Cork actor: ‘Living in a pub helped me land a role in EastEnders’

Actor Aidan O’Callaghan is currently enjoying great success, and was involved in a significant storyline as a character in the UK soap Eastenders - but acting wasn’t something the Bandon man even intended to do professionally.

“There were no actors in my family or my immediate circle. The only actors I knew of were Cillian Murphy and Graham Norton,” said Aidan.

“I was involved with the Cork Academy of Dramatic Art just for fun while I was in school. I really loved it, but I never considered doing it professionally.”

From such modest beginnings and ambitions, Aidan has made it big in the industry, landing roles in both EastEnders and another hit UK soap, Emmerdale.

His big break came unexpectedly, in a 2015 movie, when he got a last-minute phone call.

“I got a call to say someone has dropped out of Clash Of The Dead, a zombie film, and could I come in quickly to replace them?

“I loved every second of it, and I knew then that this was definitely what I wanted to do, so I kept going to acting classes and doing as much networking as I could.

There are so many doors to knock down in London, but some day, someone will give you an opportunity, and then the rest is history.

“It’s been hard graft, but it’s great to see it paying off.”

The pay-off has been significant. O’Callaghan had a role in Emmerdale before starring in EastEnders, in a major storyline involving one of the show’s long-running characters, Ben Mitchell.

“I had a conversation with my agent and said I would love to get a dramatic storyline in Eastenders,” recalled Aidan.

“I wanted to come in for a period, cause some drama, and then have that come to a dramatic end.

“And then I got the part involving the main family in the show, the Mitchell family. It was amazing.”

O’Callaghan joined the soap in 2022 playing Lewis Butler, a barman who assaults Ben Mitchell, leaving both characters to deal with the fall-out. He nominated for Villain of the Year for his performance.

The actor says it was a challenging but rewarding role.

“It was tough because it was a very heavy storyline. I did a lot of research, and I had to meet with a lot of survivors. That was really heartbreaking at times, but it was also rewarding in the sense that you are involved in this huge storyline that starts conversations, which is important.” Aidan says it was also rewarding professionally, as appearing on the show has helped open doors for the actor.

He recently appeared in the hit Netflix show The Witcher: Blood Origin alongside Michelle Yeoh and Lenny Henry, and says the pace of work was very different to working on EastEnders.

“When you do a soap, you can be doing multiple scenes per day; the script is often changing, and you might get one or two takes if you are lucky,” he said.

“Working on the bigger projects like The Witcher there’s much more preparation. Weeks in advance, you will work with the prosthetic team or the stunts co-ordinator.

“It’s a much higher scale, but you may not have as much collaboration sometimes because so many people are involved.

“But the audience is much bigger, the response is much bigger, and the sets are so much more fun as well - the scale of the sets is incredible.”

O’Callaghan is much in demand, and recently finished shooting The Reckoning Of Erin Morrigan, a film about a former IRA operative who faces the ghosts of her past in a final reckoning.

The film stars Olwen Fouéré, and O’Callaghan says he was in awe of her each day.

Veteran actress Fouéré, 70, from Galway, has appeared in Derry Girls, The Crown, and most recently, in the second series of The Tourist on BBC1 earlier this year, alongside Jamie Dornan.

“I love her work and was so excited to work with Olwen,” said Aidan. “The film is coming out next year and I am really excited for people to see it.”

O’Callaghan’s route to acting was a little unorthodox. He studied pharmacy, and not only did he work as a pharmacist before becoming an actor, but he still does between acting jobs.

“I never actually wanted to be a pharmacist, but I put it on my CEO form, and it was the course I got,” explained Aidan.

“As it happens, I really like it. It is quite flexible. I work as a locum between acting jobs. You get to meet so many people when you are working in hospitals and pharmacies.

“I think that adds a layer to being an actor; there is a lot of observing involved and dealing with people when they are vulnerable.”

Aidan, who has worked in the pharmacy in Cork South Infirmary and several other Cork pharmacies, does most of his pharmacy work in London, where he is based for acting jobs, but says he still works in Irish pharmacies when he has the opportunity.

He also says that, although London is his main base, he comes home to Cork as often as possible.

“When I am not working, I am home every second weekend. It all depends on filming schedules.”

O’Callaghan’s parents own Auntie’s Bar in Tower, which he says helped him land the coveted part in Eastenders.

“My character was a barman, so part of the audition and screen test was working behind a bar and actually knowing what to do, rather than pretending, really helped me get the part, so I have to thank my parents for that one.”

O’Callaghan can also be seen in A Simple Killing, a short film written by Mark Conway and directed by Jason Branagan. It recently won Best Short Film at the Waterford International Film Festival.

“I met the director on EastEnders, and he offered me the role, so the show really has opened doors for me,” said Aidan.

“I am excited to see where I go next. I have a manager in the U.S, so if Los Angeles calls, I will happily follow the work - but I would be just as happy to shoot something at home in Cork.”