Teenager Dafhyd in the running for IFTA Award
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A TEENAGER who started acting by chance as a 12-year-old has been nominated for an Irish Film and Television Academy Award for best actor in a leading role for his performance in the film ‘Michael Inside’.
Dafhyd Flynn, 18, who is a Leaving Certificate student in Tallaght Community School, got his first taste of acting when film director Frank Berry was filming ‘I Used to Live Here’ in Killinarden and Dafhyd’s friend asked him to be an extra in the film.
A few years later, Frank Berry approached Dafhyd and asked him to audition for a role in ‘Michael Inside’, which centres on an 18-year-old man who lives in a housing estate with his grandfather, and is caught holding drugs for a friend and has to navigate the internal politics of the prison system during his three-month sentence.
Killinarden native Dafhyd told The Echo: “Frank came to me with the idea for the film and asked me to audition for it.
“When I got the part, I was over the moon. I really couldn’t believe it.”
He added: “Shooting the movie is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
‘Michael Inside’ has been nominated for three different IFTA awards, including best scriptwriter and best director.
Explaining how he felt when he found out he’d been nominated for the best actor in a leading role award, Dafhyd said: “It hasn’t fully hit me yet, I think it will take a few days for it to sink in.
“I’m grateful for all of the congratulations that I’m getting – acting is something that I love doing.”
While the young man is currently whittling down his college choices for when he finishes school, it’s clear that acting will always be a passion of his.
“The first time I saw ‘Michael Inside’, I just thought, ‘This is going to be something I’ll do for the rest of my life’,” he said.
“I like getting to know the character I’m playing and becoming someone else.”
The young man added that his family, friends and his school have been very supportive of his acting ambitions.
The 2018 IFTA Film & Drama Awards Ceremony will take place on February 15.
TAGS news
