show it was, and just how big the character
was kind of going to become.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
That's so interesting. So you weren't, you know, gripping this role.
You weren't like, I have to get this role or
my career is over. You went in very nonchal Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, I wouldn't say nonchalant, but it was sort of
I had just done a big movie with Anthony Hopkins,
which had opened number one all over the world, and
you know, that was my first kind of big thing.
And then there was a couple of conversations about these
other movies that were going to happen, which I couldn't believe,
(03:50):
but they never did. So I did a pilot for
ABC the year that Once Upon a Time was a pilot.
So it was Angela Bassett and I were the two
leads in. It was called Identity, and it was about
a guy who's kind of living a double life. But
he's a detective and he's investigating identity fraud. But it
turns out he's living a second life. He's married to
(04:13):
the he was married to the sister of an Irish
mob boss. Now I was American and stuff like that.
But we thought that show was going to go. It
looked like that show was going to go at the
same time Once upon a Time did, and so I
was kind of I didn't know what to expect. Basically,
one I wouldn't say nonchalant, because it's just I didn't
think I was going to get it, and I thought
(04:34):
maybe I might have gone for something more dramatic. I
guess you know. I was coming off the like The
Right was a horror, but it was sort of like
a psychological horror, sort of exorcism movie, and Identity was
very much a drama, you know, So that's kind of
what I So I sort of, well, I'm not going
(04:56):
to get it anyway, so I'll just go in and
lo and behold. The next I got a phone call
after I went in and auditioned, So I'd already had
kind of had a bit of a relationship with ABC anyway,
and I auditioned for it. It seemed to go well.
The casting people thought it was really good, and I
got a call to going to meet Eddie and Adam
the next day, and I was goind of like, okay.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
All right.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And then I'd known that Captain Hook was teased a
comic Con that year, so I knew that the character
coming on. I knew wasn't an important role for that season,
but I didn't know that it was going to become
become what it was.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I mean, I think that's a great lesson for anyone
that when you go into something and of course you
want it and you want to do your best work,
but when you can find a way to not let
that define you right in such in such a way
that it can actually mess you up. Like you went
in you wanted the role, but you weren't like, oh
my god, well.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I mean I very much like the thing is, I
wouldn't want people to think I didn't. I very much
wanted the role. Yeah, right, so I wouldn't have gone
for it. I just didn't think that I was going
to be Wifert is the thing. So so that took
the pressure off, which I think is what I'm more
trying to say is I didn't feel the pressure of
having to go, Oh, you know, I really I really
hope I get to I really want to get this,
(06:12):
because in my head, I was like, there's no way
I'm going to get it.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I was like, they're going to see a whole broad
spectrum of people. Somebody in there mid to late forties
is probably going to get it. So like at the time,
I was thirty one maybe, and I was like, well,
I'm not going to get it anyway, So you know,
I'll just go in and I'll do the character the
way that I very much wanted them to do and
(06:37):
to play it. And I just look at worked for
the Guys.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Well, thank god, man, I mean, that's destiny. It was
meant to be. So you didn't get to see the
first season, as you mentioned, because you didn't you didn't
have it in Ireland. You get the show. You know,
they teased Captain Hook of comic Colm. But when was
the moment do you remember it? Was there a specific
moment where you thought, oh, man, like I'm I'm part
of something pretty big that could changed my career.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It was my very first day on set one because
I was working with Robert Carlisle that first day, and
Bobby was one of my genuinely one of my heroes
growing up, especially as an actor, you know, Train Spotting.
I watched every single movie of his, The Full Monty,
I watched every movie of his as a teenager and
(07:22):
into my twenties, and I honestly think he's one of
the greatest actors of the last forty years. And I
was standing there in full leather pants and eyeliner. They'd
gotten a ship called the Lady Washington, which ended up
being the Jolly Roger, and we were going out around
(07:43):
the sound at Vancouver and we were sailing on this
real ship on Robert Carlisle was there and there was
like camera boats and stuff. Yeah, this is a lot
bigger than I expected. And that's the moment that I
kind of went wow. But then the other time was
when the when the show screened and the character, you know,
(08:05):
my character's first episode, episode four and season two came on,
and then it was like, you know, we didn't really
have social media so much back then. I think Twitter
was kind of starting off. There was stuff that it
wasn't like nowadays where everything is on and I was
kind of you know, the response was immediate from people,
(08:28):
and you know, you see people would see me then
walking down the street to go you know, and I
was like, oh, this is this is crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
You know what I love about the show too. It's
kind of I think one of the last shows to
have that twenty two twenty three episode. You know, Mark,
you don't see that anymore. You're six, No, I mean you.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
See them, you see them kind of with sort of
procedurals or you know, like any of the like cop
shows or the you know, medical dramas and stuff you
see a little bit more. But yeah, I think we
I've got a feeling that we might have been one
of the last I think it might have been even
the last one that had like we did two seasons
(09:08):
and twenty three episodes, you know, the rest of all
twenty two and that's and there are our long episodes
like that's a that's a lot to do in the
season and try and keep people engaged. And it's a
testament to the writers more than anything that you know,
they were able to keep people watching that watching the
show week in week out for twenty two weeks. I mean,
(09:31):
when you think about it, like that twenty two weeks,
it's massive.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah. Was it rewarding being on a show with that format,
Like do you do you miss that kind of format
or do you prefer the shorter episode series?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
It was, Yeah, I mean I enjoyed it because you know,
my wife came over with me and then we had
our two kids were born in Vancouver, and so we
had a family. You know, we set up a life
there for nine months of the year and very much
made friends with people who became like a surrogod family.
So in that respect, yeah, I really I really enjoyed that.
(10:05):
You know, the kids obviously being born there were young
enough for us to be able to be away from
from Ireland for that length of time. I think it's
really difficult. You know, Like I'm not a right, I'm
not a writer, so I'm not in the writing room.
I think that that's where that level, or that amount
of hour long TV shows I think to sustain that
(10:28):
can be very, very difficult. And sometimes you know, I'm
not talking about Once upon a Time whatever, but sometimes
the quality gets diluted a little bit because you have
to kind of drag out the storyline that you want
to accommodate that many episodes, And in that way, having
a shorter season allows you to maybe you know, fill
(10:50):
those episodes with a lot more to keep people engaged.
But I grew up you know, TV shows over here
and in the UK and in Ireland and stuff. Eight
ten ten episodes is a season of something, you know
what I mean. Anyway, so that's what I was used
to watching.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
So the world's catching up to you guys now.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yeah, Well, I just think it's just so hard to
invest the time for people to spend writing and keep
people engaged, you know. I think that there is a
scope for those types of shows that go on for
that long, you know what I mean. But like the
so many things now are so gritty and drama. You know,
(11:31):
you want everything wants to be snappy and quick, and
you couldn't do that over twenty two episodes.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And what's cool is people are still craving that because
so many different generations are now rediscovering the show and
streaming it and watching it. And it's not only for
the original watchers and the fans, but all new demographics
are now getting really on board the Once upon a
Time train, which I imagine for you is such a
cool thing to see.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, it's great, Like I never thought that I'd be
a part of something that would would be like that.
That was the great thing about Once Fun of Time
was that it was a show but hope more than anything,
and never try to be really super gritty or hard
hitting or anything like that. You know, there's dark moments
in it, but it was just about hope and it
was something that families could watch together. So now what's
(12:17):
happening is with Disney Plus is that people are you know,
people who've grown up watching it are let's say we're
in their late teens watching Once Fun of Time now
probably have kids of their own or whatever, and they're
beginning to watch it and there's a whole you know,
there's a whole gamut of people now who are rediscovering
it on Disney and like it's pretty great. Like it's
(12:39):
pretty incredible to think that that people are still crazy
about the show.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, it's a timeless show and that's a testament to yes,
the writers, but also you guys, the artists who brought
this to life, that people want to keep watching it
over and over and introducing it to people that they
know will love as well. And the characters and the
actors everyone across the board, which was fantastic. I feel
like you worked probably the most with Jennifer Morrison exclusively
kind of for like five years. You guys were doing
(13:06):
a ton of scene work together. Yes, teaming up with her.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
It was great. It was great. We just managed to
capture something that that clicked, you know when I. When
I came on, there was a suggestion that would sort
of be a bit like Lost whether there was the
Sawyer hate Jack kind of storyline, So they wanted it
to sort of start out as a kind of a
love triangle between Hook and Emma and Neil. So I
(13:32):
sort of knew that was going of fasile in the background,
you know, like Eddie and Adam had said to me, Look,
we want you to kind of be the Sawyer character,
the bad boy that people kind of wouldn't respond to,
you know, but you know, we we sort of we
worked a lot together. We just it just clicked. You
can't you can't quite manufacture it. It just sort of
(13:54):
either it happens or it doesn't happen with that sort
of stuff, and luckily for us it did. I mean
I was very low on the show. Somebody was asking
me recently, you know, is there anyone that you hadn't
worked with that you would liked to have? And I
pretty much worked with nearly everybody on the show. I
don't think there's you know, the only people I can
think of were like young snow white or young like.
(14:14):
Other than that, I think I was pretty much in
in stuff with with everybody. Hook managed to manage to
be in everybody's business.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Hook got around a little bit. Huh.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I was gonna say that, and then I thought I
better not.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
It's true, man, It's true. And how fun to get
to work with different people and then you get to reunite.
You just reunited with a bunch of people in Paris,
I believe at a convention in Paris.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, and I'll see Becks and Alana in Germany this weekend.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
So is it like no lost time, just picking up
where you left off?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It is funny, like I saw I saw Jen for
the first time in years in Birmingham, but a month ago,
just over a month ago. And it is weird because
once we all get together, it is like we're just
back on said, the relationships, the way people talk to
each other, it's like no times past.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Was it weird or difficult as an artist to have
to let go of playing Captain Hook when that time came?
Because he was such a part of our life. You
did play him, as we said, for twenty two to
twenty three episodes this season. You invested a lot of
time into this role. So when you finally had to
move on from that, was that a weird transition?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
It was? I mean, I was the next sort of
work that I got. I really wanted it to be
very different and because of that, but you know, I
loved I didn't want to say goodbye to Hook, you know,
because I love that. I love playing the role, I
love the character. But yeah, no, it was. It was tough.
I mean, I think I think when you play a
(15:48):
role like that for so long, it's kind of always
It's always there, you know, And especially because people are
finding the show again and rewatching it and stuff like that, Like,
I think it'll always be I'll always be Captain Hook
in some way, you know what I mean. But I
was ready to try something different, but you know, I
(16:08):
was sort of lucky. I do small projects in between
on the hiatus and stuff like that, and try and
pick stuff that was so different from Hook. But yeah, no,
I think I think it's tough when you play like
especially one that people related to so well, it is
tough to let that go a little bit.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Do you feel like there's a piece of that character
that you kind of kept with you throughout the years.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
I've kept my beard.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Not negotiable, Beard's not going anywhere. Huh.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, I say. I actually shaved it a month ago,
and I said, oh, why do that. I grew it back.
But I don't look, I don't think well, I mean,
I don't think there's anything of an eight hundred year
old pirate that you sort of really keep with you
day to day, day to day life. But I look
back very fondly on on what we did and the
(17:06):
opportunities I got to be a part of something like
Once and I still have. I have the costume here
and stuff like that, so I don't walk around the
house wearing it, but it's here.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Is it on a manquin like on displayer in the Cloud? No?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I want to get a monnequin, but I just didn't have. No,
I never got around to it, So it's sitting in
a sitting in a in a wardrobe.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
It would be pretty epic if one day one of
your kids wants to be that for Halloween and you're like, well,
I have the costume.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I know, Yeah, it'd be great. And they've told all
the friends. See some of their friends now are beginning
to watch Once Fun of Time, so like they sort
of when I pull up to pick them up. Now
you can see them sort of looking at you.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
You know, Oh my god, that's so cool. Though, what
a cool feeling. You're probably the coolest dat in the
world now.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I doubt it. Bush. Yeah, if you say so, Yeah,
I'll take that.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
So here's a million dollar question. Does Once upon a
Time deserve a revival?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I mean that's a big question. Yeah, I guess I
think it's a that's a question for the bosses really
in Disney, I guess, you know, there's people love it
and people still love it, so there's a world where
I think it could exist again.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
So what you're saying is you're not opposed to possibly
revisiting it one day.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I don't know if I'd be a part of it,
but yeah, maybe.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You would like the opportunity to decide at least. Yeah, okay,
all right, that's fair. I mean there's been some time
now for simmering on ideas for a spinoff. Have you
thought of anything you would you would want to see
should that day come.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I think it should be a Captain Hook centric spin off, so.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Well played, well played. Yeah, but you know what, all
jokes aside that would be there would be way way
there would be plenty of material for that kind of
a series, I think.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I think so.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I think so going back to the theme of you know,
hope and being a show that really so many people
find such good in was that part of the appeal
year after year continuing to play this character is that
there's this idea that everybody kind of can get their
happy ending.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
I think so, you know, I think I mean, for me,
it was I just liked wearing the leather pants. But no,
I think there was a lot of that. I think
everything everything that was being made at the time, and
I'm maybe even still now, I'm not that I'm a
positive I think it's great, but everything was super greaty
and everything had to be really hard hitting and you know,
(19:36):
all that kind of stuff, and to be a part
of something that people would just say, look, I watched
that with my grandmother, watched my parents, you know, like
you'd have There's very few shows that you would have
kids from whatever, ten years old up to people in
their eighties watching and all loving like that's a massive
(19:59):
achievement to be able to go across the whole gamut
of ages and have people like that. You'd be stopped
by some people that you wouldn't expect, like a sixty
year old man would stop in the streets saying, oh,
I watch it with my family. We absolutely love it,
you know, and then you'd have like kids or you'd
have so and that is simply because sometimes people just
(20:20):
want to watch something that's going to make them feel
good and entertaining and hopeful. You know, we all meet
a lot of people, a load of fans of the
show who really talk about how the show happened through
really hard times, you know, and how that was their escape,
(20:42):
was watching Once upon a Time. And I'm not so
sure if it was a show about drugs or addiction
that that would be the case. So I think that
that is what the ipeal was, that it allowed people
an hour no matter what they were doing in their lives.
It allowed them an hour on a Sunday us escape
into fantasy. And to be a part of that is
(21:05):
an honor, really, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, And it was so creative, like every season had
such a different spin and it kept you guessing where
it was going to go. And you know, from season
one to the last season, and even the last season
it was quite different, right, And I know, I know
it was more of a controversial season for some people
and whatnot, But for you for that season, were you
pleased without it all kind of ended?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
I was delighted. I loved it, you know. For me,
it was great to be able to do another version
of Hellian and to play a different version of Hook.
For Hook to have a daughter too, Like I just
my wife had just giving birth to our daughter that year,
and I had a young son, and I thought, and
(21:46):
having kids was such a massive thing for me, and
I thought, I have that love. And what I liked
about it too was that it wasn't trying to replace
Emma or that whole storyline. It's a different kind of
love and it's it was a really deep thing, and
I thought that that was really important. You know, it's complicated.
The last season is complicated because people have their opinions thinking,
(22:08):
you know, they think that they wanted the same show,
but it couldn't have been the same show because some
people's contracts were up, they were ready to move on.
And so how do you go about with the same
world when when you won't have a lot of the
people who who made that exist, So you have to change.
And I think the writers were brave the way they
(22:31):
went about it. And look, Once upon a Time was
a good show that you could have a curse for anything,
you know, and you could have parallel universes, you could
have parallel worlds, you know. So no, I thought it
was I thought it was good. I thought it was
really good, a good way of going about it.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Yeah, well, you my friends, season after season nailed the role.
I mean, but you did, and it's no surprise. He
as a fan favorite, and he was in some pretty
wild circumstances and you put it all out there and
you were you know, you delivered. I imagine that character is
a lot more we'll say, extroverted and in the spotlight,
(23:10):
more than you like to be. Like you strike me
as someone who's a bit more shy, a little bit
more introverted, Is that right?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah. I wanted him to be the opposite
of me. And I remember trying to figure out what
it was about people that I met who I just
couldn't take my eyes off or felt like, oh, there
was such a charisma there, and you know, I was
trying to figure that out and I realized it that
when somebody looks you in the eyes, most people don't
(23:39):
do it day to day because a bit like I'm
doing now, you sort of look around when you're talking,
and then you when somebody really focuses on you, they're
only listening to you. Do you know what I mean?
It's only you in the room. There's something really kind
of think about that. So that's what I wanted to
hook to be like. I wanted them to be like,
oh yeah, Okay, oh, you know what I mean and
(24:00):
straight in. But I'm not like that at all, So
I'd rather just sit in the corner of the room
and not talk to anybody.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Probably, Well, you chose a very interesting profession for a
shyer guy. So how do you how do you, you know,
put yourself out there and then not let anxiety or
stress or nerves kind of prove.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Well, it's interesting because you know, I think I became
an actor to pretend to be somebody else. Like I
get terrified before I go on stage and stuff that
I get really nervous. But when I discovered acting, I
realized that there was an opportunity to take on the
skin of somebody else and I didn't have to be
me for whatever length to time. That was not that
(24:40):
there was anything wrong with me, but it just I
could pretend to be somebody else, live a different live
in a different world for that hour or whatever. And
there's quite a lot of actors I think, I like
that are quite shy and stuff. But that's why we
do it, is that you can you can just pretend
to be another person for that time, you know. Like
(25:04):
sometimes I think when people meet actors, they expect them
to be like a character they've played or whatever. But
writers are writing the dialogue for us. We're not, you
know what I mean. You know you improvise sometimes, but
most of the time you were taking on the skin
and you were saying somebody else's words, so you don't
have to. It just allowed me to pretend to be
somebody else.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
That makes sense. And like you said, artists are not
the characters they play. So when you walk into a room,
if you're going to a social gathering where you don't
know a lot of people, is that like your worst nightmare?
Do you not enjoy that?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I don't fully enjoy it. No, I don't fully enjoy it.
I sort of slink in if I can at the
back and sort of stay for a while and then leave.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
We need but man, listen, we need introverts and extroverts
in this world. But I always find it fascinating to
your point, when someone is so commanding on screen, it's
their actors. It's your job, right, like you're playing a role.
So yeah, I imagine sometimes when people meet you, if
you are a little shyer, if you're a little more reserved,
they're like, oh, it's it's not Captain Hook No, it's not.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah, I mean, look, I could go in and pretend
in some respects, when you know, you go do things
you are like, I'll be playing a character of myself
kind of to get myself out of you know, if
I have to go in and speak to people whatever,
you know, it'll be I don't mean that in the
sense of line team, but it's like you have to go, Okay,
(26:28):
I have to be on here and then so you
sort of pretend a little bit that you're a little
bit more outgoing than you are. But yeah, I'm not.
I'm not really that outgoing.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Well, I mean, hey, you throw it all into your work,
which is respectable, very respectable. And Colin, you've been working
a long time, You've been doing all sorts of different projects.
How would you say, even from your one stage, or
even before that, how is your approach to acting changed
from that point to today.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Oh I don't that's a good question, student. I don't
know that it has changed, to be honest. You know,
I was always just really grateful to have an opportunity
to get to do something I would really love to do.
I know an awful lot of people who are doing
(27:18):
jobs where they're not happy at all. They don't enjoy it.
They make a lot of money, but they're miserable, you know.
And I was like I was working before I had
any kind of what you would consider a success, you know.
I was working for ten years as a jobbing actor
around Ireland, doing plays too, sometimes ten people in the audience,
(27:41):
sometimes one hundred to couple of hundred, not getting paid
a lot of money, but really enjoying it and honing
your craft and doing the best work that you could
do and feeling like you were a part of that world,
even though it was a struggle. So I was just
always really grateful to have a job, and I think
that's the most important thing. It's really like, it's a
(28:04):
really it's a really difficult profession. Not everybody gets the
opportunities that you know, I've been blessed to get. Yeah,
it's it's like for you, like to get on a
show like Once upon a Time or whatever, it's like
one in a million. Sounds really for someone like me
from a small town in Ireland, like that's not a
(28:27):
common occurrence and you have to grasp it with both
hands but be grateful for it and really appreciate the
fact that you you know, you're in something that you
know looks like it will be around for a while,
that people really respond to. So I don't think my
approach to acting has changed. I just want to work.
(28:48):
I want to do I want to do the best
work I can. I want to try and do something
where people will respond to it and get something. My
my thing was I always if I'm doing something, I
always want somebody to leave watching it, whether it to
play or it's TV or to film, feeling something whatever
(29:08):
that is. But I want them to feel something. And
that's part and parcel of what. You know, Like, people
have been acting for I don't even know how long,
maybe a thousand years whatever, there's been tour, you know,
hundreds and hundreds of years anyway, And originally it was
go around telling stories to people of what was happening
(29:29):
in the world at that stage and being a reflection
on you know, it was an important thing because most
people would never have that. Like I feel like being
an actor is an important job for me. It's not
saving lives, but it's important for people to have escape.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
It depends who you're talking here, because a lot of
the work you guys do is credited with helping people
still be here today, so you know.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, well that's my point, is that like to be
on once upon a time where people literally would say,
I feel like that show saved my life because I
was in a really dark place and it just allowed
me to come out of that. Now whether or not,
look you sort of you know, I don't really know
how to respond to it sometimes, but to be a
part of something like that is, you know, you have
(30:14):
to be grateful for that and appreciate it. And yeah,
so I just look, I love being an actor and
I just want to I just want to work and
do good work, whatever that is.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
And I love that you said you want to make
people feel. That's one of my favorite things about live theater.
And my husband and I try to see shows really
like every two weeks if we can, because to be
in a room with people experiencing something together collectively, it
just doesn't happen anymore. You know, we're all connected on
our devices and phones, and it's a very me, me, me,
you know world that we live in. And even with
(30:46):
streaming now, you watch so many movies from home instead
of a theater. So to be in an actual playhouse
and see, yeah, musical theater production or play, I think
is thrilling not only because of what you're watching, but
to see how other people are feeling and experiencing the art,
either in the same way as you are in a
different way, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Yeah, it's an incredible thing theater. You know, as long
as it's good, right, right, right, But it's an incredible
thing to be able to create a world. You know,
when people walk in and they see a stage, you
know it's a stage, and you know you're an auditorium whatever.
But if you're in a show that manages to suck
people in, for them to believe that they're watching something
(31:25):
real on something that's so clearly fake, it's an incredible
experience for everybody. And it's very palpable. You can you
can very much feel it on stage when it's clicking,
and you have there's an energy there that you know
you don't get from film and TV. You know, you
feed off the audience's energy when you're on stage and
(31:47):
vice versa. When you're watching something it's really clicking, you're
like getting this incredible energy and it's you know, it's
an amazing thing. But yeah, it's like theater is a
whole different keellfish. I hadn't done it in fifteen years before,
and I did a show there in the summer, and
luckily it was the show that people really responded to.
(32:07):
And it's just an incredible it's just an incredible thing
to be able to know that there's maybe a thousand
people in the audience, you can hear a pin drop
and nobody's on their phone. Yeah that's you know, yeah,
And I do think it's it's something i've you know,
I've started to I really like taking my kids to
the cinema and there's something about just sitting in a
(32:31):
room with other people when people aren't just doing this
and oh yeah yeah and texting whatever, just to have
people focused on the one thing. It's really it's really
quite something I think.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Yeah, I do too, And it's clear those are probably
many of the reasons why you return to the stage
for the first time in like fifteen years, Is that right?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:51):
I think so.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I think it was around about fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah, yeah, So I guess the next move is New
York City and Broadway. We're ready for you, man. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Well, I was lucky that the show, the show I
did was a big hit in the West End, and
it was the West End production that we did, so
which I think they were talking about going to New
York with it, but not not with me, but I
think there was talk. But yeah, I mean, it's a
big The only thing about theater is it's a big commitment.
You know, it's a lot of work. It's great, but
(33:21):
it's a lot. It's a lot of work in a
different in a different kind of way. I had always
thought that maybe I wouldn't go back to do another
play because all I remembered really was I remember loving it,
but I just remembered how nervous I used to get
every night before I went on stage. And that's terrifying,
just in case you try on stage and you forget
your lines. I was always, for the last number of years,
(33:43):
have just been terrified about that. And I actually spoke.
I remember speaking to Robert Carlisle on the set of
Once Upon a Time about it, because he had a
theater company in Scotland, you know, and I'm just saying,
I don't know, Bobby, if I could go on stage again,
I think I'll just be too scared. But I did,
and luckily, luckily it was okay.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I'm a man of many talents. Like I said earlier,
you also sing song, right.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Yeah, I'm in my guitar room at the minute, so
I don't know many. I think I've got twelve guitars
up in the wall here, maybe even more so. Yeah,
I was in a band for years and years and years. Actually,
when I was working as a sort of jobbing actor,
I was really making money playing in a band, gigging
four or five nights a week. So yeah, I'm not
(34:35):
playing as well. I played the guitar a lot and
piano and stuff, but I'm not really writing a huge
amount of stuff. But it's nice. I just love music
is such a massive part of my life.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
It's something for you, right.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, I don't think I do a music I don't
think if that's if that was gonna be your next question,
would do musical? I don't think. I don't quite think
I have the voice for a musical, but who knows.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Actually, no, funny enough, I wasn't gonna ask that. I
was gonna ask if you're ever going to drop a single?
These days, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
I keep getting asked up by people and.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
I tell you people want it, man.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Yeah, well maybe I will. My kids are getting a
little bit older, so maybe i'd have time. I definitely
wouldn't have had time before. And you know, I've been
lucky that a part obviously during COVID and stuff like that.
But you know, I've been lucky to be pretty busy.
So yeah, maybe I will. Maybe we'll. You'd have to
promote it for me.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
If I do done done coming to New York, We'll
have you on the show in person. It'll be great.
It'll be great. Yeah, Colin, I don't know much about this,
so I don't know how much you can talk about this.
But when people found out you were coming on the show,
I got a million questions about the Gray House. Okay, yeah,
and a lot of people are wanting to know what's
going on. Are there any updates? What can you tell
(35:49):
us because there seems to be a lot of excitement
about it.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah, I don't know, is my answer. I know that
they had a Castle Cruise screening in September in la
I was over here. I wasn't able to go, and
then I don't know. I'm sure they'll come out pretty soon.
I think it's all finished. The scripts were incredible. It's
an amazing story. My character kind of is in and
(36:13):
out quite a bit, and it's based on a true story.
But I don't think. I don't think I'm able to
tell exactly what it's about just at the minute. I
don't know, is the thing. I haven't been told what
I can and can't say. But it should come out
pretty soon. I would think. Kevin Costro and Morgan Freeman
produced it. And it's obviously it's a Civil war story.
(36:37):
So yeah, so hopefully it'll be Hopefully it'll be out
pretty soon. All right, Well, it was great. I got
to ride horses and jump up and off them and
do things and stuff. That was good.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Well, we look forward to that. I also look forward
to you one day, maybe playing James Bond. I heard
that might be of interest.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
I mean, I'd like to play James Bond, and I
think I've got a feel and I'm too old, now
is the problem.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Never say no, Never say never. We're putting it out there, man.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, if you can make that happen, that'll be good.
But yeah, I suspect I'm too old.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
All right, Well we'll see you. Never know, Never say never, Colin.
As we wrap up the name of the show, as
I've never said this before, and I created the show
because I wanted to have real conversations with fan favorite artists,
and a lot of what we talked about today allowed
us to get to know you a little bit more
aside from the characters that you play, which to me
(37:26):
is such a rewarding conversation. I so much more enjoy
that than when I'm on a red carpet for three
minutes with somebody, or maybe or a minute and a
half with somebody you're you know, you know how that
those go. They're so quick and there's not substance there.
So this is why this show was born, and the
name of the show was born from that too. So
I'm wondering, is there anything else today that you've never
(37:48):
shared before that you want to say?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
I was thinking about this, you know, there was a
couple of things. I could go either way. It doesn't
have to be very serious or cand of just be
kind of lighthearted, whatever you want, because I'm pretty I
think even though I'm quite and stuff, and I think
I'm pretty open with people about you know, being shy,
and you know, I've talked before, but being bullied as
a kid, and that was a massive impact on me,
(38:14):
but you know, I think I was. I was thinking
about it. What would I say? And my son is
doing his school play Christmas play soon, and he's playing
one of the Beatles in it, so he's playing Paul McCartney.
And he found out recently for my mum that Paul
(38:36):
McCartney is my second cousin. So that's something I've never
said before. My second cousin once removed, so his his
his mother was my grandmother's first cousin. And we never
knew that. None of us ever knew that. So that's
something I've never said before.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
How did you how did you connect that?
Speaker 2 (38:59):
So? Well, we found out my grandmother was invited to
he got married, his previous marriage. He got married in
Ireland and tracked down from what I can gather, track
down family, you know, sort of closer family, and she
got an invitation to the wedding. No, she didn't tell
anybody until afterwards. And my grandmother, who's passed away since,
(39:21):
didn't go. Said no, she was a far you know,
they had a farm and stuff like that, and she
listened to Irish country music and had no interest in
the Beatles whatsoever. And yeah, it didn't go and then
told told us afterwards, told the family afterwards that she
had been invited and turned out that we were late.
(39:43):
But the interesting thing about it all is my mother
was born in Liverpool. My mother and her sister, who's
just younger than her, was more but they were the
two eldest. And it turns out that they were born
on a street that's only ten minutes walk from where
Paul McCartney grew up. So these two cousins live ten
minutes away but didn't know each other really, But that's
(40:05):
that was back in whenever Whenever it was so it
wasn't like today where you sort of have a track
and everybody. But yeah, so it's kind of lighthearted and
something a bit of fun. I've never met Paul McCartney
and I probably never will, but yeah, we're related to
our family are related to them, so that's my thing.
I've never told anyone before.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
That's so cool. I feel like you have to reach out.
I mean, come on, he.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Would have no interest in responding to anything from me.
I'm pretty certain. I'm pretty certain Paul McCartney's too busy
to want to say all oad Captain Hook.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Clearly music runs in the family, so you know what,
now this all makes sense.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Yeah, so my son was delighted because he was playing
Paul McCartney thing my mom told him last week. He
was like he couldn't get over it. So but yeah,
that's my thing. I was kind of going to go
down a deeper route, but then I thought, nah, keep alike.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
So well that's such a tease. Now now now I
feel like I want the other one too.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
No, no, no, I mean like it's it's like I said,
I've been you know, when I do interviews it so
I'm pretty open. But you know, I don't really you know,
I don't really shy away from talking about being a
kid and being bullying and how that affected me, and
how that was went into sort of the idea of
becoming an actor and pretending to be somebody else, you know,
(41:28):
because I didn't particularly like who I was, But there
was nothing I've realized now since there was nothing wrong
with that person. There's nothing wrong with the person I
was or who who I am. It's just I felt
from the way that other people had treated me that
there was but that was never on me. That was
on them, you know, And I think, you know, I've
(41:51):
talked quite a bit, and I've done some stuff for
bullying charities and stuff like that, and I've talked about
it a little bit that you know, oftentimes people are
attacking you because of a deep insecurity and them that
they want to make it about you, and it's not
really anything to do with you. You're just the target.
(42:11):
And it's hard to realize that, and it's hard to
appreciate that until you spend some time reflecting it and go, well,
there's never anything wrong with me. I was a good person.
There's nothing wrong with me. So, you know, stuff like
that I think is important. But I've talked about it before,
so that's why I sort of said I'll keep it light.
But it's just an interesting thing, you know that people
(42:33):
don't realize. I don't think when they're bullying somebody or
treating somebody a certain way, people don't well, some people
probably don't care, but people don't realize the impact. Like
I'm forty three and I still have deep insecurities from
stuff that happened when I was ten or eleven, you know,
(42:55):
and so people don't realize the impact that can have
on somebody for the rest of their life because they're
lashing out because of something that's going on with them
at home or whatever it is. But you know, I
always think it's so important to especially nowadays with you know,
social media and people so disengaged from engaging with people.
(43:20):
I think it's it's important for people to sort of
it's just be nice. Just treat people nicely. You know,
say thank you, somebody holds the door open for you,
say please when you're ordering something at a restaurant. Stuff
like that I think is so important, and I feel
we are losing that a little bit because everybody has
(43:42):
such an expectation of wanting to be treated like a superstar,
no matter what it is. And you know, I think
that you have to I think that you should have
to work hard to to be to be respected, but
I think you also need to be respectful of people
to get respect. Does that make sense, Yeah, it does,
(44:02):
it does.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
I think that's right on the money. And it's a
reminder that is good to put out there. Man. I
think you're you're right on with that, and it's a
it's a good thing to remind people that kindness and
manners are things that are not antiquated. It's it's we
still need it today.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
You know yeah, yeah, I mean it's one thing that
drives me absolutely ballistic. It's just a little thing is
when you hold the door open and people just walk
past you. Mm hmm, Like I don't have to hold
the door open for you, but please thank you would
be nice.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
You know, well, Colin, when you come to New York,
I will hold the door open for you, and I
expect to thank.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
You good good when we're promoting my album There.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
We Go, There we Go. This was awesome. I I
really really enjoyed this conversation. Like I said earlier, I
had so much fun diving into the work that people love,
but also just getting to hear more about your story
and learn more about Colin and the man behind the
characters that people love so much. And I think as
an intro you did pretty well. How do you feel
you had a good time.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
I think my cheeks have gone right because I feel
really embarrassed. But yeah, I think I think I've had
a good time. It's been good. Thank you so much
for having me well, thank.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
You for hanging out. I am. I am a fan
of your work. I look forward to cheering you on.
I look forward to the album dropping. The Broadway show
coming and whatever else you have up your sleeve.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Thank you very much, all right, man, be well, thanks Tommy.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
I've Never Said This Before is hosted by Me, Tommy Didario.
This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Piglisi at iHeartRadio
and by me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more rate review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
(45:48):
tell your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy de Dario
Speaker 2 (46:00):
M
Host
Tommy DiDario
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