Keeping Mumthe key tolife of Reilly

by Catriona Gray

MAKING it as an actor isnotoriously tough, but amother who is prepared tolie to your father can helphugely.That was the view of

well-known Hollywoodactor John C Reilly - starof the soon-to-be releasedcomedy Step Brothers -who told Trinity College'sPhilosophical Society that'like most fathers, his wasanxious he do somethingmore practical."He thought I was taking

business at DePaul Univer-sity. Thankfully my motherdidn't tell him that I wasreally at the conservatory ofacting."Reilly revealed that

growing up in Chicago,with its strong theatricaland musical tradition, hewas determined to act."I grew up ina family of

six kids, so by the time Ireached 18 I was reallydesperate to get out of thehouse."My father told me that

he'd provide me with aneducation and healthcare

and that the rest was up tome."Ignoring his father's

advice has paid off, howev-er. Reilly has been nomi-nated for an AcademyAward for Best SupportingActor for his part inChicago and twice for aGolden Globe Award.The 43-year-old actor is

currently best known forhis collaborations with WillFerrell, firstly in TalledegaNights and now in StepBrothers."We're good friends, Will

and I. We met about sixyears before we didTalladaga and we've beenworking together sincethen. I love the guy."When asked if he was

worried about gettingtypecast as a result of hisrecent comedy collabora-tions with Ferrell, Reillyjoked that "with a face likethis, it's hard to get cast inthe first place, let alonetypecast".Reilly is no stranger to

acting work, however. Thecharacter actor has appearedin about 50 films, andhe had some advice to

Hollywood actor John C Reilly, who stars alongside Will Ferrell in the upcoming comedy Step Brother, shows off hishonorary patron's medal he received from Trinity College Dublin's Philosophical SOCiety. Picture: Martin McKenna

not be earning a lot ofmoney, but at least you'realways working."Reilly arrived at Trinity

wearing an Aran sweater,explaining that it was in.memory of his Irish father,

budding young actors."If you want to be an

actor, choose to gosomewhere where you canwork as an actor, not workas a waiter and call yourselfan actor," he said.

"New York and LA areincredibly competitiveplaces for actors, so I wouldsay find somewhere likeChicago, where there's 250theatres and you can alwaysfind acting work. You may

but seemed sketchy aboutthe details of his roots."My dad was from the

very north ... but whoknows if even that's true?He was full of littlemythologies."