James Nesbitt - Lunch with Friends

The simple hyphen signifies it all, according to actor James Nesbitt who spoke to a NZ-UK Link Foundation lunch in Wellington on 16 June. 

In an erudite, articulate and very enjoyable after lunch speech he told the audience that he grew up in Coleraine, County Antrim in Northern Ireland, surrounded by women. He has three sisters, plus his mother and father had three apiece too.

He said he had no interest in acting “at all” at an early age, in fact, his first stage performance was singing the ‘Z Cars’ TV theme in a talent show at the age of six. Like his father and sisters, his initial intention was to teach and he began a degree in French at the University of Ulster in Belfast. But he dabbled in drama and remembers being dragged off a rugby pitch to audition for a production Oliver (he sang Bohemian Rhapsody). He entered acting simply because he said, “It seemed a good way to meet women.”

However, his interest in the art grew and he finally dropped out of university – having asked one of his sisters to break the news to his parents – to attend the Central  School of Drama, “think Laurence Oliver, Judi Dench ... and me!” he said. His first professional job was to tour the world in a production of Hamlet.

The University of Ulster gave him an Honorary Doctorate. He is delighted, after many years of being the only sibling without a graduation photo on his parents' wall at home – and being reminded of the fact often – that his photo is also now on display.  He is evidently proud that he has since become Chancellor of the University of Ulster.

Alzheimer’s is also close to his heart – his mother is now afflicted by it – and he campaigns on the topic. In addition, he is also an ambassador for UNICEF travelling the world once a year to draw attention to the charity’s work.

He, his wife Sonia and girls Peggy (13) and Mary (9) – and new dog Bobby – are settling into their adventure living in Wellington while James works for film director Sir Peter Jackson, starring as Bofur in The Hobbit.  It is apparent that family matters a great deal to him and it is important to him that that his family loved it in New Zealand. His contract is for 18 months, but he has noticed others on the cast, like Sir Ian McKellen, have returned time and time again to work with Sir Peter , so he has a feeling the family may be in Wellington for longer.

Tables at the lunch were named after some of the productions with which James has been involved, such as Cold Feet, Murphy's Law, Five Minutes of Heaven, Jekyll (the role that has given him the most buzz as an actor, he revealed), Bloody Sunday, Waking Ned Devine and most recently Monroe.