Colm Meaney
Colm Meaney
Colm J. Meaneyis an Irish actor known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He has guest-starred on many TV shows from Law & Order to The Simpsons, and during its run, starred as railroad magnate Thomas Durant on AMC's drama series Hell on Wheels...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth30 May 1953
CountryIreland
actors four lasts
I do go back to Ireland, and I'll probably be doing a film in Ireland in January, and I guess that kind of keeps me classified as 'the Irish actor,' but the last four or five projects that I've been in are either American or English, so I don't feel terribly trapped in that. But sometimes, yeah, you would like to not be called 'the Irish actor.' You'd prefer to just be called 'the actor.'
actors telling-stories directors
I kind of have an interest in all history. And I suspect it comes from being Irish - we like stories, we like telling stories, which makes a lot of us lean towards being writers or actors or directors.
humorous character laughing
I suppose I look for humor in most situations because it humanizes things; it makes a character much more three-dimensional if there's some kind of humor. Not necessarily laugh-out-loud type of stuff, just a sense that there is a humorous edge to things. I do like that.
decent home money pay reason road television time
There's no reason not to be in television now. You get to live at home and you're not on the road all the time, they pay you decent money, and the writing's good. You're not compromising for it, you know.
direct handled reminds
Talking about the show reminds you of things that you went through. So it's fun. When the show was on, I couldn't have handled it. I didn't want that direct connection.
history interested period work
It's interesting because I haven't done a lot of period work in the past, but I always wanted to because I'm interested in history.
directors exactly knew saw scene worked
In the past I've worked with directors who saw very much their scene in their head and knew exactly how they were going to cut it.
danger good life pigeonhole rest star trek
Which is good, in a way, because the danger in doing something like STAR TREK is that you end up in that pigeonhole and you're doing that the rest of your life.
amount comply historical obviously playing public record
If you're playing the a historical character that's in the public consciousness, then obviously you've got to make an effort to look like that person and there's a huge amount of historical record there that you have to kind of comply to.
closer perspective specific
I usually look at things like that from an audience perspective first, then have a closer look at the specific character they're talking about me for.
comedy good humor love playing
I love doing comedy. You don't get many good comedy scripts. They're rare. But, I do love playing comedy. Even in drama, I like to try to find the humor because I think it's very human.
background four last loving period strong suit theater three until work
As an actor, my background is in the theater and I feel that my strong suit is period work, but I actually didn't do much of it at all, until the last three or four years. I'm loving it!
played school trombone
I played trombone for 10 minutes, and then I was in an accordion band in school for even less.
depths dreadful
Even in the depths of dreadful situations, there's usually something rather comic, or something you can laugh about afterwards, at least. So, I do look for the comedy in those things.