Introducing: actor Charlie Reid — ‘Olivia Colman was so nice. She told me to call her agent. Now I have the same agent’

From: Dublin, living in Kildare.

Bursting with charisma: From the moment Charlie appears on screen as Mully in Joyride, there is only question — who is this brilliant young actor? This ball of energy stars opposite Olivia Colman in a new Irish film directed by Emer Reynolds. Boy, can he sing, act and hold us in the palm of his hand with a mere flicker of his eyes. The film is dark, funny and moving. It draws you in and lingers in the mind. Charlie puts in an extraordinary performance.

Directing his energy: “I had so much energy as a kid that my parents wanted to put it into something,” he says. So he started in stage school aged five. By nine, he was in the Gaiety School of Acting and he has studied screen acting too.

In the genes: His father is involved in Kilcock Musical Society. Charlie went on to perform in their shows, including Kinky Boots, and he was Pugsley in The Addams Family. “I really enjoyed it.” His father’s friend heard about the search for a boy for Joyride on Twitter and passed it on. This is his feature-film debut.

Bright future: “Olivia Colman was so nice. She told me to call her agent. Now I have the same agent.” Next year, he will do the Junior Cert but the big dream is to pursue acting. “I love it.”

Joyride is now showing in cinemas nationwide