Irish actress Jasmine Brady has revealed that she used to be bullied at school because she has natural ginger hair.
The teenage star plays a bully in the soap Fair City and says that her own experience of being bullied as a youngster helped her to develop her character.
Brady’s character is Amanda Ryan, who takes delight in making life as unbearable as possible for her victim, Rachel Brennan. She says wanted to take the part because it would challenge her as an actress.
Brady was bullied when she started school. She told RTÉ Guide: ‘‘when I was in primary school I was bullied for being naturally ginger.
‘‘When I moved into secondary school I decided to start out with the attitude, ‘I’m not going to be a pushover’, and I stood up for myself.’’
She says that the storyline had brought her to tears when she first read the script and added that it was tough to film the bullying scenes.
She said: “One of the most difficult things for me was where I had to throw Rachel up against a wall.
‘‘It’s acting but it’s hard because I know there are people out there who could actually be going through this.
“Amanda really is a horrible person and she enjoys it but I actually love playing the part.
“I would never do what she does but when I got the script I felt this was a character I would like to play. It’s different from anything I’ve ever done.”
Brady has died her hair black for the role but intends to go back to her natural ginger when she leaves the show.
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