Fair City star Ryan Andrews has said he was told to ‘get a real job’ when he first joined Fair City.
The actor has been in the hit RTE soap since he was 16 after the Dubliner left school and decided not to do his Leaving Certificate.
And while the risky move has paid off, Ryan – who plays Sean Cassidy – said on his first day when he joined the show, he was told by older actors to ‘get a real job’.
He told us: ‘I’m in Fair City about 17 years. I’m in it more than half my life now at this stage. I was 16 when I joined.
‘With Fair City, why I actually love it is because I love acting, there was a time there where I took a break from it to do other work and then at the end of the day sometimes you’re waiting on that call and you’re waiting and waiting and you go for the audition and you don’t get it.
‘Then you’re constantly waiting and then you get it and sometimes filming might only last a week but Fair City is as constant as acting can be in Ireland.
‘It is the most stable acting job in Ireland, which I absolutely love and it is one of my favourite things to do.
‘I’ve grown up with the cast and the crew. I basically interweave through Carrigstown because I don’t have a main storyline.
‘But what is great about that is I get to be included in so many other storylines.’
But the father-of-one said that while being in Fair City provides stability, he also runs other businesses.
‘Fair City is a huge part of my life but having the stage school, having the Olympia panto, the adult panto, I’ve also a corporate entertainment company that I provide logistics and entertainment for.
‘We have drama and stage schools. So having as much source of income as possible because when I knew at 16, a lot of the older actors told me to “get a real job”.
‘I left school after my Junior Cert. I was filming The Clinic and I was offered Fair City. I was so busy 1st, 2nd and third year. I was in the real world and I loved it.
‘From making money to learning about tax and accounts. Then there’s adults speaking to me properly and then you’d go back to school and there was a teacher who wouldn’t even know your name.
‘I was called Andrew for ages so the mentality of secondary school was really difficult because I didn’t care.’
Ryan added that his mam and dad ‘were supportive’, adding: ‘I never looked back.’
