‘I’m just too good at being a baddie’
ACTOR HINDS ON ALWAYS LANDING GANGSTER ROLES
OSCAR-NOMINATED star Ciaran Hinds has said he doesn’t always intentionally go out looking for gangster roles – but his face always lands him the job.
No stranger to our screens, Hinds has played memorable roles down through the years, including late gangster John Traynor in Veronica Guerin as well as crime boss Eamon Cunningham in Kin.
But Ciaran said he doesn’t intentionally always want to play the baddie, but his looks always land him gritty roles.
Speaking exclusively to the Irish Daily Star, the Belfast actor said: “It is the way the face looks. That’s how you get cast... whereas the interior is something else completely.”
Hinds garnered huge attention when he played Traynor in Veronica Guerin in 2003.
When asked if he ever heard from the convicted fraudster about how he portrayed him for the movie, also starring Cate Blanchett, he said jokingly:
“No I didn’t. I like to avoid those kinds of people.”
Traynor, a notorious 73-year-old convicted drug trafficker, was a key player in organised crime for over 40 years.
He died in Kent, England in 2021 where he had been living for several years.
Traynor had been receiving palliative care in a hospice after being diagnosed with terminal cancer some time before.
Ciaran was sporting an almost unrecognisable look on the red carpet for the premiere of the second season of The Dry on Thursday night. The show airs on RTE One at 9.35pm on May 15.
The bearded star said: “This is me in disguise. Nobody knows who I am.” Asked if his new look was for a future role, he joked: “No, but it might get me a job.”
Speaking about the second season of The Dry, Ciaran was “thrilled” to get the news and hailed director Paddy Breathnach and writer Nancy Harris – but is unsure if a third season is on the cards.
“We had no idea. When we first made it, we thought it was a one-off and then people took to it,” he said.
“In the end, that is the nature of the quality of Paddy and Nancy. It’s got legs, there is a depth to it. It has levels to it and that is what it gives, the levels and strengths to enjoy, so I was thrilled when they said they were going to go again. Everybody put their hands up.
“We got on so well. It was a joy to come back in. I don’t know, will it go again? Maybe it has had its time, we don’t know. It is not up to us.
Joyous
“All I know is that it is a very creative time, and it is a very joyous time for us and that doesn’t always happen.”
Hinds’ show Kin is also enjoying more publicity after Netflix recently acquired the rights to air the gangland show.
But Ciaran admitted he didn’t know it was on the streaming giant.
“Netflix took Kin? Oh great, I’m way behind all this,” he admitted.
“That is another world to me. We just turn up and work for the BBC, ITV or RTE and then we go back on stage. That is what we do.”