My look keeps getting me cast as the b**ch, says Fair City star Aoibheann

Aoibheann McCaul. Photo: Brian McEvoy

Fair City star Aoibheann McCaul is eager to explore fresh roles as she keeps getting cast as "the b**ch".

The Dublin actress (27), who plays catty Caoimhe Dillon in the RTE soap, has revealed how she gets a lot of the same roles due to her "severe face".

"I was typecast as the b**ch in the show but that's what I was getting typecast as anyway because I've got quite a severe face and a lot of things are based on how you look," she said.

"I used to get in trouble at school because teachers used to think I was giving them dirty looks. I was like, 'This is my natural facial expression' - I'm actually a really good person. I can actually play a nice, happy, vulnerable person. I've a wide range of emotions, as my boyfriend will tell you."

Her fellow soap star Aoibhin Garrihy (inset) left the RTE programme last year and while she said she missed her in Carrigstown, they still see each other all the time as they're best pals.

Malahide-native Aoibheann added that there is often a deadline for TV actors not to spend too long in a particular show in order to avoid getting pigeon-holed.

"Yeah, you're not really going to have Caoimhe in Love/Hate. But then Fair City is just an Irish thing," she said. "Fair City is just a gig so they could have me move on or I could move on at any time."

And she said how she would love to branch out into movies - and specifically action movies as she loves doing physically-challenging scenes.

"I'd love a big movie role in some kind of action film. I was almost considering going into stunts," she continued.

"I love sports and things like that so I think that might be my niche. I think lots of girls don't want to jump off buildings or roll off horses. I think I'm actually the one girl in Fair City that's done stunts. I've run through fires, I've run in front of cars, lots of different things."

DRAMA

She has cast the net for new roles and is looking at doing something for RTE's Storyland, an online drama competition.

But while she has put pen to paper to write her own material, she says she has the tendency to "write and hide it" as a lot of it is based on personal experiences.

A self-confessed gym bunny, she says her second home has become a gym in Drumcondra. "I have a personal trainer there, I'm training with a team and I also go to classes, so I'm there most days and I'm still not getting bored, which is great," she said.