Former Home and Away star Sam Atwell, who has been a director on Fair City since 2014, has teased his Christmas cameo on the much-loved RTÉ One soap, saying "it's really fun to be on the other side of the camera."
In the upcoming Christmas Day special, Anto is determined to bring some festive cheer to Carrigstown and erects a Christmas Tree in the park but Hayley is unimpressed as she struggles to deal with her recent break up with DI Yates.
However, it's not long before the family are reunited and celebrating the big day, thanks to the arrival of an Aussie BBQ chef, played by Atwell.
Speaking about his Carrigstown cameo, Atwell said his character ends up bringing the whole community together this Christmas.
"He is an Australian BBQ chef who wears a cowboy hat. The Collins' are doing an unorthodox Christmas and the boys have hired a BBQ chef to cook outside and then he ends up cooking a BBQ for everyone," he laughed.
Atwell, who played troublemaker Kane Phillips on popular Australian drama Home & Away for most of the noughties before going off camera to also write and direct many episodes, said that he's had "good craic" working with both the Summer Bay and Carrigstown cast.
"There's a lot less exposed skin in Carrigstown, especially during Christmas. It was a lot colder and darker," he joked. "But there are a lot of similarities between the two shows in how they are shot and made to work in terms of getting as much done as they do.
"There's good craic among the cast and crew. It's really fun to be on the other side of the camera actually."
Atwell admits he was surprisingly nervous to put on his acting shoes but says "the cast and crew were incredibly supportive".
"Yeah, I was really nervous, especially because I had to sing. I won't mention the song but luckily I was able to work out a way to not make it sound absolutely terrible.
"I was directing the week before and then I had to step on to set after I'd been telling actors what to do, and then I had to go and prove I knew at least something about it," he said.
"Both the cast and crew were incredibly supportive and made me feel really comfortable."
You can catch Sam Atwell's Carrigstown cameo at 8.30pm, December 25, on RTÉ One.
