Home and Away star Paddy O’Connor shared how working with young children on the set of the Australian soap doesn’t always work out how they think it will.
The actor, 30, has played River Boy Dean Thompson since 2018 but recently devastated fans when he announced his departure from the Channel 5 soap alongside real-life girlfriend Sophie Dillman, who stars as Dean’s partner, Ziggy Astoni.
Dean and Ziggy have just welcomed their first child together, but this isn’t the first time the couple have had a young co-star in their scenes.
READ MORE: Home and Away’s Paddy O’Connor shares Dean’s horror as Ziggy goes missing after birth
Back in 2020, Dean discovered he was the father of Jai and therefore had plenty of time on set with River Jarvis who plays the adorable youngster.
(Image: instagram)
When discussing how he navigated acting with a baby on set, Paddy explained the scenes were often dictated by what the baby was doing which reminded him of working with his on-screen son.
The Aussie actor told Daily Star: “It was a bit like working with River at times. He’s cute but he’s a fiery little dude.
“He’s a ball of energy and you really have to roll with him. When they call action and he chooses to do something, you’re doing what he says.”
“He’s a phenomenal actor and a real funny kid,” Sophie added as she laughed: “In scenes he’d pick his nose and wipe it on Paddy’s pants.”
“He’d spit on my broccoli and then hand it to me in the scene and the director would be like, ‘You have to eat it,'” Paddy said.
The Australian star also recalled a time when the young actor “put his foot down” half way through a shoot and decided he didn’t want to work anymore.
“He put his foot down one day and was like, ‘I’m not working anymore’. It was half way through our shooting schedule and he was like, ‘I’m not going to do it’.”
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
Paddy added: “I said, ‘What can I do to make sure that we work?’ because I have to get this done.
“I’m an adult and I’ll get held accountable,” he laughed. “And River goes, ‘You have to hang out with me this weekend’.”
The actor continued: “He’s like six so at the end of the day I thought he would’ve forgotten about it but he was standing there and staring at me when they called cut and he’s like, ‘You going to come over?'”
“And we went over!” Sophie admitted as the couple giggled.
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
READ MORE:
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
