Joe McGucken is currently on your screens in The Unreal, the spooky family drama from RTÉ Kids. Here he tells us why Halloween is his favourite time of the year. And, he shares a ghostly encounter...
When it comes to the spooky season, Joe says: "I love it. The atmosphere. The smell in the air. The fireworks. It feels like a festival. Even the dark wet nights are a great excuse to sit in, light the fire, eat some trashy food and watch a film with the kids. It's the best. Especially in Ireland. It feels like there’s something in the air. And that’s why Hallowe’en originated here."
Did you dress up as a kid?
"I did dress up. But the costumes weren't that impressive. I remember one year my ma just shoved a rolled-up tea towel down the back of my jumper and that was it. I was the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Other years it was just a black bin bag with holes cut out to put your arms through and you’re a witch. Or an old bedsheet with the eyes cut out and you're Casper. But I still got my treats and that’s all that mattered. And by treats, I mean some monkey nuts and apples.
And do you dress up now?
"Being an actor I have to dress up a lot. But when I'm not getting paid to make a fool of myself, I still do it...begrudgingly. Unfortunately, with two kids it’s the nature of the beast. Most of the time the costumes they want to dress in require more than two characters. So I pull on the silks for them and pray for the day where they don’t need me to make a fool of myself anymore. But I can’t put all the blame on them. The missus enjoys it just as much, so there’s probably no escaping it. Even the poor dog gets it.
*Ghostface voice* Do you like scary movies?!
"Horror is by far my favourite genre. Growing up my older brother had a collection of hundreds of horror videotapes. Chucky was my Bluey. I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every horror film ever made. It’s the genre of film that makes you feel the most emotion out of any other genre. When the Blair Witch Project came out on video, I used to challenge myself to see how long I could watch it alone, upstairs, in the dark before freaking out and turning it off. I’m not sure if I ever made it to the end.
Do you believe in ghosts?
"I do believe in ghosts. And not just because I want to believe in them. But too many unexplainably strange things have happened to me. And I've heard stories from the most sceptical of people who told me, they’ve seen something that can't be explained."
Have you ever seen one?
"I’ve never seen a ghost. But I have heard one. One night, years ago, upstairs in our flat my brother was playing the Sega Mega Drive at the time. I was lying on the bed behind him. Watching him play. Then a voice from outside the window behind me whispered "Jason". My brother's name. He paused the game and looked at me. I looked at him. We shook it off and went back to playing. Then a few minutes later. Again, but this time from inside the room..."Jason".
"He paused the game and looked at me. I looked at him. And as we were looking at each other, a voice spoke right beside our faces and boomed his name for a third time, as clear as day -"JASON". Well, we bolted like bats out of hell. And before anyone tries to rationalize this story, we were 6 stories up on the highest point
You filmed The Unreal in a haunted castle - did you see anything strange?
We filmed The Unreal in Ardgillan Castle. A very old stately home. There were a bunch of weird things that happened while filming there. But the strangest thing for me was one morning, I had an early call time, so I was the first person there and I was waiting in the green room and I heard somebody calling my name. I thought maybe to get into costume or hair and make-up. But when I went looking for the person that called me I couldn't find anyone. There was no one else in the building. Safe to say I waited outside until the rest of the cast and crew arrived.
In real life what are you most scared of?
"This is probably going to sound strange after giving those scary stories, but pigeons. Or any kind of bird for that matter. Anything with wings freak me out. It’s the flapping. I was walking into my bathroom one night and I didn’t see that there was a pigeon perched on the ledge of the door sleeping. So, when I opened the door, it fell onto my head and woke up and start flapping like crazy. I didn’t know what was going on. There was about 30 seconds of chaos before I managed to open a window and get it out. It might have something to do with that. Or maybe getting trapped in a lift. That’s terrifying!"
Tune in to the second episode of Season 2 of The Unreal this Sunday at 5.10pm on RTÉ One and stream all episodes now on RTÉ Player.
