ACTORBARRYLANDSA NEW‘ VIDEOGAME’ROLE
FROMLARKHILLROAD TO THE HILLS OF HOLLYWOOD, SLIGO ACTOR BARRY O’ROURKE TALKS TO
BARRY O’Rourke is an actor and writer who was originally from Larkhill Road in County Sligo but now resides in the hills of Hollywood.
He was born complete with a silver spoon in his mouth, which he tells me he later had to sell to keep a roof over his head during the lean periods of his career.
Having been involved in Drama societies from an early age: from short pantos at the Féis and through his college life in the Drama Society in the University College Galway it came as no surprise when he made the move to America in his early 20’ s to pursue his career in acting.
He explains how he comes home more regularly in recent years: “How could you not love a walk along Strandhill, the breathtaking view of Benbulben and a pint or 10 in Hardagons and a bit of Mass here and there to keep them happy.”
He first made a splash in a lead role at the Irish Arts Centre, a New York off Broadway hit called ‘ Away alone’ directed by Terrence LaMude in the early 90’ s and reprised his role when the play moved to Los Angeles under the direction of Fionnula Flanagan. Mr O’Rourke is also a voice actor and voices the Irish Character Thomas Burke in the new Video Game by Hanger 12, Mafia III. The game was released last Friday the 7th of October.
While Mr O’Rourke had done several other Voice- overs for commercials, TV and film as well as voicing countless characters in his head over the years he explains he tells me how he became involved with his latest project, Mafia 3: “I became involved through my wonderful Voice Over agents. A few auditions with Hanger 12, the MAFIA 3 Production side. I was so excited to get a call back, but found out that the reason was that they had lost all the taped auditions the first time around. Jesus! But it all worked out thankfully.”
Not one for playing video games he said he will try his hand at the new Mafia 3 Game: “Pacman was the last video game I played at the Casual Corner on Wine Street in the 80’ s.”
‘ Thomas Burke’ the Irish character voiced by O’Rourke is also based on the Irish Actors looks: “In my case they liked my look enough luckily to use it for the character. I was happy they did though; it’s nice to see your face on the Box Cover and on a few billboards in Hollywood. It can’t hurt. Thomas Burke sings too by the way, but I’ve no singing career planned yet though”
While it was a rewarding role, he explained that it came with many challenges: “I had no real prior experience in the world of Motion Capture. It’s an interesting process; from facial capture to the filming itself not to mention the fetching body hugging ballet suits with light sensor.
“It was quiet amusing at first as I was hired to play the character of Thomas Burke as a man from Belfast. I thought, well how difficult can this be? Was I wrong!! They hired a dialect coach for me and for all of us to secure our accents over the course of the long process of filming. It did seem odd at first. But actually it was a valuable learning process for me.” He has dipped his toes in all types of work throughout the years including production as well as working and training as a puppeteer at The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park. He speaks about two of the biggest stand out moments in his career: “I had a great experience last year doing the picture, ‘ Where is Rocky II?’ a picture about the America Artist Ed Ruscha. It was such a highlight as it happened so quick, the director was Pierre Bismuth who won an Oscar for writing ‘ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ a movie I adore so I that was thrilling to work with him.
“I did a picture in London called ‘ The Ninth Cloud’ where I played opposite Michael Madsen in a few scenes, that was a wild ride and a whole other interview.” he explains laughing.
Looking towards the future Mr O’Rourke is currently developing a number of scripts that are doing their rounds in Hollywood, one in particular is titled ‘ 10 F**% ING DAYS’, a story of a couple who love one another but are just too pig headed to admit it. When asked could he see himself returning home, Mr O’Rourke explained: “I’d love to return to Ireland to work with any of the many talented directors in TV and Film. Gimme a call guys!! We live in a smaller world these days, so being 1000’ s of miles away is not what it used to be. An idea of a picture on the life of W. B. Yeats is swirling around on my computer.”
Offering his advice to those who hope to pursue a career in acting he said: “Run for the hills!! But seriously you better want it more than life itself. Work hard, have confidence in yourself, take disappointments. Rinse and repeat.
“I’ve learned over the years that the only one true competition is that which we have with ourselves. Master yourself and what you are good at and become great at it. Shut the noises out. There is only ONE YOU. Keep a roof over your head otherwise you’ll lose your mind. In the words to a young Peter Llewelyn Davis from J. M. Barrie in Finding Neverland: ‘ You can do it any time you like Peter. Just Believe.’”