Coronation Street-turned-Smother star Dean Fagan said his time on the famous cobbles was far more 'nerve wracking' than joining the RTE drama.
The Manchester-born star was best known to Corrie fans as mechanic Luke Britton, before leaving the soap in 2018 when his character was murdered by show villain Pat Phelan 2018.
Four years on, he has swapped the cobbles for the Co Clare coast as the latest addition to the Smother cast as it returns for a second season.
But he says both were nerve racking experiences in their own right.
Recalling his early days stepping onto the iconic Coronation Street set, he said: “Coronation Street had been going by the time I got in there, so I would argue that it’s more nerve-wracking coming into something like that.
“It’s an institution; in Coronation Street, everybody is set in their place and the characters are so well-known.
“The sets are so well known I was nervous just walking on to those. I was more nervous going in to Corrie than I was joining Smother.
“It’s just a big, massive machine with many different moving parts and it just ticks over. Some parts come in and some parts leave, but it just keeps going.
“It’s a behemoth,” he told TV Now.
However, joining Smother as a new arrival in the second season and finding his way within the already established cast, including leading star Dervla Kirwan was a new challenge - one he admits he used to his advantage in the role.
The star, who is playing Finn Ahern, the secret son of Dennis, said: “Of course! As a character, it’s quite nerve-racking, you know, being judged.
“One of the scenes which demonstrates that is when Finn first arrives at the house and the rest of them are all talking about him in another room.
“Finn walks in and they’re all just staring at him from the other side of the room!
“He would have felt very nervous and it was maybe kind of how I felt actually.
“A lot of my own emotions come into that scene as well, it was quite daunting.”
He went on to credit his co-star Dervla, who plays the Ahern family matriarch Val, saying: “She’s nothing like Val! Dervla has a status but she was lovely to me which just shows how good an actress she is.
“She was so welcoming, so friendly. It was a breeze.”
“It’s like a relay race, I suppose. I had to come in, help keep the pace going and slot in nicely but everybody was fantastic.
“They were welcoming and understanding and hopefully that energy comes across.”
And he said the filming by the fresh sea air for the couple of months was the cherry on top of the experience.
“It was just beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The sea air in my lungs was a magnificent change from smoky old Manchester.”
