‘I’d done a couple of TV gigs - but nothing to this standard’
Adam John Richardson has told how being a part of the comedydrama series The Dry was an “incredible”experience — and how he“took a lot of inspiration” from one moment on the show into his own life. The Dubliner stars as Ant Sheridan in the new RTE One series. The eight-part comedydrama begins on Wednesday at 9.35pm.
And he told Chic that he had“always loved acting”but it wasn’t until he auditioned for — and got into — The Lir Academy that he“got a taste for it”and felt “there’s nothing else that I can possibly do now”.
He recalled,“i’d always loved it, but I had pretty sensible parents. They were like, ‘yeah, we love that you love it — and that’s great for you, don’t get us wrong. But how is that feasible?’
“They were just worried for me, it wasn’t anything against me or anything. It was just practicality that came into it. So when I was doing the Leaving Cert, they filled out my CAO. They filled in Irish, English — to become a teacher, and stuff like that.
“But the thought of it made me miserable, so I auditioned for The Lir — and luckily, I got into the one-year course. And that was kind of my decision made for me then.
“Once I was in that one course, I got a taste for it — and I was like,‘well, there’s nothing else that I can possibly do now’.”
The Dublin-set series follows Shiv Sheridan, who returns home after years of living away in London. Upon her return, she’s sober — and full of good intentions, too.
But being back with her family makes staying on ‘the dry’ a whole lot harder than she expected.
Shiv sets out to navigate this new stage of her life — and her family have to adjust, too. But it turns out the members of the Sheridan family have each got issues that they don’t want to face.
And Adam opened up about what it was about The Dry that drew him to the show — as well as the role of Ant.
He said,“nancy Harris is an amazing writer. I grew up going to see her shows in the theatre and stuff in Dublin — and the fact that I even got a chance to go audition for her world, I was just like, ‘oh my god, I love her writing, I have so much to give’.
“Being from South Dublin, being 25 — I also know what it’s like being the mediator quite a lot, and I think that’s where Ant finds himself, being the last child at home.”
The actor added that he“didn’t expect”the call telling him that he had landed the role.
He continued,“i was actually going for a smaller part at the time (in a different production). My agent rang me and I go, ‘oh, brill, brill, brill’ — and she’s like, ‘I’ve got good news’. I went straight to that smaller role because, you know, (The Dry) wasn’t really up for grabs for me.
“I was just out of drama school. I’d done a couple of TV gigs, but nothing to this standard. So when I got the role, I was in shock, to be honest. And I knew from there, I was like, ‘I’m going to give this socks — there’s nothing that can hold me back now that I have it’.”
The Dubliner said that it’s a“big, fat relief”to have the show hitting telly screens — and told how he“gave everything; my blood, sweat and tears, to this part”.
He continued,“i can relate a lot to the world and stuff. I grew up in
South Dublin, around Cabinteely and Ballybrack. I know that world so well and
“i HAD A LOT TO OFFER THIS TV SHOW...”
it!’ And it’s just reaping all the experience of these award-winning actors, which is just kind of a bonus.”
Adam told how he has one particular favourite moment from working on The
Dry — and how he“took a lot of inspiration from that into my own kind of life”.
He said,“there’s a moment in episode six, when he has a massive kind breakthrough. He says a lot of things to his father that he’s been afraid to say for many, many years.
“And just being that child at home, the gay child who had that older straight brother that was idolised in everything… (Ant) finally says a lot of things to his dad that I don’t think he expects him to say.
“And to be quite honest, I took a lot of inspiration from that into my own kind of life. I said stuff to my own dad that I’d wanted to say for years — and it’s only ever brought us closer. I feel like that’s all I can say without spoiling it.”
Adam shared his hopes of what audiences will take away from The Dry — and how he wishes he could have seen a character like Ant on screen when he was growing up.
He explained,“i would love for some masculine-presenting gay men to feel more comfortable in their bodies. Growing up, I was never sure of my sexuality — I personally didn’t relate to the camp side of being queer. I love that, I love my scream queens, I love them. But I just personally never related to it.
“To see Ant, as a gay man — I’m not saying he’s any sort of alpha male, but he is masculine presenting. And he is kind of close to what I would relate to as a gay man.
“And I just hope more men can be comfortable in their sexuality as a masculine man without having to, you know, pass a checklist before they feel they’re allowed to call themselves gay. There’s no requirements to be gay.you can be gay and masculine, you can be gay and camp — you can be anything.
“I suppose, I would’ve loved to have seen a masculine-presenting man on TV when I was growing up because it would’ve made things a lot easier for me to understand that you can be both.”
Adam also opened up about his dream role.
He said,“i read a book recently called The Heart’s Invisible Furies. I’d want to be Cyril. (In the book, there) was these men in Ireland in the 50s or 60s, even before it as it goes on for about 40 years.
“It follows this woman, Catherine, at first, but that whole thing of the church running Ireland and these men who were obviously gay but had nothing to relate to. I think they were quite — I’m not saying Cyril was masculine, but there were a lot of masculine men in that world in The Heart’s Invisible Furies.
“And I’m just like, I have so much to relate to that and offer that. I have a truth of what it’s like to grow up in this super heavy, masculine world and to relate to homosexuality.
“I love how unapologetically masculine and homosexual they all are and how raw the love is, especially between the two lovers that Catherine meets when she moves to Dublin, the tow best mates that she moves in with.
“The hyper-masculine homosexual world exists — why isn’t that represented?” ■
The Dry begins on Wednesday, March 1 at 9.35pm on RTE One.