‘Soap fans think I’m criminal in real life’

ACTOR Stephen O’leary said he gets mistaken for his Fair City character Zak Dillon in public – and some people think he’s a criminal in real life.

The 29-year-old has played the shady character on the RTE soap for two years – and is central to an upcoming kidnap plot with a twist.

Desperate to pay off an investor, Zak and James Rafferty hatch a plan to kidnap Sharon Collins, but things go horribly wrong for the cash-strapped duo.

Cork native Stephen told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “With the purchase of Mccoy’s [pub], Zak is thinking he can go on the straight and narrow.

“James Rafferty [is] out of pocket too, Hayley has moved away and he wants to start up again and be independent.”

Asked if he gets recognised in public Stephen revealed: “When you meet people on the street, people find it hard to gauge real life and what they see on telly.

“You have to remind people I’m not like that in real life, I’m not a criminal.”

He said he enjoys the challenge of playing a complex character like Zak, who is not a bad person but just got led astray at a vulnerable age.

He said: “He got friendly with a character called Vinny, who was working for Ritchie Lennon, who was the leader of this Dublin gang who was dealing.

“Unbeknownst to him he got roped into it because of Vinny and did a couple of deals.

“All of a sudden he was stuck, where he was threatened by certain things if he didn’t keep doing it.

“People are still rooting for Zak to get out of that world. I think Zak feels he has nothing going for him.”

The upcoming storyline sees the kidnap attempt go horribly wrong when Zak hires career criminal Bo to help him out.

Stephen revealed: “It all spirals out of control and it gets dark. We quickly find out that Bo is violent.

“It is shocking because I don’t know if people would expect Zak and James to go that far.

“In the weeks after the kidnapping there will be a lot of consequences if they don’t play their cards right.”