She may have just been awarded a top gong at the glamorous Irish Film and Television Awards, but everyday life is very far removed from red carpets and champagne for actress Deirdre O’Kane.
The Moone Boy star was awarded with Best Actress for her role in Noble, a film made by her and her producer husband Stephen Bradley, at the IFTAs on Sunday night. But when she’s not all glammed up at showbiz events, Deirdre admits she is a typical Irish mammy.
The funnywoman (45) has two children, Holly and Daniel, and has revealed to TVnow magazine that being a mother can be hugely stressful.
Deirdre joked that she thought she’d be “some laidback, groovy mother” – until she actually had children.
“You don’t know the challenges that are to come. They will keep pushing your buttons until you blow…. When you see other people blow in public, you think, ‘My God, that’s terrible, shouting at your child…’ But then when you have kids, you think, ‘Look at that awful child, stressing that mother out.’ We all lose it.”
She added that she finds herself repeating what her own mother said to her when she was growing up, which can sometimes unsettle her!
“I trot out the same things as she trotted out, definitely. I go on a lot about ‘You have enough, stop asking for more, there are children in the world with nothing…’ But I’m inclined to go into a bit more detail: ‘Look what’s happening in Syria, you should know about them, they’re after going through that and they have nothing! So go and play with your toys!’
“I think, ‘Really, am I being that cliched?’ So when I think I’m being cliched, I go into even more detail to make sure they have the big picture.”
Deirdre also spoke about how parenting is constantly evolving due to social media – an aspect which terrifies her.
“I can’t bear it!” she said. “It’s bad enough, what they have to go through without another dimension so I don’t like it. It frightens me.”
For the full interview pick up this week’s TVnow.
