Life With Gray O’Brien: ‘I am so disappointed with the current vein of dramas on TV at the moment’

Scottish actor Gray O’Brien on growing up, the TV he’s watching at home, and the best advice he’s ever been given. 

I was born in Glasgow and moved to Stewarton, Ayrshire where I was brought up from the age of three, but I live in Stirlingshire now. 

I was a nightmare pupil at school. I asked questions all the time and was treated like I was a trouble maker. It turns out it was dyslexia and, although I have not been diagnosed, I also score very highly on any ADHD symptom questionnaire.

Glen Etive is my favourite place in Scotland. It has been a place I have visited regularly since I was 14. With Buachaille Etive Mòr at its entrance, it’s pretty spectacular.

In primary school the teacher asked everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up.  I said ‘actor’. The teacher said ‘and do you know what an actor does?’ I said ‘No, but I want to be one.’

I wish I had been part of The Sopranos. I was mates with the late Paul O’Grady, and was on his show with Jackie Collins, who asked if I had seen a show called The Sopranos. I was to get my people in touch with her people, but was too shy or too stupid to follow it up. A few months later, Paul phoned me furious that I had dissed Jackie Collins.

I always go back to Fawlty Towers. It’s an out and out classic. I watched it in the late 70’s and probably didn’t understand it fully, but I have watched them endlessly since and introduced my son to them, who also loves them. Two series ever made, 12 episodes!

I am so disappointed with the current vein of ‘dramas’ on TV at the moment, so formulaic and cheaply made, same dozen faces, boring! Netflix is getting worse. I enjoy a show like Race Around The World, before I drift off, dreaming of those far flung places. I like the fact that they have a budget and no phone. I’m sure the two camera crews give them no help at all…

The Croft is a poignant story of love and loss and grief, it’s what drew me to the script when I was sent it. There is so much conflict in this story, real life conflict, the loss of a parent and falling out with the other, purely through grief. We are not schooled in coping with grief and loss, it is a very difficult ship to navigate.

Credit: Manuel Harlan

You can’t compare being on stage to being on TV, they are two totally different facets to our job and I enjoy them both enormously. I must admit that my career has been theatre heavy in recent years. I have had very few TV offers, but this industry is cyclical. It will return, I just feel grateful that I have made a living from being an actor for 35 years.

My biggest achievement? Overcoming stage four cancer and having my son.

‘Don’t let the bastards get you down’ was a passing piece of advice my late father in law gave me. He saw in my early days in the business how difficult the rejection could be. I have used his advice since, as hard as it sometimes can be.

I don’t believe in ghosts but I do believe in spirits. I have first-hand experience, but that is for another day.

Gray O’Brien’s upcoming playThe Croft, is at Festival Theatre on 25 June. Based on a true story in remote Scottish Highlands, it sees two women arrive at a former Crofters Hut in the deserted village of Coille Ghillie. Suddenly, the weekend getaway takes an unexpected turn. Cut off from the modern world, Laura and Suzanne find themselves drawn into the dark history of the Croft and the lives that passed before them. 

Read more from the Life With series here.

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