Fair City actor Matthew O’Brien has told how Colin Farrell gave him a very welcome pep talk while filming under multi Oscar-nominated director Yorgos Lanthimos.He also recalled ‘the most unusual’ audition with Lanthimos for his role in The Lobster, which involved him screaming in pretend pain for 10 to 15 minutes.O’Brien, who plays Carrigstown’s James Rafferty, had a small part in the 2015 film that kicked off Greek director Lanthimos’s relationship with Irish producers Element Pictures – which has now yielded six acclaimed films and a staggering 26 Oscar nominations.The Fair City favourite was on set for three or four days during the shoot in Ireland, working with a cast that included Rachel Weisz, Léa Seydoux, Olivia Colman and John C Reilly, as well as leading man Farrell.O’Brien told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘As an actor, you look to the director to give you some kind of thumbs up or thumbs down, or more, or less – some actual direction. And I remember Yorgos was really [immersed] in it – he was watching everything, and he didn’t really give any notes.‘And I remember Colin Farrell came up to me and he was very generous. He said, “You’re doing great, pal,” and it was enough to keep me going.’The soap star said the three-time Golden Globe winner was ‘such a lovely fella’ on set – ‘such a lovely, down-to-earth man’. Fair City actor Matthew O’Brien has told how Colin Farrell gave him a very welcome pep talk while filming under multi Oscar-nominated director Yorgos Lanthimos.‘Maybe I was looking for something [from Lanthimos] and [Farrell] saw it and was able to pre-empt it. So it was just nice of him to come over and say, “Well done, you’re doing great.”’While Lanthimos’s on-set direction was less hands-on than expected, the filmmaker was unusually involved during casting, O’Brien remembered.‘It was a really interesting process, even up to the audition, which was one of the most unusual ones I’ve ever had.‘Usually, you go into a room with a table and you present your work across the table.‘But I remember Yorgos had the entire room cleared, and I was in there with another actor, and [Lanthimos] doesn’t like acting – he throws stuff at you. As part of the audition he had me basically pretending my leg was trapped in a bear trap and screaming.‘It was more like a rehearsal than anything else.‘At this point, I didn’t know I had the role, and that was his way of seeing how you could deal with what he would throw at you.‘So I can only imagine the people in the hall waiting to come in, watching this guy going to do an audition, and he just screams for about 10 or 15 minutes and then walks out with a smile on his face.’The former Shakespearean actor said it is ‘very unusual’ for a director to be present at all at that stage but ‘such a privilege’ to witness the methods of the ‘very thoughtful’ Lanthimos, who has gone on to receive seven Oscar nominations for directing, screenwriting and producing in successful collaborations with the likes of Emma Stone. Colin Farrell came up to O’Brien and was very generous, telling the then novice: ‘You’re doing great, pal’O’Brien later worked under a 16-time nominee in Martin Scorsese, who produced the 2024 docudrama television series Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints – though that time, he didn’t have the ‘privilege’ of meeting the legendary filmmaker.The episode O’Brien appeared in centred on St Patrick, with him playing a monk who admonishes him for his unorthodox ways of spreading Christianity.‘It was so cool, because obviously it’s the closest I’ll ever get to Scorsese, but to be involved with the story of Patrick…‘And it was quite well done. It was like the story of St Patrick with a bit of the old Game of Thrones and Vikings vibe thrown in – just how violent it would have been in early Christian Ireland.’Despite the Hollywood associations, the Co. Meath actor is for now far more recognisable as Fair City’s Rafferty – with his ‘weirdest’ fan interaction yet happening earlier on the day he spoke to the MoS.‘I was out in Navan getting a few groceries, and a woman hit me with a stick,’ he laughed.‘She was obviously buying a broom or something, and she was coming down the escalator, and all I could feel was this broom at the back of my neck.‘Your immediate reaction is to turn around and go into conflict mode, but it was an elderly woman. She was trying to get my attention, but there’s other ways to go about it!’ Emma Stone with director Yorgos LanthimosHe calls his character in the soap ‘a bit misunderstood’ – though most fans would probably agree he is closer to a villain than a hero.‘I don’t think there’s anything that he does that’s particularly egregious… with the exception of trying to kidnap his wife’s mother – that’s probably the worst.’The 40-year-old father of two continued with a laugh: ‘Who hasn’t? It’s those moments we’ve all had when we go: “Jaysus, I don’t have enough money for my rent at the end of the week.‘Will I try and kidnap my mother-in-law who has a good pension?”’He feels a kinship with the divisive character and said he will ‘always defend him’ when people ‘chastise’ him.‘People give out about him but I’ll be like “No, no. I know him better.”‘He’s an extension of your psyche, I think.’Fair City airs on RTÉ One on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays – available for streaming on the RTÉ Player anytime