'Oscar did his first ad on his fourth birthday'

Oscar McLeane Fay lives with his parents Monika and Tony and has two siblings - James (23) and Marnie (19)

Although he is only six, he has always wanted to be in the spotlight – his mother is the executive director of Bare Cheek Theatre and Wexford Youth Theatre, his dad is the artistic director of the Granary Theatre in Cork and his sister is a student of the Gaiety School of Acting, so he was destined to follow suit.

"When Marnie was younger, she was taking part in a photo shoot and the director spotted Oscar trying to muscle in," recalls Monika. "He was very taken with him as he was only three and asked if I would consider signing him up to the agency.

"Within a week, Oscar was asked to attend an audition in Dublin for the launch of the new e-mobile campaign and was very lucky to have been chosen. So he began a three-day shoot for the ad on his fourth birthday.

"He is a very outgoing and confident little boy, who is equally at ease with adults and kids – and being brought up in a theatrical family, he already knows the score regarding the direction and the discipline of his 'work'. He loves to meet new people and enjoys auditioning, although he likes the security of knowing we are nearby at all times."

Monika says she is confident that her son enjoys his modelling and acting work and wouldn't let it continue if he wasn't happy.

"It is important that we never force Oscar to audition, it's always his choice," she says. "If he doesn't want to attend an audition, we don't make him do it. However, he also knows that if he agrees to do something he is expected to do it. The amount of work is not huge, if he does two jobs a year that's enough, as he is still quite young.

"The future for Oscar is entirely open, one day he wants to be a director like his dad, next day he wants own an 'animal hotel' or be a superhero! My advice to any parents is if you have a child who looks at TV and decides they want to be like Macaulay Culkin tomorrow, ignore it, if your child is pretty or good looking it doesn't mean they will automatically get the job. Ask yourself if it's your wish or the child's.

"We see kids being dragged to auditions who are wearing their best clothes, hair spiked to perfection, drama teachers and mums 'preparing' them in the waiting room and it's completely the wrong way to handle a child, it puts a lot of pressure on them."