Entertainment

Arts Q&A: Actor Vincent Higgins on Co Antrim ice cream and a Swedish deity

Jenny Lee puts performers and artists on the spot about what really matters to them. This week, Ballymena actor Vincent Higgins

Ballymena actor Vincent Higgins reading at the launch of the 30th John Hewitt International Summer School
Ballymena actor Vincent Higgins reading at the launch of the 30th John Hewitt International Summer School Ballymena actor Vincent Higgins reading at the launch of the 30th John Hewitt International Summer School

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

When I went to drama school at The Welsh College of Music and Drama. My first professional job was working with the National Theatre in Stockholm and then I spent seven years working in television and theatre in London, before returning to Ireland.

2. Best gigs you’ve been to?

The Undertones at The Flamingo in Ballymena – I was very young at the time; my mum bought me the ticket. It was my first time hearing a punk band and I've great memories of it. Liam Clancy at The Black Box, Belfast. It was one of his last gigs and made us appreciate how great a storyteller he was as well as musician. Gil Scott Heron at Coal Exchange, Cardiff.

3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?

Nile Rodgers and Chic.

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

The Best of Bob Dylan.

5. And the book you’d take to a desert island?

The complete works of WB Yeats. It has poetry, prose and plays – lots to while away the time.

6. Top three films?

The Godfather 2, Goodfellas and The Big Lebowski. They also have three great soundtracks.

7. Worst film you’ve seen?

Battlefield Earth. It's brutal.

8. Favourite authors?

Samuel Beckett, Bertold Brecht and Alexandre Dumas.

9. Sport you most enjoy and top team?

Hurling, Co Antrim; football, Co Antrim; soccer, Celtic; and boxing, the boxers from this island. The new wave of Belfast boxers such as Michael Conlon and Paddy Barnes are great. I also have a soft spot for the Cuban boxers.

10. Ideal holiday destination?

Co Donegal. We used to go there as a family when I was young and I still find it magical, especially the Gaeltacht area in the north west.

11. Pet hate?

The Tories. I lived through Thatcher and at the minute they are very greedy, taking away from the poor to enrich themselves.

12. What’s your favourite:

Dinner? Roast lamb.

Dessert? McGroggan's ice cream from Ballymena.

Drink? Rioja in generous amounts.

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

My brother Peter. I've known him all his life and we shared a bedroom growing up.

14. Is there a God?

Henrik Larsson.

:: Vincent Higgins will be starring in Kabosh theatre company's production of Green and Blue as part of the John Hewitt International Summer School on July 25, and participate in a panel discussion exploring the legacy of John Hewitt on July 26 (johnhewittsociety.org). Green and Blue will also be performed at Donegal's Earagail Arts Festival and west Belfast's Feile (kabosh.net). In August Vincent will perform O Hye Impromptu as part of Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival.