Kerry Condon: this ball-of-fire actress is riding the Irish swell and headed for a breakthrough

Interview, April, 2004 by Juan Morales

Irish actress Kerry Condon isn't one to cave under pressure. At 16, this former competitive swimmer decided to attend an open audition for a bit part in Alan Parker's adaptation of Angela's Ashes (1999). "Everyone said, 'Oh, thousands of people are going up for that,'" she recalls. "But I thought, Yeah, thousands of people who have done nothing, like me."

The plucky Tipperary native not only got the job, but she's been working ever since. From modest Irish films like Rat (2000) she jumped to London's Royal Shakespeare Company, where a production of Hamlet (she was the youngest Ophelia in RSC history) led to a supporting turn in this month's Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger as the notorious Australian outlaw; Condon plays his sister. She also has a memorable role opposite Colin Farrell in the new comedic drama Intermission. "I've known Colin for a long time," she says, "which helped an awful lot because he's such a terrible flirt."

Feisty and refreshingly frank, Condon, now 22, admits she would love to follow in the footsteps of her Irish pals Farrell and Cillian Murphy, who's also in Intermission. But when discussing her career, she is as down-to-earth as she is driven: "There will always be good parts and good films, so I'm in no rush."

Above: Kerry Condon wears a dress by CHLOE. Shoes by GINA COUTURE.

Juan Morales writes about film for the Los Angeles Times. Above: Dress by VERSACE. Cosmetics by VERSACE MAKE UP. Styling: AMBER GORDON/Bernstein & Andriulli. Hair: GERARD HOWE/Holy Cow. Makeup: KIM BROWN/Premier. Fashion details page 181. Photo: DIEGO MERINO.