PJ agus Stocaí is ainm doibh. (PJ and Socks are their names!)
"I've traveled a lot in mainland Europe (all within an hour - two hour flights). France, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Italy. Weirdly I've never been to Spain or Germany!"
Having also been to the United States himself, Mr. O’Conor had this to say about the differences between United States and Irish culture: “I have a biased opinion because Americans are REALLY nice to Irish people no matter where you go. I think we have a little more liberal and community-based energy but that happens in the States too. I think we've more in common than differences.”
As an actor, Mr. O’Conor believes Ireland values the arts more than the US, but not compared to mainland Europe. “We have limited and highly competitive Public Arts Awards but they are difficult to attain and complicated to apply for. But we have a great love of music, dance and theater.”
Interestingly, Ireland has just started a new Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot program. This will provide a basic income payment of €325 a week to 2000 artists and creative workers. It’s a remarkable way to support artists and prevent the traditions from becoming endangered.
A typical day-to-day for an Irish actor, according to Mr. O’Conor, varies based on whether or not they have an acting gig at the time. A day in rehearsal is often 10am-5pm with a lymphatic warmup. A lymphatic warmup is a warmup where you move all the different parts of your body, including your facial muscles, and do deep breathing.
