Actor Daniel Ryan said he wants to blaze a trail for people with learning disabilities – and admitted he’d love a role on Fair City.
The 32-year-old is one of the first ever graduates of Blue Diamond Academy, a stage school for students with varying needs from Down Syndrome to Autism.
Daniel has already starred opposite Adrian Dunbar in the hit Virgin Media drama Blood and he’s just landed his first film role, which he says must remain “top secret”.
But the avid soap fan, whose all-time favourite TV character is Only Fools and Horses’ Del Boy Trotter, admits he’d love a part written for him on Fair City.
He told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I’m a bit of a soapaholic. I love Emmerdale, Corrie, Home and Away, Fair City. It’d be great if they wrote a character in for me – and we’re working on it!
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“I was always involved in acting and performing on stage. I love seeing that sparkle in people’s eyes, I love seeing them open their souls and their hearts.”
A documentary on RTE tomorrow follows Daniel and other drama students with Down Syndrome as they prepare for their first professional performance.
Showstoppers tells their story as they form a touring stage company and open their lives to the viewers from their jobs, to their friendships and their loves.
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Blue Diamond’s Kate Sheridan said training adults in the arts would open up doors and help remove the stigma around employing people with disabilities.
She added: “We started two years ago with 10 students, now we have 52. Daniel was one of the first on our books and he’s had great success.”
- Showstoppers is on RTE One tomorrow at 9.30pm.
