Interviews Feature
Esther Di Maggio Interview
Friday 29 August 2008
Sarah McIntyre: Could you tell us about your journey from college in the US to starring in 'Aisling's Diary' on RTÉ Two?
Esther Di Maggio: I minored in theatre in college back in the States and I did a bunch of shows there: '1984', 'Our Town', 'Bash', 'As 'You Like It', stuff like that. And then, after I graduated from college, I came to Dublin to go to the Gaiety School of Acting. I was there for two years doing stuff. At the end of June I just finished doing 'God's Lap', which was our graduation play.
Click here to see photos from the set of 'Aisling's Diary'.
SM: So how did you get involved with 'Aisling's Diary'?
ED: Well, the casting director was at our graduation showcase and she called a couple of my friends to come into audition. I didn't initially get called in for an audition, but luckily a great friend of mine read the character description and was like 'Esther this sounds a lot like you, she's been living in America, she's got an American accent, she's really into dance.' So, I sent my stuff into the casting director and she got in contact with me and told me to come along to the audition. So I was really lucky that it all worked out!
SM: Could you tell me a bit about Aisling and what we should expect from the show?
ED: I think she's meant to be quite bold, she has a very confident personality but I think she's very shy when she comes here. I think she thinks that moving here is going to be great and easy and she'll fit right in and then realises that it's so much different than she thought it was going to be. So the environment squashes her confidence a bit. It takes her a while to find her feet. I don't want to ruin the ending, but she's got guts to do what she does at the end! I don't think that I could have done that when I was 16. Kudos to her.
SM: Do you think you are similar Aisling?
ED: I do, well, five years ago! I was reading through the script, and thought 'This is silly: why is she so worried about this stuff? There is a really simple solution'. And then you realise that when you were 16 it was a really big deal as well. So I tried to put myself back to when I was 16, and yeah, I do see a lot of similarities. Of course I never did Irish step dancing, but I get a lot of the struggles about moving to Dublin. I went through that a lot older than Aisling did but a lot of the stuff she struggles with I struggles with when I first moved here as well.
SM: Have you had to learn Irish dancing for the role?
ED: Yeah, it's been insane! We had one week to learn it.Once we started filming I've been in every day so there's been no time to learn. We had one week to learn the hip-hop routines and the step dancing. We learned pretty quickly that I wasn't going to get the Irish step dancing in time. I learned enough to pull off a lot of the shots, but another girl is dancing for me for the feet bits. So when I look amazing that wasn't learned in a week - that's someone else!
SM: This is going to be your screen debut. Are you excited about it?
ED: Yes, very. I wasn't really prepared for something like this to happen to soon after school. I've only ever done theatre, so this is my first time working with a proper crew who know what they're doing!
SM: Do you think you'd like to pursue a career in TV acting after this?
ED: Yeah, definitely. I think a lot of actors are either stage actors or screen actors. My Dad and my brother are both actors and I think they're both brilliant onstage; they have great stage presence. For some reason I've always had a more naturalistic acting style, so everyone said I'd better get into film, good luck to me! But, hopefully this will be the start of a good career.
SM: Do you envisage staying in Ireland longer after the programme ends?
ED: I want to stay in Ireland as long as I can do work here. Obviously, I have a lot of friends here and my boyfriend lives here so.
SM: Is he Irish?
ED: Yes he's Irish. He was at the Gaiety School of Acting, he graduated the year before I did. So I met him when I came over here. That was a perk!
SM: Do you think the show will send out a good message to teenagers?
ED: I hope so. The overall message is good, you have to do what you want. And even if that means hurting other people, at the end of the day you're the person that you answer to and if you're not making yourself happy you're not really doing what you should be doing!
Watch interviews with the stars and makers of 'Aisling's Diary'.
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