Generations of ambitious young people were subject to predators

Thinking you’re cool gives you no armoury to cope with a sexual predator like Weinstein, writes Terry Prone.

LIED about my age at the time, although it really wasn’t much of a lie. All I did was state that I was 16 when in fact I was no more than 15 and a half. But I was tall and wore heels and 15 and a half may be the only age at which a woman is happy to look older than she is.

I lied to get into the Abbey Theatre School of Acting, the first step on my career path, the culmination of which would — I was convinced — see me become the greatest Irish actress since Eileen Crowe. That was the plan. Luckily, by the time I failed to achieve it, nobody other than theatre nerds remembered Eileen Crowe, and the word “actress” had been expunged from the lexicon. But attending the classes was thrilling, as was appearing in minor productions as ‘Third Extra, Stage Left’, and sent me home each day bubbling with excitement and questions. One of the questions, voiced at tea time, was straightforward enough.