Entertainment

Arts Q&A: Hannah Coyle on Federer, Daft Punk, Jay Z and LA Confidential

Brian Campbell puts artists on the spot about what really matters to them. This week: Paris-based Co Down actress Hannah Coyle

Hannah Coyle will appear in Me Here, Me – a play inspired by the plays of Samuel Beckett – in Belfast tonight
Hannah Coyle will appear in Me Here, Me – a play inspired by the plays of Samuel Beckett – in Belfast tonight Hannah Coyle will appear in Me Here, Me – a play inspired by the plays of Samuel Beckett – in Belfast tonight

1. When did you think about acting as a career and what were your first steps into it?

I have always been around the arts world, thanks to my mum [theatre critic and playwright Jane Coyle]. Originally I wanted to be a ballet dancer but I saw a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Lyric in Belfast when I was nine and knew this was what I wanted to do. I now live in Paris where I’m studying at Cours Florent École de Théâtre.

2. Best gigs you've been to?

Jay Z at Oxegen 2010, Explosions in the Sky a few years ago at the Mandela Hall in Belfast and Fleetwood Mac in Amsterdam last summer.

3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?

It’s a toss-up between Arcade Fire and Daft Punk. Can I have them both?!

4. The record you'd take to a desert island?

If You Wait by London Grammar – I never get tired of listening to that album.

5. And the book?

Paris by Edward Rutherfurd. He’s a wonderful writer of historical fiction and I am completely in love with Paris as a city.

6. Top three films?

The Sting, LA Confidential and Somewhere (by Sofia Coppola).

7. Worst film you've seen?

Transformers 2 was a low point.

8. Favourite authors?

Thomas Hardy, Curtis Sittenfeld and Arthur Miller.

9. Sports you most enjoy?

I like watching tennis. Federer is God. Closely followed by Djokovic.

10. Ideal holiday destination?

South America. As long as there’s no spiders or snakes.

11. Pet hate?

Bad spelling and grammar, especially the misuse of the apostrophe.

12. What's your favourite:

Dinner? My mum’s Sunday roast.

Dessert? In Paris – crème brûlée. At home – apple crumble and custard.

Drink? Mojitos with friends in a bar next to Bassin de la Villette in Paris.

13. Who is your best friend and how do you know each other?

Anna McKiernan. She’s an actress too and I’m still very close with my friends from school (Victoria College, Belfast).

14. Is there a God?

Please refer to my comment about Roger Federer.

Hannah Coyle appears in the one-woman show Me Here, Me at The Dark Horse café in Belfast at 7.30pm tonight, as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (tickets £3, cqaf.com)