Valerie O'Connor: When people say hello to me in the street, I think I know them

Valerie O’Connor plays no-nonsense detective Nikki Grogan on TV3’s Red Rock, but in reality she couldn’t be more different to her character on screen.

The soft-spoken actress dreams of owning her own farm, is obsessed with her dog Gozo and shuns the spotlight for the Wicklow countryside – but says playing the top dog on Red Rock is her dream job.

“I love Nikki Grogan and I love playing her,” she says. “When you see women on screen, sometimes all they are is the wife of someone, but Kim Revill (the lead writer) creates these really strong female, complex roles. They’re all flawed and they’re not really one-dimensional.”

Valerie is an experienced actress, having acted in many productions on stage and screen and running her own theatre company, but this is her most high-profile role to date.

The attention that comes with starring in a top Irish soap took some getting used to, and Valerie admits she’s perplexed when it comes to public interest in her personal life.

“When people say hello to me in the street, I think I know them. Someone came up to me once, and I blushed so badly and got such a shock that she apologised. I was puce. I didn’t know what to say,” she says.

“I think: ‘Who cares?’ but people do, and that’s the shocking thing. I’m an actor –I just get on with it. I certainly don’t want to be a celebrity. My friends have normal jobs. I see acting like that.”

Set in a fictional garda station in Dublin, it’s been over one year since Red Rock debuted on TV3, with the second season drawing to a close this week. The IFTA award-winning show has been a huge success for the station, and rights have recently been sold Stateside to Amazon Prime and the BBC.

Red Rock has also been praised critically, tackling difficult storylines such as unwanted pregnancy, family strife and drug problems. “I look at Red Rock and think it’s a good and strong show. The huge thing for me is that it’s homegrown. When you’re an actor there are not many jobs like this. To work in a continuing soap is rare, and it’s important because they employ so many people,” says Valerie.

“The filming day starts at 7am in the make-up chair and finishes at 7pm. They’re long days, but then again so is a nurse’s job. No one is a diva.

“There are so many people behind the show that viewers wouldn’t know. What you see on screen is a quarter of the people working there. We’re only a very small part of it and in some sense the crew don’t get the recognition they deserve.”

However, Valerie is not glued to the show’s reviews.

“I never read them – if you believe the good ones then you have to believe the bad ones too. People have been lovely on Twitter, though. All they do is get in touch to say that was a lovely episode. They’re so invested in these characters. Guards apparently love the show too, which I’m delighted with,” she says.

Valerie, who studied acting in DIT and completed a master’s in Shakespeare in London, has been acting for 15 years. She commends the choice of actors in Red Rock, from experienced to new faces.

“They are employing actors who are well established but also through open audition. That’s brilliant, because it gives people a chance,” she says.

“I’m nearly 35 and this is the first stable job I’ve had. I kind of like the stability. I’ve never known what it’s like to go to the same place over and over again.”

Could the show have the same longevity as Coronation Street or Fair City? “I would love that. It has the scope –it could run and run,” says Valerie.

With Red Rock’s summer break coming up, though, Valerie plans to take it easy for a few months – from long walks with her beloved Gozo and tending the garden at home.

However, her brother has another ideal role in mind for the down-to-earth actor.

“The Good Life!” she laughs.

The last episode of this series of Red Rock airs on Thursday 26 May on TV3. ?