Biscuits, Budget Beauty Buys & Blue Men: Her.ie Chats To Deirdre O’Kane

What is it like talking to Deirdre O’Kane? Well for starters she has a personality that literally lights up the entire room. She’s chatty and bubbly and offers up tea and biscuits as soon as we start our conversation.

You can tell she’s a bit of a mammy and that she enjoys making other people feel at home. She’s funny, she’s laid back and she’s happy to talk about anything and everything (which always makes for a good interview).

Deirdre is something of a household star in Ireland. Many of us saw her performing stand-up and she’s regularly graced the television screens and theatrical stages of our little country.

So what has she been getting up to recently and, more importantly, how on earth does she keep herself looking so well? We sat down with her in the Merrion Hotel as she launched O2’s new Freedom To Talk plan and munched on biscuits and had the craic.

______________

What have you been up to lately?

Well the biggest thing in my life right now is that I’ve just completed a movie about Christina Noble’s life. It’s a bit of a ‘Wow.’ It’s a big one and myself and my husband have been working on it for the last four years. It’s now done. It’s in the can!

We were in Vietnam for ten weeks, then Liverpool for four weeks and he’s just busy editing it now. Because he’s working so intensely on that, I am a full-time mammy. Moone Boy will be my next step up to the light!

We have to ask: what is it like working with Chris O’Dowd? Is it amazing?

Yes! Amazing. I’m really looking forward to the next series of the show because he’s going to direct it. That’s actually brilliant.

Now, you’re known for your comedy routines but have you taken a step back from it in order to focus more on acting?

Yeah, I really have. I actually haven’t done any stand up for four or five years.

Would you ever make a return to it?

I’d never say never, but I think if my acting career would take off I’d happily go down that road.

You started your career as an actress but we have to ask, how did you end up falling into comedy?

Ah you know. Look... I don’t know. Steve [her husband] was making a documentary about the Cat Laughs festival and I went to have a look. Some penny dropped and I thought, ‘I could do that.’ I got up to do it and it sort of took off without much effort on my part. I guess when you fit with something thats what happens. It flows easily for you.

You have two children. Do you find it hard trying to balance your career with being a mammy?

It’s really hard. It’s a permanent dilemma. It’s every mother’s dilemma if you want to have a family and work as well.

Do you have any tips on how working mammies can balance those two aspects of their lives?

Not at all! Tips? Me??? [laughs]. Sure I’m permanently trying to work it out. The only advice I could give is to let go of the guilt for God’s sake. You can only do so much. It’s the beating ourselves up that takes up more energy. Children don’t need you 24/7 and nor do they want you 24/7. It can’t be done so you really have to make peace with it.

As a mammy with two young children you must find it hard to get time to yourself. What’s your idea of a perfect relaxing day, so if your hubby agreed to take the kids so you could have some downtime?

Well that in itself is already perfect [laughs]. I mean you’ve just said it like. If my husband took them. That’s like... bliss! I guess I’d go and do a bit of shopping, meet some friends, get a coffee, get lunch and have a glass of wine with me lunch! I’d look at London properly which is something I never do even though I live there. I’d be a lady of leisure and I’d enjoy every second of it.

Do you ever think about moving back to Ireland now that you’re based in London?

Every day I consider coming back. And now that O2 have given me a plan that I can’t access there I’m think that maybe this is the final thing that’s going to bring me back [laughs]. I’ll always have a pull to Ireland. I’ll always be divided. I’ll always be asking, ‘Should we move back?’ I don’t think that will ever go away. When you have grandparents and family here, it’s tough.

You’re a tad bit obsessed with beauty, so what are some of your favourite beauty products?

Well, I’m a product w***e. I’m not loyal to anything. There are a few things that I use a lot. I use Dr. Hauschka Rose Cream at night – that’s one of my staples. I use a Liz Earle cleanser. I use Mac Face and Body foundation. After those I’d have loads of new bits all the time.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one beauty product with you, what would it be?

I think it would be a tinted moisturiser. I don’t think I could cope without that. I’m awful pale! And it evens out all the flaws.

Do you have any favourite budget beauty buys?

I have a LOT of them. There’s a Neutrogena body oil that I wouldn’t be without. It’s about seven quid – that is a damn good buy! I use it a lot. Fenjal is a series of products that I love. I have been using Fenjal bath oil for a good fifteen years now. It’s cheap and you’ll get your Boots points on it. I collect my Boots points! I collect points everywhere.

So given that you love beauty so much, do you have a specific beauty regime that you follow?

No, but I am good. I never get into me bed without taking my make-up off and I’d have a mask on twice a week and I’d have a facial scrub once a week. So I’m good. I have to be – I’m old! [laughs]. But I’ve always been quite good. My mother is a beautician and she minds her skin – she started me on the Dr. Hauschka Rose Cream. I think if you take good care of your skin it shows and I’d be an SPF person too.

So aside from always taking off your make-up before bed, do you have any other life philosophies?

I have a few but I do try and see the positive in every situation. My new philosophy is to try and turn a bad day around. Always try to turn it around, even if it’s six o’clock in the evening – try to turn it around. You know you can. You can always make a bad day better if you put your head into it!

The new Freedom Talk Plan from O2 gives everybody the freedom to talk, with €10 of a €20 monthly top up unlocking unlimited calls to all Irish mobiles and landlines.