Cork actress Ayoola Smart on filming with Ethan Hawke and her role in RTÉ’s Smother
Ayoola Smart has been kept busy during lockdown, filming 'Death in Paradise' on a Caribbean Ireland as well as working on Clare-based drama 'Smother'. Picture: Fay Summerfield
Ayoola Smart couldn’t have asked for a better start to her professional career as an actor, which began before she had even left drama school. In 2016, Smart was cast in an acclaimed production of at the iconic Globe theatre in London; it had an all-Irish roster of actors to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising.
“The way the director Caroline Byrne works felt very in line with what I had just been doing at drama school. It was a very practical application straight away, which was amazing,” says Smart.
“It was still terrifying but more of a soothing transition into the real world. I felt very much welcomed into the professional world and I feel very lucky that was my first job.”
London-based Smart, who grew up in Schull, Co Cork from the age of three, has been steadily building up an impressive portfolio, with roles in theatre, film and television.
The 26-year-old was delighted when her latest role, in the new RTÉ drama , gave her an opportunity to return to home soil. Production on the thriller, which is set in Co Clare, was halted last March due to the pandemic, but resumed under strict Covid protocols last autumn. Smart plays Cathy Cregan, who becomes embroiled in the messy aftermath of the suspicious death of her best friend’s father.
“It is one of the things that attracted me to in the first place, being able to work back at home and to be on the coast. Clare is such a beautiful place. It was really special, particularly with the lockdown, to wake up and see the sea or go for a swim before we started shooting that day.
"It was such a wonderful set — the cast, crew and everyone involved in the creative process were just so amazing to work with. Because of Covid, we had this very bubbled environment; it was very intense in that way but I wouldn’t have changed it.”
Acting is very much in Smart’s blood — her mother Sally is a drama teacher still living in Schull — and she says she can’t remember a time when she wasn’t performing.
“I loved singing, dancing and anything where I could show off a little bit. It was always there, rather than having a moment of realisation when I decided to do it.”
Smart, who attended Schull Community College, says growing up in such a vibrant artistic community was also conducive to nurturing her career as a performer.
“There is a lot going on there. It was a lovely place to grow up. The freedom of the countryside was something I cherished. I made it back during the first lockdown, when travel was allowed, for two-and-a-half months, which was amazing, as I hadn’t spent that much time back at home in a very long time.”
Smart has been kept busy since the autumn, filming her role in , as well as featuring in the popular BBC drama , which meant she was able to escape from the literal and metaphorical gloom in December to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, where the show is filmed.
“That was a very ‘pinch myself’ moment. It is a fabulous show and, leaving for the sun for a few weeks, it couldn’t have come at a better time. It was amazing to get away from rainy London. I was also aware that a lot of people aren’t working and are going through awful things.”
Smart has worked with some top names in her short career and says she is always learning on set. Early in her career, she nabbed a significant role in the film , based on the Nick Hornby novel, in which she played Ethan Hawke’s estranged daughter. It was an experience she enjoyed.
“Of course, there is always an element of being nervous, that never leaves you. In the build-up, there is always the excitement and the panic before you begin when you are like ‘what I’m doing?’. Ethan was so good at instantly putting everyone at ease and creating an environment where any feeling of nervousness evaporated and you were able to get into the fun of it. There was a few other young people on that film as well and he just had a very natural way of putting us at ease. Jesse [Peretz], the director, was the same. I had a lot of fun on that film and it felt very creatively fulfilling working with Ethan.”
Smart says she is constantly learning from the actors she works with.
“One of the best ways to learn is through watching other people and seeing how they work and interact with others. Particularly seeing how people who are leading a show or film work, observing and taking in as much you can. I haven’t worked with anyone who isn’t lovely and I’m very grateful for that. It has always felt like an open environment like that; if I did have a question or there was something I wanted to know, that was welcomed.”
She describes winning a part in the third series of the global smash as a "mind-bending" experience.
“Being able to participate in a show that you already love and greatly admire is very special. I remember my first day going in and being like ‘what’s happening, I’m inside of ’. It was amazing to be part of it.”
Smart praises the diversity of the characters on the show, created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge; an added bonus was starring alongside fellow Cork actor Fiona Shaw.
“She is just brilliant; I adore her and I loved working with her. She is such an amazing person and actor. It was a real moment for me to be able to work with her, and it was nice to have some chats about Cork.”
Smart says she loves the blend of theatrical and screen roles that has characterised her career so far, and she hopes to return to the stage in Ireland at some point.
A starring role at Cork’s Everyman Theatre was unfortunately stymied by a freak accident in 2017; the actor was in a shopping centre when a child nearby lost control of a fidget spinner, which hit Smart in the head. She was left badly concussed and was forced to withdraw from her lead role in the show , written by Cork playwright Linda Radley, which was being staged as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival. While it was hugely disappointing at the time, Smart is sanguine about the experience now, given the successes that have followed for her.
“I had to spend seven or eight weeks recovering, it was very frustrating. At the end of the day, when you are doing a stage production… you just can’t engage in that realm when you have a concussion.
"One of the hardest things about being an actor is that you don’t know when your next job is going to come up and, when that kind of opportunity arises, you get so fired up about it and then when that doesn’t happen for whatever reason, it’s hard. But you have to keep going, you don’t know what’s around the corner, everything happens for a reason.”
Smart is currently in prep for a role that is being kept under wraps for now, and says she is thankful to be working at a time when so many productions have been cancelled or are on hold.
In terms of her future ambitions, she says she would like to work in the US, but not base herself there in the long term.
London has proved to be fertile hunting ground for many young Irish actors, Smart among them.
“There are so many brilliant Irish actors out there, the world is theirs… I have noticed, particularly on stage in London, that there is also more Irish work being made, which I love to see. That is very exciting and it is really nice to welcome other people into your world that they might not know. A lot of people in the UK who haven’t been to Ireland, in many ways just see it as the same as England — it is not, it is obviously very different.
"Because I started my career in London, I haven’t had as much opportunity to work back at home as I would like. It has been nice to go home to work on and to have that experience.”
- continues on RTÉ One on Sunday at 9.30pm
