Nyree Yergainharsian and Rebecca Grimes, Melanie and Hayley in Fair City, talk to Julie Lordan about weddings, acting, family and why their close friendship is so important to them.
Nyree Yergainharsian and Rebecca Grimes are not only great friends but both are reaching similar milestones in their lives. Nyree got married last year in Spain and Rebecca was the celebrant at the wedding ceremony and now, Rebecca has an exclusive announcement:
"What we haven't told anybody – I haven't spoken about this at all on social media – is that I'm getting married this year and Nyree is going to do my ceremony as well. Like we married each other, you know?" You read it here first folks: Rebecca is going to marry her long-term partner Paul in December, making it a festive celebration.
Rebecca's wedding will also contain a legal element, as did Nyree’s, but by having each other as celebrants, they are assured of a very personal element too, which is priceless.
"My other friend is a chaplain, so she's going to do part of my ceremony as well. At Nyree’s wedding, her sister-in-law also had a role, so it’s shared and all very warm and personal," says Rebecca.
"Myself and Paul will do the legal aspect separately before the big day. But in future, we will celebrate our anniversary on the date of the big ceremony. Although, it would be nice to have a mini celebration every year on that day too," she laughs. Nyree adds, "It's really sort of a little piece of theatre just to mark the ceremony. To have people who can hold the room together and we can give a personal touch to it. You know, a best friend doing this kind of thing for you really made such a great difference to our day, so it only makes sense to do it for hers too," says Nyree.
"I agree," says Rebecca. "I've never particularly been one for weddings. It’s not something that I looked forward to my whole life or anything like that. The exciting part about it is being married to Paul, and then everything else is just a party. We're very laid back about it; like we've very little organised. I have a dress now though, so it'll come together, and zero stress. We want to have a really nice party with all of our friends and family," says Rebecca happily.
Nyree had a sunny September wedding in Spain. Her new husband, Patricio Cassinoni, with whom she has a baby son, is Argentinian. "So, I won’t be taking a double-barrel name," laughs Nyree.
"My own is long enough and besides, I am very proud of my surname." Yergainharsian is from Nyree’s Armenian father, while her first name is a popular one in Armenia. Nyree has a lot of regard for the world’s most famous Armenian family, the Kardashians.
"You have to appreciate the Kardashians," she laughed, "because they pushed Armenia onto the map. They brought Kanye West over and did events to really highlight the country internationally."
While Nyree doesn’t speak fluent Armenian, she has visited many times. "My dad grew up in a few different places, which is a very elaborate story, but I've been to a lot of the Middle Eastern countries that he lived in and would be quite familiar with the culture.
"There's a very small Armenian community in Ireland. I know most of them and there are regular events that I attend. I was born in Ireland, my mam is Irish and I've been raised as an Irish person, but, culturally, Armenia has impacted me growing up," she explains.
"I don't mind talking about my name or background at all because if somebody else had an unusual name or had some kind of mixed background, I would be curious. And now, I have a husband from Argentina, with an Italian sounding name, so between us our names make for interesting conversations. I like to hear of people's backgrounds, their stories and ethnicities," says Nyree.
Rebecca and Nyree’s friendship is central to both their lives. "We've known each other for years and years. The acting community is small and we started off in drama at the same time; we had a lot of mutual friends and we really became close when we both started in Fair City," says Rebecca.
Close enough to get matching tattoos last year: both have a matchstick tattoo, something they did for fun and friendship. "We joke and we call each other our wives; even Nyree’s husband calls me his wife's wife," says Rebecca. Nyree views her tattoo as something that celebrates their friendship.
"We had considered it years ago and thought, well, we're the perfect match, so a matchstick made sense. It was a bit of fun. For me, it’s only my second tattoo. The other one is for my son and I think tattoos can just mean whatever you want. A matchstick might seem like nothing but the fact that I have a matching matchstick with Rebecca means everything," says Nyree.
What is keeping both women busy right now is a play, Eastland, written by Jocelyn Clarke and directed by renowned American theatre director, Anne Bogart. It has a cast of five and tells the true story of the SS Eastland, which capsized in the Chicago River in 1915.
"What's unique about this is it actually capsized while it was docked, with thousands of people watching as 844 people died. But we don't really know about this because the memory hasn't been preserved in the same way as something like the Titanic. So in telling this story, we are also asking the question about how something like this could be forgotten?" says Nyree. "This incredible story, with so much eye-witness testimony, has been ignored in history and drama, so it's about how and why we remember some things and not others," adds Rebecca.
Nyree has known Jocelyn Clarke for years, and he's been talking to her about this project for a long time. "He's very proud of it and he's got a really amazing director in Anne Bogart. We're incredibly lucky to have one of the visionaries in theatre, who has been working for 30 or 40 years, to be involved in this. So, it's thrilling and also a bit nerve-wracking," says Nyree. "The play is like documentary theatre where the cast are telling the story, and then later on, it’s interwoven with survivor stories and witness statements. It will have a short run initially, in the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College, with a view to touring later on," says Nyree.
Both Nyree and Rebecca love the fact that when it is quiet for their characters (Hayley and Melanie) in Fair City, they get time to work on other projects, such as this play.
"It's been a really busy year, you know, which is great, but it's wonderful to be able to do something else and do a little bit of theatre," says Nyree. "I prioritise my work there, but of course there's the theatre itch that always needs to be scratched. If you're an actor from a theatre background, it's just a totally different beast, and it's really good training to have," says Nyree, who has been in Fair City for over seven years.
"Hayley is in the process of trying to sell McCoy’s pub, and like most things in Carrigstown, it never run smoothly," Rebecca laughs. As for Melanie, it's quiet at the moment in the soap. "Melanie’s son, Alex, keeps her on her toes with his antics," says Nyree, "but yeah, it ebbs and flows in terms of storylines for each character."
They love working together. "It's obviously a lot of fun, but I think creatively, we have kind of similar interests and style, and we have our own little ways as well that I think kind of complement each other. Nyree is a great artist and I love working with her and learning," says Rebecca.
For Nyree, acting was always the only ambition. "Yeah, unfortunately for my poor mother and father, who worried about the lack of security. They gave us every opportunity with classes etc., to see what we gravitated towards. I was interested in a lot of things, but everything else fell by the wayside when it came to drama. I would spend hours in youth theatre workshops and I met a lot of people that were like-minded, so when it came to going to college, I got a BA in acting studies," says Nyree. "My college years were the best years of my life. I started a theatre company with others and got to do a lot of shows and tour around the world, so it really was a hugely beneficial thing in my life."
"When I graduated," says Rebecca, "it was three years before I landed a professional gig. I was waitressing and doing other little pieces. So that's why you really have to just enjoy it and make the most of this because you never know what's around the corner. But that’s also part of the charm, that's why we go into it. At least it’s never boring."
The Collective Presents: Eastland, is at the Samuel Beckett Theatre from August 30 to September. 3, with matinee performance, beckett-theatre.ticketsolve.com
