Aisling O'Neill, who plays Carol Foley in Fair City, talks to Julie Lordan about her love of the role, her home place in Gorey, and why family and why getting her work-life balance right matters most to her.
Gorey in Co Wexford is home to Aisling O’Neill and even though her work is mainly in Dublin, thus necessitating early starts, she can’t see herself living anywhere else.
"Who knows what the future holds, but I'm very attached to Wexford. It's my home and I've raised my son here. Gorey is a good town. We have a good sense of community; good schools and good amenities and good people and of course, the beaches. I'm a real one for the beach and sea swimming. Wexford has just got everything, including the woods, which are great because I’m really into horse riding," says Aisling enthusiastically. It sounds pretty good. "I think when you have kids, it's very hard if you did want to move because they're so attached to friends and have their own lives in the community," she explains.
Like most teenagers, Aisling’s 15-year-old son, Christopher, is not sure what he wants to do in terms of career. His grandfather, Chris O’Neill, was a successful stage, film and TV actor (he played Michael Riordan in The Riordans) and Aisling has been in Fair City, as well as doing other work in-between, since Christopher was born. So, it might seem natural to him to follow into the 'family business’.
"Well, I have no doubt that he's probably got a talent for it, but he doesn't express any interest and I'm perfectly alright with that. I think people should do what they want to do, but he's so young that you just don't know if that might be a turn he might take in the years to come. That's not what he's expressing at the moment," says Aisling. "To be honest, I think you have to have a real passion for acting if you're going to get into it."
Aisling’s passion for acting has certainly paid off. Apart from her leading and long-standing role in Fair City, she has just completed filming a BBC drama, The Woman in the Wall, created by Joe Murtagh. It was shot last autumn and will be on our screens in October. "It’s a six-part drama and stars Ruth Wilson (The Affair, Mrs Wilson, Luther).
"That was very exciting," says Aisling. "I went to Belfast to do that and got to spend time up there. I had a few scenes with Ruth and really enjoyed it. It was something different. I had to go in the other day and do some additional dialogue recording, so I got to see a snippet of it. Seeing that, I got excited about it again," says Aisling. "It’s about the Magdalene Laundries but all I can say is that it is going to be very different.
"I also did a film called Whistling Past The Graveyard. That was produced and directed by Colm Sexton. It’s a short film and it's been considered for RTÉs Screen Scene next year, and he will be putting it forward for the Dublin Film Festival, so fingers crossed, but it’s really interesting to see how that will be received."
Stage work is also a passion for Aisling, but last year, she decided to take stock of what she wanted to prioritise in her life, how much time she wanted to spend on each activity and what was most important to her.
"With Covid and everything in the last few years, I made a conscious decision that I was going to just leave theatre work for a few years. I last worked in The Chastity in the Gaiety in 2018 and after I did that, I had a long think about what I was doing. Christopher is in those years that I need, and want, to be here for him. And it's just too much to be doing both Fair City and then maybe working at night. So, I'm happy with that choice, for the moment," she says.
"You know, it's all about life/work balance, isn't it? You cannot do everything. I remember sitting there one day going ‘What am I trying for? Who am I proving this to?’ So I just decided to not put that pressure on myself. And I’m very happy with TV work right now. The exception to that is sometimes I do things for Garrett Keogh in the Gap Arts Festival, because it's just outside Gorey, and I enjoy that and it's local."
But it is as Carol Foley in Fair City that Aisling is best known to the public. Since she arrived in Carrigstown 24 years ago, Carol never seems to have had a dull moment, especially in the romance stakes. "Years ago, I think she used to go after bad guys, but she was just looking for a home because she had a very unsteady background growing up. Often, people that make choices like that, they’re maybe damaged," says Aisling, "but Carol is such a fighter. She's come through. She's a successful businesswoman and she found true love with Robbie (played by the late Karl Shiels), and he wasn't a bad guy, so that was good," says Aisling.
Her latest relationship, with Con Rafferty (Liam Carney) was not good for Carol. But that’s over now; she wasn’t going to take any of his crap, and this shows how Carol is no longer looking for love at any cost.
"Yeah, she's finished with him and he's gone off with Sharon Collins (Neili Conroy). She made a mistake there alright, but also in the past she has been unlucky. But I love that she's a real trier. Even with Robbie, when the sadness came, Carol gets up again, dusts herself off and says ‘OK, well, I'll give it a go,’ but unfortunately, she gave it a go with Rafferty, who was a rat," laughs Aisling.
Carol is no pushover, and you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her, but Aisling is clear about the differences between herself and her character. "Well, in some ways, we are alike. I think I am a very gentle person and am sensitive but I'm strong and when I have to be, I'll stand up for myself and I think we all have a bit of Carol in us, or at least we should!"
Now Carol is set to become even more of a successful businesswoman as she is hoping to buy McCoy’s pub. "To be honest, I actually don't know what's gonna happen with that story. I don't know whether she gets the pub or not, but she's fighting for it, which I like. I like the storyline. I've had some lovely scenes with Joe Hanley (Hughie), who is a fabulous actor. There has been some great writing about what McCoy’s means to the community. So much human life has passed through the doors for generations now, and that's why Carol wants to save McCoy’s, because her son, Lorcan, was taken in by Kay McCoy and Malachy all those years ago. They turned his life around," says Aisling.
Indeed, Carol first arrived in Carrigstown to look for Lorcan, so the story means a lot to Aisling. "I think it's great when you are a long-time character; there's a history and people will understand you. Sometimes you forget the history because you're so tied up in their current storyline. Carol doesn't want McCoy’s for monetary reasons. Time means something to her and all that. I like playing that because then you realise how far you have come," says Aisling.
It was perhaps inevitable that acting would have been a career choice for Aisling when growing up. Not only was her dad in the business, but so was her uncle, Vincent O’Neill. "It's been very much part of our family. Vincent was a teacher in New York, with the Irish Classical Theatre company, which was started by Vincent and my dad. And then here in Dublin, Dad had the Oscar theatre in Sandymount, so it was always there, and part of what I grew up with, I guess," explains Aisling.
"But there is something I would like to say about my mother, Eleanor. She wasn’t in the business; she's a teacher here in Dublin, but was and is a huge influence on me," says Aisling. "She grew up in Dalkey and was very close to the Cusacks, and Sinead and Sorcha were her pals. So, my mother was very interested in that side of life and then ended up marrying an actor. So, my love of acting came from both sides," she says.
Aisling wants to make the last word about Carol and Fair City. "Well, I'm very happy with it and proud of Fair City. It's been an exciting journey and an interesting one and there's so much potential for my character. If you're involved in a drama and you've developed a personality and a character, then it can just keep going and have great storylines," says Aisling.
"I was very lucky with that character because she's so layered and I get to play every emotion. Carol is complicated, vulnerable, strong, feisty and sensitive. I was just blessed to be given that character."
As are her many fans.
