Writer's Block: Brush with stardom

[fleurlb]

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In 1995, I spent almost six months living in Dublin with my then-boyfriend (now-husband, hooray for happy endings :)). Our favorite show at the time was a new show on Channel 4: Father Ted. 

Set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, Father Ted was all about the adventures of three parish priests and their tea-pushing housekeeper. If you're even a little Irish or a little Catholic, the show is a laugh-fest that skewers all of the best bits of rural, Catholic, Irish living. 

At the time, I wasn't yet an Irish citizen, so I'd been having a rough time finding a job. It was my last day in Dublin and I was due to head back to the States to study computer programming in an attempt to become employable in Ireland. The threatening prolonged separation was looming large, so we decided to spend my last day in Dublin doing all of my favorite things.

We'd finished feeding the ducks in Stephen's Green and were walking along the road. Were just crossing Kildare Street, a big crowd of people crossing in the opposite direction, when Himself said "That was Father Ted!" I didn't believe him, so I turned around, caught the distinctive shock of grey-white hair and followed the guy. He was taller than I expected and I wasn't sure it was Dermot Morgan.

He caught onto the fact that he was being followed pretty quickly, took a sharp turn on Dawson Street and ducked into the first shop he found. Which turned out to be a bridal shop. I stood on the sidewalk, watching in delight as he took off his sunglasses and looked around the shop, completely confused. He had a look at me through the glass and I guess decided I was harmless enough, since he came out and smiled at me.

"Are you really Father Ted?" I asked, grinning like an eejit. Yep, that was the best I could come up with. He chuckled and said "Sometimes, I am. Sometimes." Then he put on his sunglasses and walked away.

Sadly, Dermot Morgan died of a heart attack shortly after filming the last episode of Father Ted. (A fact that my husband insists I bear partial responsibility for,  because of the way I ruthlessly stalked him through the streets of Dublin.) If you've never seen the show before, keep an eye out for it. I know the DVDs are available in the States. And you can watch this short clip from the pilot, which perfectly illustrates the quirky sense of humor that made us fall in love with the show.

As for whether I have any interest in meeting anyone else: no. It's not the actors I care about; it's the characters. (I find actors creepy, to be honest with you. At best, they're paid liars. At worst, they're actually a little psychotic, willfully becoming other people.) That said, I do reserve the right to stalk Christian Kane if he ever shows up in Ireland. :)

 

 

Comments

[fleurlb.livejournal.com]

hahahahahaha!

Mrs. Doyle! The woman who plays Mrs. Doyle is actually very pretty - they really uglied-her up for that role. (She's also smart and a brilliant writer - has published about 5 books at this point, the last few were quite good and the earlier ones were quirky mysteries.) So yes, basically Mrs. Doyle is Batman. :)