As one of the stars of BAFTA nominee Calm With Horses and BIFA-nominated God’s Creatures, two of the most successful Irish indie films of recent years, Toni O’Rourke knows a thing or two about telling a great story. In fact, the actress’s commitment to portraying complex woman on screen goes back way further. A former child star, Toni went on to study at the National Theatre School of Ireland before swiftly landing a role in award-winning film Cardboard Gangsters.
Toni’s latest project, however, is her first lead role, and challenged Toni in ways she never knew. The actor is starring opposite Colin Morgan in The Boy Who Never Was, a gripping, twisty drama about a couple whose son when they’re on holiday in Morocco and an earthquake hit. It was an intense shoot; not least because a real-life earthquake hit the company just a week before they flew out to film.
Surrounded by wigs as she talks to Grazia backstage from the Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, where she’ll soon be playing Emma Woodhouse in a new production of Jane Austen’s Emma, she talks playing mothers as a teenager, the amazing advice Emily Watson gave her, and why wins for Paul Mescal are wins for all Irish actors.
Congratulations on your performance in The Boy Who Never Was! Sounds like quite the intense project...
The week that I was due to fly out, there actually was an earthquake that hit Morocco, just north of Marrakesh. It was all hands on deck, and just making sure that the Moroccan people were OK and getting the sense if they were comfortable for us to move on. We were just trying to see how everyone was when we went over, and then when we got over, it was a very intense shoot, but extremely collaborative and very, very safe. It was intense but really rewarding.
What drew you to the character of a grieving mother?
Robin is such a tenacious, powerful, loving woman and this lioness is in her from the moment she has her child, and this need to protect her family at all costs. I actually came on fairly late in the process but as a result, it meant that I had the four episodes when the offer came in, which is quite rare. It's a serious page turner. I just locked myself in a room for four hours and was like, 'Ahh!'
You’ve played mums a few times in your career though, right?
I don't know what it is about me, seeing as I'm only a young whippersnapper, but I'm always a mother! My first acting job, I was 13 and I was pregnant in it. I don't know what that is about my energy. They're like, 'give her a child.' But I feel really lucky that I get to explore these characters in such a big, deep way, early on in my career. It's been such a privilege.
You started acting when you were a kid. Were your family always supportive?
I actually thanked my parents recently. I really was so privileged in the fact that they were like, 'Cool, whatever suits.’ My family are creative anyway, but that also means that they knew the risk as well, and they really kept that from me. I didn't feel any fear about what I would do. Really young, I was like, I'm doing this.
Did any of the older actors you worked with give you good advice?
To be honest, I remember a lot of older actors just telling me, ‘Please don't do this, it is so difficult’! But I think you also need to hear that because it is really, really difficult, but not for the reasons that people think. I worked with Emily Watson on God's Creatures, and she said, ‘This is a part time job for everyone. Nobody does this 12 months in a year, and you've got to figure out who you are outside of that.'
It seems like you’ve really prioritised telling Irish stories in your projects. What other sides of the Irish experience do you want to see explored more on screen?
‘Seanchaí’ is the word for storyteller in Ireland. It's been in our blood, it's how we've spread news and stories, everything. I'd love to see the multicultural side of Ireland, stories with diverse Irish cast; to celebrate that and show that being Irish comes in many different forms.
Paul Mescal was also in God’s Creatures with you and Emily Watson. Had you crossed paths before that project?
Paul and I were friends before. We left drama college at the same time. There's kind of a big group of us just around that whole time when Normal People was filming here in Ireland. And then I went on to film God's Creatures, which was just such a treat to have him there. We shot in the middle of lockdown, and so we were all in each other's pockets, and only had really one another, so that was a really, really great experience.
It must be amazing seeing him – and so many other Irish stars – getting so much international recognition.
Definitely. We're all so celebratory of each other's successes, in all the different formations that it takes. I think we're all just so excited that there is that recognition of Irish actors and talent. No matter at what stage each person is, we make sure that we check in on each other and that each one gets a big excited ‘Woo!' [laugh] But it does get exhausting, because we're all like, 'Woo! Woo! Woo!’
Stream the The Boy That Never Was on NOW