How ‘Glamour’ actor’s auditions turned into a nightmare for him
The actor who appeared on the front page of The Irish Sun’s ‘Voice Auditions’ series last month is now back in front of the camera, having been denied the coveted title of “Voice of Ireland” on Monday.
The Dublin actor, who plays the title role in The Strain, was not given the chance to audition at the Strain’s “voice auditions” programme in September, and is now the subject of an online petition calling for him to be given a chance to get the job.
The Irish Sun article which featured the auditions said the actor, whose real name is Michael O’Callaghan, had a “terrible experience” with the programme and said he was “not going to be a part of it”.
“I was so shocked to get rejected,” he told the Irish Sun.
“It felt like a dream.
I wasn’t going to live out that dream, but I was happy with it.
I was just so happy that I got that.”
The actor said he had not been told why he was denied the title.
“I wasn’t told why I wasn`t allowed to audition, so I don’t know what happened,” he said.
“You don’t hear about this stuff, it`s very secretive.”
O’Callaghans casting director, Michelle McEwan, told the Independent the actor had been turned down for several roles on the programme, and that she had not heard anything about it until she was contacted by the programme.
“We were so pleased to have him back on the show because he has such a talent,” she said.
“He`s a great actor and a fantastic storyteller.
He`s just a great character actor, so we were very happy that he was back on.”
O`Callagh’s story was told on the third episode of The Stryder Show, which aired on Sunday night.
He told The Irish Press he was so frustrated with the rejection of his audition, he took his own life in October.
“I just wanted it to be over.
I wanted to be done with it, I wanted the job to be on the line,” he says.”
It’s so easy to get frustrated, and it`d be so easy for people to be like, ‘Oh yeah, that`s the way it is’, but that`d just be a huge waste of time.”
Odd job interviewIn the same interview, he said he could have had the job if he had been offered the part on the spot, but that it didn`t seem like that was the case.
“There`s no reason to say no to a job, it just isn`t the case,” he added.
“We went into it with a clear head.
It wasn`d work for me.”
The Irish Times article said it was clear the show was not for him because he had already signed on to play the role, and said the only reason he was not being considered was because the casting director did not have a role for him.
“She had no role for me and I was very clear to her.
She knew I was going to audition and she just didn`tt know that,” he claims.”
You can tell she didn`nt want to do that.
I had a role and I wasn’t happy about it. “
The job that we had was a good job and she was trying to get me to go to a different part.
I would have had no reason not to.””
That’s when I took my own life.
I would have had no reason not to.”
The Strain actor said that although he was disappointed with the episode of the show, he did not consider himself disappointed in his own audition process.
“For me, it wasn’t really that bad.
It was just a little bit more difficult than I expected,” he revealed.
“Obviously, there`s something wrong with me, but for the most part, I had my work cut out for me.”
But I was really pleased with the show and the people who were involved.
I felt really honoured and humbled to be considered for the part.
“They really put their time and effort into it and I really appreciated it.”