Advertisement
Dublin: 11 °C Tuesday 19 March, 2024
RTE
john boy

Aiden Gillen is OK with everyone calling him John Boy

The actor revealed all in an interview for the podcast An Irishman Abroad.

LOVE/HATE STAR Aiden Gillen says he gets called John Boy in the street all the time, but he really doesn’t mind at all.

Gillen was speaking to Jarlath Regan for the comedian’s An Irishman Abroad podcast - a rare interview for the Game of Thrones actor, who doesn’t often court publicity.

The discussion spanned the length of Gillen’s career, from his humble beginnings as a stage manager in Dublin to his breakout roles in Queer As Folk and The Wire.

The Dublin native told Regan that the children of his neighbourhood often call him John Boy, after his character in the hit RTÉ drama.

It troubles me that the kids out there think I am John Boy… They’re like “Can we come up to the apartment? Have you got your money hidden up there under the floorboards?” That’s not real, this isn’t the apartment.
But all the kids around here are calling me John Boy. There’s a school around the corner and every day at lunch time, every one of those kids greet me as John Boy.

But he says it doesn’t bother him as much as it used to – to him, it means he’s played the role well.

People would call me Carcetti [from The Wire]. You get it with Littlefinger, from Game of Thrones, and they do it with John Boy. If they’re doing it, it means that they buy it. And now I’d rather they called me John Boy, than Aiden.

Fair enough, Johnno.

You can listen to the rest of the interview on Soundcloud here or download it on iTunes. For more information on future episodes of An Irishman Abroad, follow Jarlath Regan on Twitter.

All of the wise words from Game of Thrones, in one video>

A Noah screening was cancelled due to a flood in a cinema>

Your Voice
Readers Comments
1
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.