Youghal actor lands dream role in Fair City 

RTÉ’s long-running soap Fair City has introduced a new character set to brew up a storm in Carrigstown: Síofra.

Played by Nancy Collins of Youghal, the role marks a significant step in a journey that took an unconventional route to the screen. While Collins has long aspired to be an actor, her path into the industry has been anything but traditional.

“I started at around four years old in community theatre because my mother was a volunteer with an acting group. We put on shows for our parents every year,” she said.

Collins says some of her earliest memories involve talking about theatre, but when she was young, there were no opportunities to take it seriously.

“As soon as I could speak, I was saying I wanted to be an actor. When I hit my teens, there was nothing for acting where I’m from. I was always asking my parents to send me to classes in Cork, but it was just too far away, too expensive, and ultimately not feasible.”

As secondary school ended, acting seemed further away than ever. “When the time came to decide what I was going to do in college, I felt disconnected from acting.”

Like many young people weighing up creative ambitions against stability, Collins went down the conventional route, and followed the advice of a career guidance counsellor.

“I studied marketing. I understand where the school and my parents were coming from. They wanted me to have security and financial stability, and they didn’t think that would be possible with acting. I did marketing, realised I hated it, and knew I was never going to work in it. I thought I might become a programmer. I was lost, trying my hardest not to be an actor.”

Collins did a Master’s in Interactive Media at UCC, where she studied web development, and went on to work as a data scientist, but acting remained on the side.

“I took some courses throughout college to convince myself I was still somewhat connected to the industry. Then, when I moved to Dublin, I joined Bow Street Academy straight away and started working on short films, feature films, anything I could get my hands on. I was working for free a lot of the time, just trying to build experience. I’ve been working hard to get here.”

Her data science work eventually gave her unexpected space to pursue acting more seriously.

“With data science, I worked in automation and had basically automated my own job, which gave me free time to focus on acting. In December, the bubble burst, and I was made redundant. I found myself asking, ‘What am I going to do now?’ I knew I was never going to get another job that gave me that much freedom again.”

Collins decided to bite the bullet and make a move towards a full-time acting career, inspired in part by an Oscar-nominated actor.

“ Fair City was in the back of my mind. I’d been auditioning for years, constantly trying out for different things. Then I remembered hearing a story about Margot Robbie getting on Neighbours after contacting the casting directors directly. That’s something beginner actors are encouraged to do all the time, sending materials to casting directors in the hope they’ll contact your agent and eventually bring you in for something.”

Following in Robbie’s footsteps, Collins Googled the Irish soap’s casting directors and reached out to them.

“At the same time, I told my agent, ‘Oh, I got this myself,’ and they said, ‘No, we had already put you forward for this role before you emailed them’. It just worked out really well - it all came together at the right time.”

Now, stepping into her role as Síofra on Fair City, Collins describes her character as confident and self-assured. “She’s got a bit of a cool-girl aesthetic, but she definitely likes to be in charge. She came into Fair City and immediately tried to rule the roost.”

The character’s story is still unfolding. “Right now, she’s mainly just making friends, as her storyline is still very much developing. She’s settling into Carrigstown and finding her place there. Everyone is asking me what kind of storyline she will be involved in, but my lips are sealed.”

Looking back, Collins sees value in the non-linear path she took. “I spent a long time wishing my parents had put me into acting properly as a kid, but going to college and having a career meant I had the chance to do my own character development. I know myself really well now.

“I have friends in the industry who’ve been acting since they were teenagers, but at that age, many people aren’t putting their best foot forward. Having those life experiences first has helped me as an actor.”

While many of her friends in the acting profession have left the country, Collins feels connected to Ireland.

“I don’t have the grá for leaving. A lot of my friends have moved away, but I always held back, because I thought there was something here waiting for me. I wanted to focus on my acting and see what I could do and what I could achieve. I always had this strong sense that I had to stay here for something. And now I have Fair City, I know what it was.”