Geraldine Plunkett doesn't know if she will back on Fair City anytime soon to reprise her role as Rose O'Brien and she doesn't foresee the show being cancelled like Glenroe.
But the iconic actress admitted that she still regularly gets stopped on the street thanks to playing Mary Moran on the iconic RTÉ rural drama.
She also opened up about ageing and the representation in the world of acting.
Read more: Glenroe legend Geraldine Plunkett on show's shock cancellation, death of co-star and ageing
Read more: Inside Fair City star Paul Ronan's bond with daughter Saoirse and life with long-standing wife Monica
Geraldine told RSVP Magazine: "I don’t honestly know about Fair City. The storylines are going in a different direction.
"When Covid came, my character was written to be living in Scotland. As she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I don’t know how good or bad she would be at this stage.
"Who knows? I would never say never."
RTÉ viewers still stop Geraldine when she is out and about.
She said: "It’s over 40 years since Glenroe started and it finished in 2001, and I still get stopped. It always surprises me."
Fair City dropped from four episodes a week to three episodes a week during the year, but Geraldine doesn't think it will be cancelled like Glenroe amid the cuts in Montrose.
She said: "I doubt if it will. I think all stations need an ongoing or long running series that represents life. RTÉ is going through a difficult time and we need a national broadcaster."
On a personal level, Geraldine doesn't feel any older and she is enjoying the ageing process.
She said: "I don’t feel any older. I’ve just finished working on a play in The Viking Theatre and a project which involved doing a big extract from Ulysses for Bloomsday.
"I worked with three very young actors and a young director. I was like their grandmother [laughs].
"I’m not conscious at all. My sister-in-law is 92 and she’s a lot more youthful than some young people.
"She has wonderful energy and she goes wherever she wants. She plays bridge, she plays scrabble and she paints. She feels 20 on the inside."
Is there more representation for older actors on stage, TV and film these days? "There are always older people in things, but they’re often supporting roles.
"I don’t mean small roles, but roles to bring the plot along rather than being central to the plot themselves. That’s slightly changing here and there.
"It should change too because when you look at older actors and actresses, they’ve skills they have honed all their lives and they’re far more interesting than somebody who is starting off and is young and beautiful. There’s a lot to be said for experience."
Look at Judy Dench and Fionnuala Flanagan, they’re still working at the highest level.
Geraldine said: "Most actors don’t retire, unless they make that decision to step away completely. Those actresses will work while they can, not because they have it, but because they love what they do.
"I’m not quite as old as Judy Dench, but I’m getting there. I haven’t retired yet."
She added: "I’ll tell you something about the acting profession and the performance profession, all ages mix and age doesn’t come into it, it’s collaborative. It’s also a great leveller."
Geraldine is the Dublin ambassador for Age Friendly Ireland ,championing “Positive Ageing”
Read the full interview with Geraldine Plunkett in this month’s issue of RSVP Magazine, on shelves nationwide now
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