Love/Hate star Susan Loughnane has revealed she was claiming the dole even though she was famous.
The Malahide actress, who played Debbie in the hit RTE drama, admitted she was flat broke even though the show was a massive success.
“I was on the cover of a magazine but I was on the dole. It was really tough.”
“I didn’t stay on the dole for too long, I couldn’t bare it. Just about two weeks I think I kept it, but that’s the reality of the business.”
Award winning: Susan won the IFTA for Best Actress in 2013 | VIPIRELAND.COM
“Touch wood I’m fine now I’ve been okay for a while, but you just don’t know,” she told An Irishman Abroad.
Speaking on the podcast Susan added that she has often worked in normal jobs in between filming.
“People don’t realise that when you’re waiting for your career to take off you don’t have a penny, and you’re just pushing, pushing, pushing,” she said.
“It can get exhausting and it’s not what you thought it was going to be. After [Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model] I didn’t go back into acting. I worked in Carphone Warehouse. I worked there for about six months.
“I wanted to do something normal, get back to reality. I like doing normal things sometimes. I worked in a pub last year, for six months. I can’t last longer than six months doing normal things.”
In character: Susan as Debbie in Love/Hate | RTE
Meanwhile Susan revealed she has designed the artwork for her debut novel.
The red-head is turning her talents to writing, and revealed she is also a painter.
I painted the cover. It will be out in October. It’s a comedy. I’ve had this story in my head for a really long time,” she said.
“I really saw it as a film but when I started writing it it came out of a book.
“I paint. I sold paintings on the railings in Malahide. Luckily Ireland hadn’t crashed at that stage and people bought my paintings, I got a real buzz from it.”
