Richard Flood has admitted he almost gave up on his acting career.
The Dublin native is best known for his role as Dr. Cormac Hayes (McWidow) in the popular medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.
Speaking to The Sunday Independent about his new life in Los Angeles, the actor said: “It’s great but it’s a different world. I’ve always found it quite a tough, unforgiving place.”
“If you’re working, people love you and if you’re not, they don’t care. There are so many homeless people now and there’s a juxtaposition of people who have massive wealth, and then people who can’t treat their mental health issues and live in extreme poverty.”
Opening up about the tough times in his career, the 38-year-old said: “It got so bad I was thinking of packing it in. I was thinking, ‘Enough is enough.’”
“There are big egos in this business. I find the biggest egos are the actors who are nearly famous or a little bit famous. The top guys are more secure.”
Recalling the moment he landed the role, Richard said: “I needed to go to LA to see if something [work] was around. So I flew out and landed on the Friday and I had an email from my agent saying ‘Will you meet the Grey’s Anatomy people on Tuesday?’”
After meeting with showrunner Krista Vernoff and actress Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith Grey in the show, the Irish actor was offered the part.
Richard flew back to his wife Gabriella before starting his new job.
“I was just feeling such relief on that journey. I’ve had to take that flight when things haven’t worked out so I was just really grateful that this time they had,” he said.
