Rising Star From Theatre Magazine, Jan-Feb 1998

 

In the green room at the Royal National Theatre, Eoin (pronounced Owen) McCarthy is reflecting on his five month stint in David Hare's play Amy's View, which transfers to the Aldwych on January 5. "It's always been my dream to work here but to be honest, it's amazing how blasι you become about dreams once they are fulfilled." At 35, McCarthy is perhaps a little mature to be labelled a Bright Young Thing, yet that is most emphatically what he is. He has the height and dishevelled good looks for which Britain has an insatiable appetite, judging by the success of Sean Bean, Ewan McGregor, Rufus Sewell et al. You know your star is in the ascendant when GQ magazine offers you a modelling assignment and the author of the BBC drama The Healer, writes a piece with you in mind. A graduate of North London's notoriously exacting Drama Centre, McCarthy came to acting late, having spent time in the merchant navy and trying numerous professions in New York, Paris and in his native Dublin. "At 25 I had an early menopause," he says, laughing. "I looked at my friends and realized that most of them were creative – actors, writers or musicians like the Hothouse Flowers. I wanted to pursue something creative myself so came to London and worked for a graphics company before finally applying to drama school. "Being 27, I considered taking a one-year postgrad course but decided that I needed more than that. I actually wanted to be steeped in acting. I chose the Drama Centre because I needed a tough regime that would completely take me over so that, if I didn't find work afterwards, I would still feel compelled to carry on. The wonderful thing is that my friends now say I'm exactly how I was when I was 16 or 17 but that, in my twenties, I wasn't quite me. I certainly remember feeling somewhat alienated at that time." Turning professional at 30, Eoin was surprised by the relative ease with which he could earn a living from minor film roles and two years as Derek Jacobi's sidekick in TV's Cadfael. "My one and only ambition initially was to make a living out of acting – to not have to do anything else. I'm really not that interested in public acclaim. If I have any icons whose careers I would like to follow, they would be Bill Paterson or Ken Stott in this country, and Jeff Bridges in the States. He's a huge star yet seems to just do his job and walk away." Eoin has similar admiration for his costars in Amy's View – Judi Dench, Samantha Bond and Ronald Pickup. "Stars like that are incredibly great. They wouldn't be where they are today if they weren't – and that encompasses all facets of their personalities. They haven't become highly regarded for being arseholes. When they have reached reached that level, actors are generally decent people and don't carry baggage. And that's one thing I'd say about Dame Judi Dench – she does not carry baggage, and that's a wonderful thing to see and work with." Amy's View is Hare's representation of the battle between the worthiness of serious theatre and the philistinism of populist mass media. Amy (Samantha Bond) is the latest of his virtuous heroines and her view, broadly speaking, is that love conquers all. She marries Dominic Tyghe (McCarthy), an ambitious and trendy film journalist and director who clashes sharply with her mother Esme (Dench), a veteran stage star who embraces Dench's own uncomplicated brand of professional integrity while falling rather short of her in personal humility. McCarthy's role is arguably a thankless one as there is never any doubt where Hare's sympathy lies. "It's my job to justify Dominic. He's a very successful character and, as I've said, you don't get to be successful without having some redeeming features. The major weakness for me, is that the audience has to rely on what Amy says about Dominic's good side, as it's never actually seen on stage. Hopefully, though, that will be rectified when we go into the West End because David is going to write some new stuff for me in order to make Dominic more human. My own theory is that Esme is the kind of person who brings out the absolute worst in people, and I can relate to some of the things Dominic goes through. For example, I myself have a mother-in-law who comes from an incredibly bohemian background and initially thought that maybe I wasn't good enough for her daughter. "The reality of the situation is – forget the play and forget the acting – you're talking about an audience coming to see Dame Judi Dench and no matter what she does, they are going to be on her side because she has that charisma – she's a star. I'm just along for the ride. I'm just very glad that I have that amount of time to spar with her." McCarthy's newfound status is clearly still something of a novelty, and he expresses bewilderment that, at his agent's insistence, his name will appear above the title when Amy's View arrives in the West End. It is unlikely to last, but such modesty only adds to his charm. "I've had lots of jobs in my time but acting is the best," he says with delight. "I've worked with some really great people and I wouldn't like that to go away. That's mainly what it's about for me – to steal left, right and centre from the likes of Judi Dench and Ronnie Pickup. How else am I going to learn? My philosophy is, watch the best and rob like f**k!"

Return to Theatre page