RTS Programme Awards 2018

Sinead Keenan on her RTS-award winning role in Little Boy Blue

“I remember watching an interview with Paul Bettany once and he said, ‘acting is like sex, it’s nice to do but embarrassing to talk about.’”

She laughs, “It’s so true.”

Keenan's acting career started on Irish soap opera Fair City before her breakout role as Nina on BBC’s Being Human. “I’ve tried to take parts that I find interesting, or well written, challenging,” she says.

“On the other hand, you have to live, you have to eat, you have to work, so it’s within that kind of jobbing actor thing, trying to balance those two things out.”

Is this The End of the F***ing World?

“I think everyone can relate to that [feeling]” comments the 34-year-old. “When you’re 16 and you think everything’s conspiring against you.”

The award-winning drama garnered a cult following almost overnight earlier this year when it debuted on Channel 4 and shortly followed globally on Netflix.

Jack Rowan: I hit the jackpot with Peaky Blinders

Yet playing a villain in his first leading role was perfect for the 21-year-old newcomer. “I love it because it’s so far removed from who you really are,” he tells the RTS.

His chilling portrayal of teenage psychopath Sam Woodford secured Rowan a nomination for an acting award at this year's RTS Programme Awards alongside “two kings” Stephen Graham and Sean Bean.

“Even to be in the same sentence [as them] is beyond me, I’m just kind of pinching myself.”