Richard Dormer: 'I didn't work because I wouldn't play terrorists'

Richard Dormer has starred in Game of Thrones and Blue Lights

Richard Dormer is one of Northern Ireland's most successful actors, but he said that for years he struggled to get work because of his accent.

Now a household name after roles in Game of Thrones and Blue Lights, early in his career the roles on offer were not what he wanted to play.

"I had this accent that everybody associated with terrorism and it would affect my career for 20 years.

"I didn't do TV or films because I refused to play terrorists or thugs.

"But I did loads of theatre for 20 years, so maybe it's a good thing. It made me a better actor," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme.

Dormer caught the acting bug at school - after walking on to the stage where he "felt at home" - and his parents were behind him from the get go.

"I was in RADA within a year - I got accepted to four major drama schools - and chose RADA and then I was in the West End three years after that," he said.

"It was all too easy, and then I gave it up for three years because I thought: 'Well, I've done it.'"

He nearly gave it all up for "a real job".

• BBC drama explores the reality of life in the PSNI

• Beyond the Throne

• Punk icons immortalised in 'brilliant' street art

But a chance encounter on a Dublin bridge with an old friend brought him back to the Lyric theatre in Belfast.

"Finally I got my break which was Good Vibrations, of a man living in spite of the Troubles, which was beautiful," he said.

In Good Vibrations, Dormer played Terri Hooley - Northern Ireland's 'godfather of punk' and the man who helped The Undertones record their debut EP.

"Northern Ireland is a beautiful place, full of brilliant poets and musicians and finally we're accepted as that," said Dormer.

"But it took a long time. Now we're celebrated, whereas before it was like every time I went through an airport I was the guy they pulled in and searched.

"So I felt like a second class citizen. All my life until, probably, Good Vibrations."

'My hero'

It was the role of Beric Dondarrion in the HBO hit Game of Thrones which brought him worldwide acclaim, but it was his turn as fellow Northern Irishman and snooker legend Alex Higgins in Hurricane that led to an encounter with an acting idol.

Dormer had just come off stage one night and there was John Hurt.

"He came to see me on the last night of Hurricane on the West End. I was sitting having a beer in my dressing room and I came out and there was a man in a long white raincoat, standing at the bar on his own and he gave me a hug for about a minute and we just stood there and he said 'fan-[expletive]-tastic'.

"He was my hero and the first day of RADA I saw him walking down the street and I ran after him and he signed my overdraft statement, so I have his autograph.

"I told him and he loved that story. He was just amazing. A lovely man - brilliant, brilliant actor."

You can hear Richard Dormer in conversation with William Crawley on Talkback at midday or on BBC Sounds.