PJ Gallagher is a man of many talents, from actor to comedian to broadcaster and now, being the voice of a 300-pound cartoon gorilla named Joe in the RTÉjr animation No Worries.
The short and sweet story sees the return to school through the eyes of a young boy - also named PJ - who has a lot on his plate. Will he make friends? What if he messes up? So, we decided to ask the real-life PJ a few things about his own school days - they were not always plain sailing.
You can stream No Worries on RTÉ Player now or watch it on RTÉjr YouTube up top.
Let's start at the start. Does he remember his first day at school?
PJ Says: "I have a really vague memory of it, from day one I knew that just sitting in a seat and being told to listen was never gonna work for me and it never has. I also was the only boy in my class because I went to an all-girls school for the first seven years. I remember my first day in an actual boys school too and how I thought everyone there was wild!"
What were your school days like overall?
"School was not a place I enjoyed at all to be honest, I really wasn't suited to it and always looked forward to getting out. It's where I learned to spend my days day dreaming though and even as an adult that's still something I do a lot of. I do remember how much I loved the long summer breaks of course."
Front: Producer Lena Byrne, Cillian Sullivan (PJ) and Emma Doran (PJ's Ma).
As someone who didn't fancy sitting still PJ admits the teachers were not a big fan of him, and the feeling was fairly mutual. Looking back there's the big question...
What would big PJ say to little PJ now?
"I think I'd say don't let the noise in. Things will work out in the end, honestly this isn't nearly as important as they're telling you it is and soon it'll all be just a memory. Thankfully school days don't last very long."
If you want some tips from an expert on how to deal with any worries at back to school time, we have great advice from Dr Colman Noctor who worked on the show - click here.
No Worries is part of the School's Out series and you can see all the animations here!
