Normal People star Clinton Liberty said Paul Mescal and Lenny Abrahamson prepared him for his biggest role yet - Graham Norton’s new film series, Holding.
The budding Irish star, 23, admitted he has been breakout star Paul’s number one fan years, long before anyone else knew him as the pair went to college together.
And after starring alongside him in the huge hit, based on the Sally Rooney novel, under the direction of Oscar nominated Dubliner Abrahamson, he says he feels ready to take on any major role.
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The Dubliner, who played Kiernan in Normal People said: “I went to the Lir Academy in Trinity College, me and Paul Mescal were in the same.
“I was in Normal People was my first job. So that was like a tester. I was just, you know, sponging off as much as I could.
“And Paul was like, my favourite actor before he became Paul Mescal.
“You know, I used to see all the plays and everything. I was like a big fan girl over him. Honestly.
“100% I used to get slagged in my class for being like the number one fan. He was my favourite actor, period. Like not even just a drama school.”
He added: “I knew personally, I knew he was going to be a star.”
Whilst he still describes himself as a newbie, Clinton is a familiar face on screen, having also starred in The Handsome Devil, and RTE shows Smother and Red Election.
But he said his biggest role is yet to be seen on Irish screens on Virgin Media next week, where he will star as a detective in new drama, Holding.
“With Normal People being able to work with Lenny, it was all just prepping for something like this role in Holding.”
He went on: “I’ve a lot of gratitude, you know, but obviously a lot of work goes in as well, I was just really lucky to work with Lenny coming out.
“Because obviously, this role is a really prominent role. “Yes. But in Normal People, I had a chance to just observe and learn. And even from Paul, how actors are like, what their onset editing etiquette is and how they are offset and how they treat people. So it was really good to have that experience before coming into, you know, a sort of major role of myself, I already had things in my head.”
Clinton was speaking at Virgin Media’s latest launch, Virgin Media More, an exclusive channel to Virgin Media TV subscribers, which will debut the new series on Tuesday 12th April.
The event showcased a clip of the new show, which saw Clinton in action as Linus.
And he told how the scene in question was his most nerve wracking day on set because it happened to be the day chat show king Graham visited the set.
“It was the day he came to visit, we had ice cream that day, and everybody was in a great mood.
“He was hands on as much as he could. But he sort of he allowed the producers and the writers to really make the show their own, because he had already given everything he had with the book.
“So yeah, he was really really lovely and, very open.”
But he told that he and his star studded cast, including Conleth Hill and Charlene McKenna, struggled to contain his nerves, adding: Oh my god i was so nervous that day. “Oh, my God. I tried to keep a poker face, but not even just me. I'd never I've never seen, you know, such an electrifying feeling that went through every single person on the cast and crew it was like, oh my god, Graham Norton's here, even the stars were like, Oh, my God, he's here. He's here.”
The rising new star went on: “It was a real pinch me moment every single day on set, being able to work with Conleth Hill and Brenda Fricker Siobhan McSweeney, Charlene McKenna. And the list goes on and on. I mean, being very new and very green in the industry, it was an opportunity for me to just explore and also sponge up as much knowledge and advice as I possibly could.
“And they were so open and so generous with your knowledge and tips. So I was just really, really happy and blessed to work with all of them.”
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