Moe Dunford has told how he was fired by his former agent at a “titty bar” in Canada.
The Dungarvan born actor features in his first US blockbuster this month – Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Moe first shot to fame a decade ago playing a schizophrenic young man in Terry McMahon’s award-winning film Patrick’s Day.
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The acclaimed actor has also won plaudits for his roles in Vikings, The Dry, Rosie, Black ‘47 and, more recently, Netflix feature Nightride.
Opening up on the alien nature of Hollywood, 35-year-old Moe told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “It’s just so weird, you don’t know where you stand in these places.
“You have such a solid team and network with people in Ireland, like with Terry.
“Then you find yourself in these agencies.
“I’d go over for a few weeks, weird stuff would happen.
“I went to Toronto one time.
“My agent took me out and brought me to a place called The Titty Bar.
“Then he told me he was firing me because he was moving into the music industry.”
Irish filmmakers are more aligned with Moe’s values, he maintains.
He said: “The budget is low, you only have a couple of weeks.
“There’s a lot of struggle on Irish sets to get films made, but it’s worthwhile work.
“I found myself getting involved in bigger budget stuff, but the people I gravitate towards are the filmmakers like Terry.”
Going for roles in Hollywood felt different.
The Co Waterford man added: “I found it really alien and super positive, they’re like, ‘You can achieve anything, man’.
“I remember going there the first time and thinking, are these people aliens?
“I’m interested in psychology and where we come from but we have a lot of fear in Ireland.
We put ourselves down an awful
lot. Their energy was genuinely positive over there.
“Your mindset can really change, what can be viewed as impossible can suddenly be possible if you’re in the right place.
“I could see that over in America, opportunities do happen, I’ve just been lucky how they’ve happened for me from the Irish stand point.”
Visiting legendary actress Fionnuala Flanagan and her husband in their Hollywood Hills home was a highlight on his first visit Stateside. Moe said: “The first day I ever went to Los Angeles was with Terry.
“Fionnuala is a magnificent lady, she’s always been so supportive of Irish film and Terry’s work.
“We met Fionnuala’s husband Garrett O’Connor, who’s dead now. I was so taken by him, he was the head of the Betty Ford Clinic. I was sitting there up in the Hollywood Hills next to Brando’s house and Jack Nicholson’s house and coyotes were squealing and I was listening to Garrett.
“He wrote this essay about the malignant shame of the Irish. It was like a dream and Patrick’s Day got me over there. Garrett was talking about where that comes from in the Irish, about years of oppression and they feel they don’t deserve to reach out and achieve success from what they’ve been told and he talked about generational trauma.
“I thought, ‘Wow that memory will stay with me forever’.”
Moe is nominated for an IFTA for his role as lovable rogue Jack in RTE comedy drama The Dry, which is available to stream on the RTE Player.
And he revealed the character will return for a second series of the hit show, which has been compared to Fleabag. Having already bagged an IFTA in the past, modest Moe said it’s an honour to be in the same category this year as his The Dry co-star Ciaran Hinds.
He added: “Ciaran is a special man, he’s seen so much in life, he has such wisdom to share.
“I brought him to my local for a drink, I asked him if he had any advice to share. I asked him if he ever got nervous on set or if he had any fears.
“He told me to think like the character and the nerves go away.
“The reason why I chose acting was because it was a bit scary.
“Acting is like going through someone’s garden that says “Beware of Dogs” and you go through it anyway.The night before a job is daunting, then it becomes a thrill.”
The actor reached a whole new audience with the Netflix thriller Nightride which pans out in a single, unbroken 97-minute take in real time.
Moe plays small-time criminal Budge who is trying to pull off one last drug deal with cash he borrowed from a loan shark. The taut gangster flick is set on the midnight streets of Belfast and directed by Stephen Fingleton.
Moe said: “It’s great to have a project on Netflix. I did get a buzz for myself and Stephen.
“To see a film by my friend Ben [Conway, the writer] is now up on Netflix... I used to go to the gym with him. We would say maybe we could write a show, he was like, ‘I’m thinking of doing a film about a drug dealer in a car and it’s just done in one take’.
“Then we were in the pandemic belting around Belfast, the thing is being made, released on Netflix.
“It was a real buzz to see people paying attention to Ben Conway’s work as he’s an incredible writer.”
Moe lists Oscar-nominee Barry Keoghan among the young Irish talents inspiring the next generation.
Of his own acting journey, he recalled the risks he had to take to get where he is today.
He added: “When it came to doing something like acting, it was like you were going off script.
“I used to dread the career guidance meetings.
“They were the most awkward meetings, she’d say, ‘Put something down that’s in these forms in these boxes’.
“I’d say, ‘I just want to go to acting school, I don’t need these points’.
“It was so awkward.”
Moe played convicted murderer Ronan Callahan in the 2018 low budget Irish drama The Dig, which led him to Hollywood.
He said: “I loved this movie, it came after Vikings.
“I’d love to be in more movies on rural Ireland.
“It was a three-week shoot, the lowest budget movie I ever did but from that I ended up getting Texas, and that’s an unusual path.
“Little drops in the ocean can come in the most unexpected ways later on.
“People say go to Hollywood, but in many ways I’ve got in through the back door.”
Setbacks in acting are all part of the gig he shrugs, but he’s glad he didn’t listen to the “naysayers”.
He added: “As a teenager who just wanted to express myself I’m so glad that I didn’t listen.
“I understand this from practicality sake as acting is a tough industry.
“We all talk about the successes, but we don’t talk about the failures and I’ve had so many.
“They’re all part of the journey.
“Doubt and questioning yourself is good too, it can be part of the process.”
And he insisted too much emphasis is put on the showbiz element of acting and not enough on the storytelling.
Moe said: “Too much is made out of actors and showbiz.
“It’s about story and connection. If you feel the story can help others, then you have a purpose and that’s important. I’m glad when I was a young fella I had the nerve to go for it.”
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