Kin actor Mark McKenna Jr has revealed the acting advice that co-star Aidan Gillen shared with him to aid his success in the industry.
The show, Kin, follows the lives of a fictional Dublin clan embroiled in a gangland war and the consequences of their choices. Aiden Gillen portrays Frank, the head of the Kinsella family, while Mark McKenna Jr plays Anthony, Jimmy and Amanda’s son.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Mark shared: “[Aiden Gillen] gave me one bit of advice. I went by the name Mark McKenna and I never took too much thought of it as an actor, which I don’t know why.
“There’s another Mark McKenna, who is a fabulous actor. He’s in Wayne and Sing Street. So I thought, ‘Wait, we both have the same name’, that won’t make any sense if we’re both going by the same name.”
Continuing, he added, “So Aidan gave me a little advice. He had to change his name as well so he goes, ‘You should probably change your name so you get recognised more as you’. So he advised me to change my name to Mark McKenna Jr.
“So that’s why I’m going by the Jr. My dad’s name is Mark as well so it’s not too strange. He was really good with the acting advice.”
As well as advice from Aidan Gillen, Mark shared that he also received advice from other co-stars. “One advice I got off Charlie Cox and Emmett was to leave what happens on set on set.
“Like if you had a bad day, don’t bring it home and think, ‘I could’ve done better’. Just leave it there and don’t bring it home with you because whatever happened there just happened, there is no need to bring it with you.”
He also added: “And they also told me one of the best [pieces of acting advice] I ever had was act with your eyes, don’t act with your mouth, so use your eyes to interpret how you feel. I don’t know, but for some reason that just makes me go wow… like it opened my eyes to it.”