Irish actor and comedian Graham Norton has opened up about the difficult times he went through in his life. The Cork native revealed that before his career in front of the camera took off he was broke and working in a London restaurant.
Speaking to the Independent, Graham said that when going through the tough times in his life, he adopted a realist attitude. Although the chat show host respects people’s belief that God will get you through hard times, he doesn’t feel the same.
“I totally respect other people’s right to believe that, if that gives comfort.If you genuinely think that will get you through the darkest of times, it is a good thing for them. I can’t choose to believe that. My way of getting through any dark times is to know that there are brighter times. Because that is just the way s**t works,” he said.
The 53-year-old explained that for almost a decade he was broke, trying to carve out a career for himself, and they were hard times. He eventually took the plunge and left his job to follow his dream.
“Before I had any success, I had eight years of working in restaurants. I was living in a council estate – probably a house block you can see from here. I had zero money. Literally counting pennies. It was hard to believe at times.
“I had boxed myself into a corner where I was working in a restaurant and the restaurant was less and less successful. And then it closed. It was good that it closed because it forced me to go, ‘Okay, if I get a job in another restaurant, it is like I’m saying this is my career.’
“By that stage, I knew I would have stabbed someone in the face with a fork if I had worked in restaurants much longer. I had to get out. It galvanised me to do bits of writing and help out friends with no plan,” he said.
This risk clearly paid off, as the 20th series of The Graham Norton Show kicked off last Friday on BBC One, and his first novel Holding is set to be released this Thursday.
Go Graham!
