Daniel O'Donnell jokes 'Oscars here I come' as he makes his action film debut in his new Halloween video 'Night of the Daniels' today.
The singing sensation, 60, has added a new string to his bow in the 10 minute short, which sees him attempt to save the Donegal town of Dungloe as it comes under attack by wax figure clones of himself.
His weapon of choice - a fire poker.
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The dramatic scenes see the country crooner give Bond a run for his money with somersaults and impressive defence skills, most of which he admits are thanks to the help of some trained stunt men.
Ahead of its release today, Daniel told Irish Daily Mirror: “There were some [stunt doubles] involved, there were some things I had to call a halt to, but it is amazing how they can do it.
“You have to do a certain amount of stuff, but it was all on the day.”
Asked if there was any training involved, the singer added with a laugh, “No, I'm handy with a poker.”
Despite no previous acting experience, apart from his television advertisements, Daniel said he found the whole process quite easy.
“I don’t know if it comes naturally or not, it doesn’t take a wild lot out of me to do that...
“I’ve never thought about acting before."
And whilst he pondered the idea of doing something on screen again as we discussed his new work whilst having lunch in Dublin’s Clayton Hotel, the Donegal native laughed as he firmly ruled himself out from putting his name in the hat to become the next Irish James Bond.
“Ah they’d be making a younger bond than me now,” he laughed.
“It would be great [for Irish bond]. We haven’t had anyone since Pierce Brosnan now.
“I’ve the black suit, that’s about as far as I can go.”
He also poked fun at the hype surrounding him picking up awards for his acting skills when the short was first announced, joking: “Ah surely, Oscars here I come.”
Daniel once again teamed up with the makers of his viral ‘Down At The Lah De Dah’ video, and heaped praise on the creators, Shaun Duggan and Ciaran McCann of Re-Act Productions for bringing the spook-tacular short to life.
He said: “The guys are great, the fellas that put the video together, it is all them. And they just told me you have to be here and there and break down the door and come in and get the poker and hop over the sofa and pretend that you are doing all that business so I just did what they told me.”
His wife Majella also starred in the thriller, as Daniel admitted the couple were eager to work with the local lads again.
He said: “Ah she enjoyed that. She loves the young fellas that have the company. See it was their idea, they came to me before Covid with this idea…and they put together the concept, and Karen Sharkey, another girl at home, she did the artwork, all the paintings of the sets, and it’s just amazing what they did.
“All people living within three miles of me.”
“And it was their initiative to see if I would do something with them, I suppose to give them a bit of notoriety and I hope it does. And I hope this gives them even more.”
The new video will land just days after Daniel joined TikTok this week, much to his younger fans' delight.
Daniel said the decision to join the social media platform was made by his record company, as he admits ‘I don’t even know what TikTok is’.
But having garnered huge reactions from his past endeavours outside of music, including his TV travel shows, which he feels launched his career in the US, he said he’s at a stage in his life where he is open to trying any new opportunities that come his way.
The singing sensation, who is set to release another new album next month, titled ' I Wish You Well' said: “
“I suppose for many years I wasn’t open at the time to do stuff like this because it was always shows, and always touring, because that’s what I did.
“America didn’t really come for me until 2002, so twenty years, so I was 40 before I went to America and did shows.
“It was the TV on PBS television, that brought a whole new audience, and then just before lockdown another channel took our shows, and started airing them on a cable channel called RFD, and now we are noticing another new audience arriving. So it is amazing.
“If somebody told me three years ago that I would have done two videos with these two young fellas, I wouldn’t have known, because I didn’t seek it.
“But sometimes things find you, and you are in a place where something happens that leads to something else and you just have to, when the door opens, be ready to take the step in.”
Daniel is currently on an international tour, which will see him perform dates in Canada and the USA this October, and November.
He recently announced a Dublin Show for 27th August 2023 in Bord Gais Energy Theatre with tickets on sale now.
'Night of the Daniels' is out on YouTube at 3.00pm today.
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