Conleth Kane has an impressive number of strings to his bow! Enough to make the rest of us feel bad about sitting at home in the dark and binge-watching Stranger Things on Netflix.
He’s an actor, a singer AND a dancer! He’s been on telly AND he’s been on the stage! He can do ballads AND he can do hi-NRG dance numbers.
So naturally, Dylan Jones took him to The Vaults in Waterloo (totes edgy) for a chat. Conleth told him about his difficult upbringing in Northern Ireland, the treatment of gay men in the acting industry and most importantly, THE TIME HE HAD CHRISTMAS DINNER WITH PAMELA ANDERSON.
Hi Conleth! So you grew up in Northern Ireland…I hear you’ve been quite vocal about LGBT rights there.
I’m very outspoken on my opinions for LGBT rights in Northern Ireland, because it’s my homeland. Even though I live in London, it’s still my home. It’s so unfortunate that the LGBT community there are still controlled by a government that’s very clearly homophobic. They think it’s ok to call gay people child abusers, for example and it’s just not on. I actually grew up in a very small place called Lurgan. It’s got a very small town mentality. And I had a terrible time growing up. I was very outspoken and I wanted to be a performer. I knew I was gay when I was about six or seven. I never felt I was straight. It was difficult. I was brought up in a Catholic faith, in the middle of nowhere in Ireland.
I guess gay wasn’t even a thing really…
It wasn’t, although “I was never afraid to express who I was. On non-uniform days at school I wore my Spice Girls t-shirt!” I was never intimidated. I did take a few beatings at school. I think because I had such a turbulent childhood when it comes to being gay and where I’m from, now that I’ve had a career on stage and TV, I try to be a voice for some people back home in Northern Ireland. So when it comes to press and speaking out against the DUP, I’m more than happy to step up and do that.
So how do you think gay men are treated in the acting industry?
I’ve been in stage and screen acting for about thirteen years now, in London and in Ireland. And for me to come out publicly and speak about LGBT rights was a big step for me, because it does pigeonhole you. I found that casting dried up a bit for me. Maybe as a result, my acting career has lately been based around playing gay roles. So when I say the casting’s dried up, it’s just the generic casting that’s dried up. But I’ve actually ended up having a very successful career playing gay roles.
I imagine it’s nice playing gay roles!
Oh it’s fab! You can just camp it up. Last year I did a play at Above The Stag, about the effects of HIV and AIDs. It was rewarding, because lots of people came up to me in clubs, and people still come up to me in Soho actually, and say “we went to see Rise Like A Phoenix at Above The Stag, and the only reason we went is because we’re HIV positive, and we loved it.” It’s at times like that where you’re like “oh wow I’m really chuffed that I played that role.” So that was great. But there’s a lot of actors in Hollywood, and a lot of actors over here in soaps and stuff, who won’t come out. Because they feel it might affect their long-term careers.
It a shame that that’s still the case.
It’s weird, because at my drama school about eighty per cent of the boys were gay. But we were all told “boys, butch up, otherwise you won’t get a part, if you’re still skinny and don’t look like a man.” So even within an industry that’s very friendly towards the LGBT community, you’re chastised for it. The majority of men in theatre, television and music are gay. But you’re told to act straight because it might affect your long-term career if you be yourself.
So I’ve heard your new track ‘Giving It Up’. It’s great!
Thank you, I’m so thrilled! The BBC have called it a summer anthem. I’m kind of being the artist, the singer, the songwriter, the publicist…I’m doing it all without a record label. I’m the driving machine behind the song. I’ve got it into clubs like The Shadow Lounge, Koko…I’ve got in touch with XXL too, I want the bears to hear it! I wrote the song in fifteen minutes. It literally just flew out of me. I wanted to do something really catchy, with a great summer vibe, that people could potentially sing back after one listen.
I hear you’ve got a video that’s been getting a lot of traction online.
Yes! I wrote a song at the end of July about my break-up, called ‘The Grass Is Always Greener’. I put a video of me singing it online, and in a matter of days it had almost 50,000 views on Facebook and over 600 shares! I was messaged by people from Nashville to New Zealand. I still can’t believe it. There’s been so much interest in the song. My relationship ended so suddenly, and I loved my partner with all my heart. I really did. He was out of my life overnight. I wasn’t ready. He was my favourite person, he really was, and when that person exits your life so quickly, so unexpectedly, you fall very low, very fast. It’s a cliché, but the best music comes from heartache, and this time it really did for me.
I’ve heard writing songs can be very cathartic.
Oh yeah! Since my breakup I’ve written three songs. And it’s a complete release.
So we’ve covered music…tell me more about the rest of the stuff you do.
I’m a really creative soul. I love to write songs, I love to sing, I love to act, I love to do plays, I love to do telly…it’s in my blood! Sometimes you have days where you’re like “god I should just be normal and get a salary job”. Because one month you can earn loads of money, and then the next month you earn nothing. Some people ask me how I do it, and sometimes I look at myself and think “how do you do it?” This is what I love about my career. I’ve worked with some great people. I sang with Pink. I had Christmas dinner with Pamela Anderson.
Oh my god amazing! How did that happen?
Well I went to audition for a panto with Barbara Windsor, and she was on the panel, and it went really well. But afterwards my agent called me and said “They’re gonna put you in a panto Liverpool with Pamela Anderson!” And I was like THAT’S SO MUCH BETTER. She played the Genie. Her and I had quite a few scenes together. Her and me were the only ones who weren’t going home for Christmas, so she invited me over to The Hilton for Christmas dinner!
What did she eat?
Salad. And I couldn’t order turkey because she’s so into her animal rights. So I had to nibble on these crappy tofu things. Everyone around us was filming her, and I was like “this is crazy, leave her alone this girl’s having her Christmas dinner!”
It must be so annoying for celebrities when people do that.
Well I think I was getting more annoyed about it than she was, because she’s used to it. I was giving everyone the evils.
What other encounters with famous people have you had?
Well, I trained with Jessie J back in the day. And her and I always wanted to do music, and obviously now she’s a superstar.
Has it been weird watching her get famous?
With her, what you see is what you get. She’s very marmite. When I watch her on TV shows like The Voice, that’s just exactly who she is. She hasn’t adapted her persona for her fame at all. She’s very genuine. And it’s amazing to see how well she’s done. I’ll never forget the first day I saw her. I walked into the rehearsal room, and she was just sat on the floor singing away. And I thought, what a voice, what confidence. There was absolutely no doubt in her head that she would be a recording artist, and a successful one at that. She just wants to sing, she doesn’t want to be a celebrity. Singing is all she’s ever wanted to do.
So, back to your new song…have you thought about a
music video?
Well I’m looking into that at the moment! I’ve done a music video before, for a cover of Joni Mitchell’s River that I released at Christmas. And I was openly gay in that. I remember the director said to me “do you want a love interest in the video?” and I was like “yeah, I’ve got a friend who’ll do it” and he asked if it was gonna be a boy or a girl and I said “well of course it’s going to be a boy.”
So you’ve been in musicals too. Being in something as physical as a musical for months at a time must be exhausting.
Well in Beauty & The Beast, I played Gaston’s little sidekick Lefou. And that’s the most physical role. I was thrown around the stage like a cushion.
Ooh, who played Gaston?
A guy called Ben Harlow. He was six foot four. He came up to me in rehearsals and in a deep voice was like “I’m your Gaston!” and I was like “YAAAY!”
Ha! Amazing. When you’re working on something as intense as a musical, I imagine you can’t really have nights out and stuff.
I had to control myself a bit, because alcohol really affects my vocals. I’m quite disciplined when I’m at work though. I could only really go out on a Saturday night, because we were off on Sunday. A lot of people did go out Tuesday to Saturday and get pissed, and still sounded amazing, but I’m not that person. It really dries me out. Some shows I sounded like Marge Simpson. Wine is the killer, and it’s my drink of choice.
Have you got more music planned then?
Because Giving It Up has had such a great response, I’m going back into the studio in August. So I’ll be working on a new track!
What would be your ideal aim for the future?
Do you know something, I remember when I was younger, my brother and sister used to babysit me. And they used to play Erasure all the time. And even now, when I listen to Erasure, I think “this is brilliant”. And what’s amazing is I’ve developed a bit of a friendship with Andy Bell. Basically I’d love to have a musical career like Erasure. An openly gay recording artist, who makes great music.
• Giving It up is out now.
