Entertainment

Actress Bronagh Waugh: I don’t know if there's a God but if there was, she’d be ragin'

Jenny Lee puts performers and artists on the spot about what really matters to them. This week, actress Bronagh Waugh

Actress Bronagh Waugh, star of the BAFTA Award Winning ITV hit crime drama Unforgotten, will host this year's Royal Television Society (RTS) NI Programme Awards, sponsored by Ka-Boom at The MAC in Belfast
Actress Bronagh Waugh, star of the BAFTA Award Winning ITV hit crime drama Unforgotten, will host this year's Royal Television Society (RTS) NI Programme Awards, sponsored by Ka-Boom at The MAC in Belfast Actress Bronagh Waugh, star of the BAFTA Award Winning ITV hit crime drama Unforgotten, will host this year's Royal Television Society (RTS) NI Programme Awards, sponsored by Ka-Boom at The MAC in Belfast

1. When did you think about a career in acting and what were your first steps into it? Ever since I can remember it’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do. I loved making people laugh when I was a child, although ironically a lot of what I’ve done in recent years has been hard-hitting emotional dramas. I started out at The Riverside Youth Theatre in Coleraine doing their summer productions with Zoe Seaton.

2. Best gigs you’ve been to? Foy Vance at The O2 Academy – it was so lovely and intimate and we got to see the fantastic Ryan McMullan supporting. Bronagh Gallagher at The Black Box, Belfast, when she was promoting her Precious Soul album. I went with my friend Marc O’Shea, who passed away last year. He introduced us and we’ve been friends ever since.

3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band? Well we just had a non-wedding 'wedding' this summer in Somerset and we had a band called Crocodile Done Deal. They mashed up loads of Indie stuff with hip hop and garage that gave us all a bit of 90s nostalgia, including the full 11-minute rendition of Bat Out of Hell for all the hallions still left on the dancefloor.

4. The record you’d take to a desert island? The soundtrack to The Commitments as it holds so many memories of growing up, but I’d want to sneak David Bowie’s Hunky Dory in my backpack too.

5. And the book? The Complete Works of Shakespeare. I think over the years, you would find new meanings to his sonnets and plays.

6. Top three films? Waiting for Guffman; Blue Valentine with Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling as their performances in it are stunning and Empire Records, because it reminds me of my youth.

7. Worst film you’ve seen? The French film Irreversible. I couldn’t watch it the whole way through as it was just so unbelievably violent.

8. Favourite authors? Zadie Smith, Bryony Gordon and Gregory David Roberts.

9. Sport you most enjoy and top team? I used to be an avid Liverpool FC supporter, but I watch less and less of it now. I love watching the winter sports – snowboarding, skiing and bobsleigh.

10. Ideal holiday destination? New Zealand, Croatia and Santorini in Greece are on my wish list.

11. Pet hate? Rudeness and unkindness.

12. What’s your favourite:

Dinner? My ma’s roast dinner.

Dessert? Red velvet cake with a cheesecake centre.

Drink? Gin and tonic.

13. Who is your best friend and how do you know each other? Anna. We grew up together – our mothers were friends and I’ve known her my whole life. She truly is the smartest, kindest, most patient, creative and inspirational person I know.

14. Is there a God? I don’t know but if there is, she’d be ragin'.

:: Actress Bronagh Waugh will host this year's Royal Television Society (RTS) NI Programme Awards, sponsored by Ka-Boom at The MAC in Belfast tonight.