Charlie star Aidan Gillen has told how he is not a fan corrupt ex-Taoiseach Charlie Haughey.
The former Love/Hate actor plays the politician in the new RTE drama which was screened last night.
But the 46-year-old said he did not like the former leader of Fianna Fail’s politics – especially as he “could have been brilliant”.
New role: Aidan stars with ex-Love/Hate colleague Tom Vaughan Lawlor | RTE
He added: “A type of politics was ushered in during that era which still exists. I do believe there was idealism there in the beginning.
“He did have a vision for the country. He himself became central to that vision. He could have been brilliant. He was very successful politician.
“In his early ministries he was very creative and innovative and he did what he needed to do to get to the top which he did quickly.”
And Aidan said he found while researching the role that it was hard to get a full picture of who Haughey was.
Tough role: Aidan found it hard to find out who the real Charlie was | RTE
He told 2FM: “It was quite hard to define. You could generally say that this is a fella who craved power and had to be in control.
“If you’re fine-tuning it beyond that a lot of people close to him said you couldn’t quite ever pin him down or tell you exactly what kind of person he really was or that they really knew him.
“They’ll tell you something and someone else would tell you something completely different. He had multiple sides going on all the time and knew how to use them.
“That’s what being a politician is and he was very successful politician and controlling. His hand was everywhere.”
