Nuala Carey has become one of the most familiar faces on Irish TV since landing a job as RTÉ’s new weather girl in 1999. The Dubliner has gone on to present many shows over the years from The National Lottery, The Summer Show and guest presenting The Today Show, to name just a few. RSVP recently caught up with Nuala to talk about her varied career path, regrets in life and learning to say no.
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Tell us about a young Nuala, what type of child were you?
My parents would have a better idea of what I was like but I am told I was precocious and chatty. My folks used to tell a story about going on a family mini break in Ireland and when it was dinner time, I would go around to the other tables and say hello to people, I was only about two or three. I wasn’t a shy child, I was happy-go-lucky and I loved to chat to people. I had a good talent for mimicking and I would mimic accents from a young age so it was believed I would be good at acting. I started reading at Mass when I was only nine and I would have to stand on a box.
So TV and stardom was always on the agenda then?
When I was in school I did two weeks’ work experience – I did one week in the Abbey and one week in RTÉ. At the time, I was more into acting really. I didn’t come from an acting background so it was quite unusual for me to be thinking along those lines when my family had no experience of it whatsoever. I was very good at public speaking. I remember when Mary Robinson
was President and Bertie Ahern was Taoiseach they came to our local church as there was a World Peace Day Mass, I was in my very early 20s and the local priest asked me to do the speaking or prayers and it was shown on the 9pm news that night. So I ended up doing more public speaking but in the background I loved the acting and would have been involved in a lot of amateur dramatic groups locally, so that is what I was really looking for, but acting is so precarious.
Did you go to college?
Yes, I did English and Sociology in UCD and I used to volunteer at a radio station in the evening, Anna Livia, I used to do the traffic and the weather for them. Then a job came up in AA Roadwatch and I went for it and got it, but I was still in UCD at
the same time. When I was in AA, an announcement was made by RTÉ that they were going to look for new faces for the weather so while I would have dreamed about getting a job on TV, it kind of all happened quicker than I thought. I would have always wanted to work in RTÉ but it didn’t have to be on the screen.
Do you have any regrets in life?
When I was in UCD, as a student, I didn’t live up the social life at all. I know some students go to town on it and live it up too much but I didn’t embrace it enough. I just wanted to get all my exams and to not have to repeat them, I probably didn’t make the best of it. Youth is wasted on the young. If I was to go back I would say to myself, ‘Go out with your friends and enjoy it more’.
Be a bit wilder basically, you were probably too good.
Yes, exactly and I wasn’t a nerd but if there was a big night out and a lecture at 9am the following morning I would be thinking of getting up at 9am and would go home early. Whereas, really, I should have enjoyed it a bit more, had more fun.
In a way, you were just a wise head on young shoulders.
I always wanted to get my exams because I used to do a lot of extra work in movies. Michael D was the Minister for Arts and Culture and he had this great incentive that movies would be made in Ireland. I used to get so much extra work during the summer. I always thought if I failed the exams I would be repeating over the summer and would have to turn down the work that I enjoyed so much.
Did you meet anyone exciting on these movie sets?
I met Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson – the latter two were here shooting Michael Collins at the time. Actually, there is a funny clip of Julia and Liam walking up the stairs in that movie and I am the maid at the top of the stairs. I got to meet Mia Farrow – she was here making Widow’s Peak and the poor woman, it was the time of the controversy where Woody Allan had gone off with their step-daughter. The shoot day was cancelled for 24 hours. I remember going back onto set the next day and seeing her, she would always be pleasant and say hello and everyone was checking in on her. I was lucky because the lady over the extras knew I had a genuine interest so I would always get a featured role. I was only about 18 and was nearly always a waitress.
You were a judge for The Rose of Tralee in August and one of the Rose’s had a talent for reading tea leaves. Have you ever been to a fortune teller?
I have never gone to a fortune teller or anything like that but I would see the fun side. I would always be afraid they would see something unpleasant and then I would live by that – I would be wracked with wonder, so
it wouldn’t be worth it.
Would you describe yourself as a glass half full person?
Yes, I am naturally positive but in saying that, like everyone in the world, I wake up some days and have 101 things to do and think to myself, ‘I just can’t deal with today’. We can all have a bad day, things go wrong and you can’t get on top of things. What I always try to think to myself is, ‘one day at a time’. There is only so much you can do. As I have gotten older I try to be careful with my time, I don’t crowd so much into the day and I don’t get upset when I don’t get the walk in or get a run done. But I try to plan each day.
So you don’t get stressed much?
I do get stressed at times yes, but I am good at managing it. You have to prioritise in life, you can’t be sweating the small stuff. You have to know what is worth getting worried about and what isn’t worth it.
Are you a worrier?
No, I am conscious that life moves on and people die but most of that stuff you can’t control. You can only deal with what you can deal with. I worried more when I was younger but as I get older I think, ‘what is the point’. Life can throw you a curve ball and we shouldn’t get stressed over the small stuff. My new thing is to walk to the local supermarket and sit down and have a coffee – just for 40 minutes and chill out and enjoy it. I also love to walk and clear my head.
Do you still run?
I do, not as much as I used to but I would run three times a week, roughly 5k but I would try to walk most days.
You mentioned before that you have learnt to say ‘no’ as you have gotten older.
Learning to say no is a good thing. As I am always so busy, I don’t feel bad because sometimes I just can’t do it. But, learning to say no because you don’t want to do something is still a learning curve for me. You can’t do it all. I have my mum also, so family has to come first as I live with her.
How is your mum?
She is doing well. She still has a great eye for fashion and gives me her opinion on what I am wearing on the TV and going to events. She loves a car journey, she just loves getting out so if I am going places and she can come, then I bring her, even when I am away I check in on her once or twice a day.
You guys have a great relationship.
We do, and relationships evolve because she used to chauffeur me around and now it is the other way around. As you get older, our relationship changes, sometimes I am the firmer one and have to say, ‘no we can’t do that today – sorry’.
Any bucket list things you would like to do?
I want to go back to America. I haven’t been in so long and I have tried to get back a few times and it fell through. I used to go a lot.
What is your idea of a good night out?
I love dinner with friends, a nice group, and just catching up and my guilty pleasure would be a glass of red wine. I hardly drink but I would have one glass of wine if I went out. It doesn’t happen as often as I like, but I love when it does.
Any nice dates recently?
There isn’t anyone special at the moment.
Interview by Jane Lundon
Photography by Simon Peare
Hair by James Marchiori from L’OmBré
Make-up by Oksana Lobanova,
@oksana_lobanova_makeup
Styling by Roz Lipsett, @rosalindlipsett
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This interview appeared in the November issue of RSVP Magazine
English (US) ·