One 2 One

Ciara O'Callaghan made a dramatic return to Carrigstown last year, when her character Yvonne Doyle showed up unannounced at her husband Mike Gleeson's funeral.

Ciara first joined the cast of Fair City 11 years ago, as one of Bela and Rita Doyle's six children.

We  caught up with Ciara during a break in her busy shooting schedule this week, to put viewers' questions to her.

Ciara, do you enjoy playing the part of Yvonne Doyle?

Yes, very much. Yvonne has always had good stories, which is great for an actress. She's a very dramatic character. You never know what's going to happen next, so there's never any danger of getting stuck in a rut!

What would you say are Yvonne's strengths and weaknesses?

Strengths. She's a survivor. She pulled herself together after all she went through in Australia. She genuinely believes her son is in better hands - she wasn't able to cope. And it's a huge thing to have to deal with those demons. She's vulnerable but she's also strong; she gets up and gets on with things.

I think Yvonne is terribly misunderstood. She's very much on the defence, and she can lash out without thinking, but she genuinely doesn't mean to upset people. Things happen to her and she tries to do the right thing to deal with them. She genuinely believes she was ignored as a child. She really wants attention from her father, and now she has come home after her hell in Australia to find that Suzanne is still the favourite. And Helen is still very much in the picture.

Yvonne is a very lonely person. She has no friends now in Carrigstown apart from Rachel, her niece. She loves Rachel and she loves that relationship.

The feedback I get from people about her is generally very positive, especially from women. People admire her strength.

Has Yvonne ever really loved any of her onscreen partners?

Yes, I think she has loved them all. She genuinely loved Mike. She genuinely loved Louie and probably still does. She genuinely loves Connie also.

Yvonne is desperate to love and to be loved - for herself, not for what she does or because she's related to someone. And she wants to be understood, warts and all. The tough exterior is a kind of mask, it's for protection.

What would you like to happen to Yvonne in the future?

I'd like her to continue to get the story lines she has been getting, to keep the character as exciting as she always has been!

Do you see Yvonne and Louie being together in the future?

I think the love is definitely still there. But she also loves Connie. She possibly loves two people at the same time, for completely different reasons.

If Yvonne was to be with another man it would be Louie. He gets her and he puts up with certain things. She and Louie are very similar in many ways; both have children that have been taken from them; both have had drug problems; both of them work hard. And they both want to be loved.

Maybe they'll get back together.
Who knows?

What do you think of Yvonne's look and how different is it to your own style?

My own look is very different from Yvonne's. I'd be a lot more casual.

I think what Stacey Gallagher in Wardrobe has done with Yvonne's look really suits the character. Yvonne is into clothes and how she looks; she's always groomed and she always looks stylish, very feminine - the high heels and short skirts and great hair and make-up. When Yvonne was working in the Hungry Pig I constantly had people coming up to me saying "When is she going to get out of that t-shirt?"

When Yvonne is in public, she wants to show her strength and to show she's in charge. She likes to make an impact. When we see her at home, she's more likely to be barefoot and wearing jeans.

Do you have a favourite story since you started in FC?

I've been very lucky that I've been given great story lines over the years. And I've been delighted to come back after five years to more great story lines.

The current story is probably my favourite to date. Everything has happened to Yvonne; she's had a child taken off her, she has been dealing with drug addiction, breaking up with her partner, and now coming out of the closet! And I love working with Alan, Lisa, Jim, Sarah and Niamh.
[That's Alan Devine who plays Louie; Lisa Harding, Connie; Jim Bartley, Bela; Sarah McDowall, aka Suzanne and Niamh Quirke who plays Rachel- FCW.].

I also enjoyed working on the drug addiction story that we did a few years ago. There was a big responsibility not to treat it lightly and certainly not to glamorize drugs. The writers have tied that story in so well to today's story line, where we see how her relapse on cocaine in Australia has resulted in the loss of her son Stephen, and we're showing the dangers of what cocaine can really do.

Do you still think about Pat Leavy and did she have a big influence on your career?

Pat has had a huge influence on me and on my career. When I was about 10 years old, my parents brought me to see Big Maggie, with Pat Leavy in the title role. I absolutely loved it and the whole way home in the car afterwards I kept saying "I want to do that! I want to play a character like that!" It's funny to think I was only 10 and I wanted to play a part like Big Maggie. That was the influence that Pat Leavy playing that role had on me at the time.

I was very excited when I got to play her granddaughter in Fair City. When I joined the show in 1998, Pat had been playing the role of Hannah Finnegan, Rita Doyle's mother, since 1991. We had so many scenes together. Hannah and Yvonne would fight like cats and dogs, but Hannah was the one who understood Yvonne. Everybody loved Hannah, but you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her!

Among the crew and the cast of Fair City everyone loved Pat. She never took herself too seriously, but she was always on top of her game - she never missed a line. She took me under her wing on day one of rehearsals and we became really good friends. I was working on Fair City when she died suddenly in 2003. It was very sad. I learned so much from her, from her approach, her professionalism. We had similar fire and I miss working with her. She was a great loss to Fair City and to Irish theatre.

What's the best advice you'd give to aspiring actors?

If it's something you really want to do, go for it.
If you want to do it to be famous, stop now.
Practical advice.? I would say get good training and a good agent.

Other than that, you have to be constantly learning. It's very important to do stage work as well as television or film - to be able to adapt to do it all. Learn from watching your peers; how they work, how they approach roles, etc. You really do learn a lot hanging around the studio or theatre.

Be prepared for the insecurity - the highs and the lows. Be prepared to go wherever the work is. Take on challenging and different roles. And when you have a part, make the most of what you have, whether it's one line or a monologue.

It's tough. And you need to be prepared for the fact that you may never make it.
But if it's in your heart, then go for it because you'll never be happy doing anything else.

So, what's next for Yvonne on Fair City?

We wonder if Yvonne's life can possibly get any more complicated. Better watch and find out .!