Ollie West does not recall all the details of his first acting gig, age 12, as Shakespeare’s son in Dead Centre’s production of Hamnet, which toured Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and the US.
“I can’t remember everything about it, but the love of acting sparked from there,” says West, who does recall a moment of stage fright at Berlin’s Schaubühne — understandable because the role had him on stage for nearly an hour by himself. “I had to block it out of my brain to do it. If I started thinking about it too much, I probably would have never done it.”
His parents are Annie Ryan and Michael West, the director and writer pair behind Dublin’s Corn Exchange — “I was surrounded by actors my whole life” — but he is completely self-taught, so far. “The best lessons are experience,” says West, who remains open to more formal training in the future, “for other insights”.
West’s on-screen debut came in Michael Kinirons’ The Sparrow — the first day of shooting was his 17th birthday — playing a lonely teenager dealing with the aftermath of a terrible accident.
“It was so fun it didn’t feel like a job at all,” admits West, who turned 21 in May. “Our location in West Cork was so beautiful.” The role earned him an IFTA award for best actor.
Next, he appeared opposite Rebecca Hall in The Listeners for director Janicza Bravo, Element Pictures and the BBC.
Lately, West has taken smaller acting jobs (he appeared with Liam Cunningham in the music video for Christy Moore’s ‘Boy In The Wild’) and staying busy with his indie band Pants On Fire.
In addition to working on his songs, West is also writing a comic book, which he would like to see animated one day.
“It’s handy to have these other passions,” he says, “because you’re going to need life experience for any sort of art.”
West admires the work of directors Taika Waititi and Wes Anderson, and would love to keep expanding his own range. “Everything I’ve been in has been pretty serious,” he reflects, “so I would love to try comedy.”
Contact: Susannah Norris
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