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Ronan Keating on his transition to the big screen

This article first appeared in IF Magazine Issue #151

He’s a successful pop star, an international heartthrob and has smashed his way onto Australian TV screens as a popular judge on hit show The X-Factor. But Ronan Keating is very, very nervous.

After ten years of trying to break into the acting world (the star famously was unsuccessful in his audition for The Hobbit) Keating has landed a main role in the upcoming Australian feature film, Goddess. 

Now the film has wrapped and is about to hit Australian screens, Keating is uncharacteristically insecure about how his first foray into the acting world will be received. 

“I’m really bloody nervous,” he admits during a fifteen minute phone interview. “It’s not out there in the public yet but I’m so curious to what they will think of the film and my character. I have no idea. I’ve got nothing to gage it against. You know you release an album and say, ‘Well this is different to my other one,’ or, you know, you have some idea. But this is brand new and I’m just not sure how it’s all going to go.”

Goddess is a musical comedy based on the 1996 cult hit one-woman show, Sink Songs, by Joanna Weinberg. Also starring Australian favourite Magda Szubanski, the story follows couple Elspeth and James (Laura Michelle Kelly and Keating) who, with their troublesome twin boys, relocate to Tasmania so James can pursue a career in whale conservation. Frustrated with rural life, Elspeth sets up a web-cam in her kitchen and begins broadcasting her ‘sink-songs’ to the world, with unexpected consequences.

Keating says it was only after he landed the role he realised why he may not have previously been successful in other film auditions.

“I think (there’s) been a combination of directors not believing in me and probably a lack of talent,” he says. “I tried and I tried… But you know it was only when I got the role I realised how unprepared I was. It was a big learning curve for me.”

Both producer Richard Keddie and director Mark Lamprell threw away the rule book when casting Goddess, with neither leads having any film experience. 

Still, it is a gamble they are glad to have made. 

“I had a huge respect for Ronan Keating’s ability as a performer,” Keddie says. 

“He's a total professional and we were very confident he could make the transition. He is a major find in the acting world. And the bonus is that his star power is fantastic.” 

Keddie is equally full of praise for Broadway darling Kelly.

“Laura Michelle Kelly's performance as Mary Poppins both on the West End and Broadway is probably the best qualification you could have to play our lead character. She's exquisite.”

Though Goddess obviously features plenty of musical content, Keating’s ability to sing is not what makes his performance. In fact, with the lion’s share of songs going to Kelly, Keating sings just three numbers, and one of those appears only over the credits. What we see in Goddess is very much Keating as an actor, rather than a pop star with a film role. 

In a reflection of this, when asked about his favourite moment of the film, Keating disregards his solo and instead chooses the scene he found most challenging as an actor. 

"For me, my personal favourite of the film, the bit where I thought I could really get my teeth into, is when I’m getting on the ship, and Laura is rushing over to me to say sorry, and I’m just – ‘forget about it.’ It’s a really gritty moment and I liked that.”

Keating says the transition between pop star and actor was not without its challenges. 

“On my very first day I was with the twins. It was my very first scene on set and it was just me and the two boys in the kitchen and I was making them breakfast. My very first day and I didn’t have an adult to deal with. But the boys were brilliant, we had a great time,” he says. 

There were other, less craft-based challenges for Keating to face as well – in particular a scene where James does the washing up wearing only an apron. 

“Getting my rear out was pretty full-on. I was pretty nervous about that,” Keating laughs. “But you know I realised you just have to lose all your inhibitions. You didn’t see my arse, you saw James’s arse! That’s how I justify it to myself.” 

Though nervous about critical reception, Keating is also hopeful his performance in Goddess will land him other roles on the silver screen.

“Oh, I hope so. It’s something I’ve really wanted to do for a long, long time. I know how much of a risk it is, because I hadn’t done a film before, and I really appreciate them taking a chance on me. I owe them.”

Did you see Goddess? What did you think of Keating? Leave your comments below.