The pride of Ballymun, Eric Lalor has gone from being a comedy star to starring on the mean streets of Carrigstown on RTE’s Fair City as villainous hotel manager Cathal Spillane. Since his arrival three months ago, he’s been throwing his weight around, bringing some Love/Hate shenanigans to Carrigstown. Anton spoke to Eric before he joined the cast of the much-loved long-running soap, and as he prepares to leave the soap, we catch up with him to see how life has changed...
As he reveals to Dermot and Dave, Trading Places with Anton for the day, he has been heckled and recognised on the street for his role as chief tormeter of Carrigstown. The Son of ‘Flynn’, the legendary bad guy played by blues harmonica King Don Baker, Cathal ran the Ballantine Lodge Hotel as a money laundering scam.
BAD MAN: Eric Lalor (centre) as Cathal Spillane, menacing the locals in Fair City
Even though people on the bus and strangers in Shopping Centres want their photo taken with the 'baddie from Fair City', Eric says he is not leaving stand up behind, but more serious acting roles are stacking up. He is starring in World War 1 trench short movie, In The Valley Of The Moon with Stephen Mullan (Directed by Brian Rossney) which recently opened in IFI.
The comedian and www.joe.ie writer will soon be embarking upon his first headline national tour in February, March and April, taking in plenty of Irish towns. Keep an eye on his TWITTER for dates. Eric is also performing at the big ‘Irish Comedy Festival’ in Dubai in January with Foil, Arms & Hog, Karl Spain and Barry Murphy.
