P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 9724:14
SIMON O'BRIEN
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 1714:51
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WELCOME TO SPOTLIGHT, 4-Tel's mini-
magazine which brings you all the
latest stories on what+s what and 0
who's who on Channel 4... 0
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On the following pages you can find
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SIMON O'BRIEN
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An exclusive interview with the 0
actor who plays Damon Grant in C4's
top soap opera, Brookside.
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Edited by Barbara Jeffer1gn
More >
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 1725:41
6/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN
There's none cogler in the Brookside
Close than Damon Grant, the one with
all the street credibilit8.
But the real-life Damon (alias actgr
Simon O'Brien) is quick to cut the
Close's scallywag down to size.
"He wears flares..." 0
Gasps of horror from the two of us
interviewing him.
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"Well, semi-flares." Simon cgncedes.
Is this a good start to finding out
about Damon we asked?!
More >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 1715:52
5/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN 0
Through sheer luck and being in the
right place and the right time, 0
Simon was offered the part of Damgn
in Brookside.
The audition was a gogd excuse fgr a
day off school and (in true Damon 0
style), he managed to get the
production company to pay fgr his 0
taxi there and back! 0
At 20 years old, Simon has done well
for himself since leaving schogl at
17. He says it only took him three
seconds to accept the Brookside part
rather than do his A-level1. 0
More >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 9721:12
6/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN
Unlike Damon however, Simgn enjoyed
school. His original ambitign was 0
to become a botanist - his hero is
David Bellamy!
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He hasn't much say in what Damgn 0
will be doing as a character but
can change the dialogue slightly 0
to make it more cglloquial.
"I come from Liverpogl so I know
what people would say. At the end of
the day so long as I get the stgry
across, it doesn't really matter,"
Simon says. 0
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More >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 9716:44
7/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN
Simon never cgnfuses his osn life 0
with that of Damon's. 0
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"There's no such person as Damon so
I never forget I'm Simon," he says.
"I make him out to be stupid, he's
definitely soft like, but he's got
loads of street-cred.
"We both like having a laugh.
That's about the most of me that+s
in him. I don't get 'into' the part,
I just say it how it should be even
if people try to tell me how to 0
act." 0
Mgre >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 9726:21
</15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN
There's been a lot of criticium 0
aimed at Brookside accusing the
series of political bias.
"I think the series is very evenly
balanced. Everyone says it's towards
the Left but it's not, " Simon says.
"We've got the Colli&s' and I think
Heather's very middle class in her
ambitions. You get a lgt of flak off
the Right saying it's very Left but
that's only because theyWre
paranoid."
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0
Mgre >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 9712:04
9/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN
Simon's background of botany has led
him to leaning towards the cause of
the conservationists. 0
"I think I'd vote 'Green' next time
because I don't believe in any of
the other political parties. 0
0
"If there isn't a 'Green' candidate
I would spoil my vote. I'd tell
other people to do it too because if
you make a conscious effort to go
along and vote for no-one, the 0
government would have to start
asking why," he said.
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Mgre >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 1712:41
10/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN
Does Simon get embarrassed watching
himself act in Brookside? 0
"Yeah. In three years I've only seen
one scene where I've thought 'Oh
yeah, that's all right'. You always
think 'Why didn't I do this?' 0
Everyone's the same," he says. 0
0
"I think we are cast as near to the
character as we can be. That makes
Brookside a lot more real. But, the
series isn't VERY true to Liverpogl
life. You wouldn't get such a
cross-section of accents." 0
Mgre >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 1712:42
11/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN 0
As avid fans of Brookside, we had 0
our suspicions that Damon was 0
secretly in love with Heather.
Bravely, we asked Simgn... 0
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"Oh definitely!" he said without
hesitation.
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But Simon insisted there was no
hint of romance on the sets of
Brookside. "It's really, like, 0
boring," Simon said apglo£etjcally.
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"But all the cast are really nice."
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Mgre >
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 9713:52
12/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN
If you're a regular viewer of the
series, you might have noticed how
real the fogd that they eat look;. 0
Is it real? Is it hot? Is it edible?
"It's real fogd," Simon says, "and
it's hot for the first take. By
takes 4 & 5 it gets a little bit
cold.
"Oh, some of the fogd they give us
is terrible. A lot of it is what's
left over from the canteen. Ricky 0
(Bobby Grant) is on a diet now
because of all the chips he eats on
the show!"
Mgre >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 9718:42
14/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN 0
There is always the niggling wgrry 0
at the back of all the Brookside 0
cast's minds that their characters
might be written out of the series.
"The producers have options on how
to get rid of all of the character1,
even Damon. He could be sent off to
London because there wasn't any
work in Liverpogl," Simgn says.
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"The first thing I'd do if that
happened is get an agent. I haven't
got one now because I'm not allowed
to do any other acting apart from 0
Brookside." 0
More >>
P446ORACLE 446 Mon23 Dec C4 9714:12
15/15
INTERVIEW WITH SIMON O'BRIEN
If Simon was written out of the 0
series, he would prgba2ly go intg 0
theatre though he says he doesn't 0
fancy that idea too much.
"It seems too much like hard wgrk to
me!" he says, "Though you do get a
lot of experience. I just go day to
day now really. I'm obviously going
to be an actor even though it wasn't
my chosen career," he says..
"I'd like to do a film. Not just any
film, I would have to like it.
That's where the money is."
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By Sally Reidy-Crgftu and Rena Sgdhi