Coogan to sort out Love/Hate baddies

Trim actress Tracy Coogan stars in the new series of the controversial RTE drama, 'Love/Hate', playing a detective who has to tackle the violent criminal characters in the drama. Tracy, from Newtownmoynagh, who was based in America for a number of years, is now working out of London, is one of the few 'straight' characters in the series. There was an undercover guard in the last season, but he was corrupt and an inside man for Nidge and the lads. Paula is the first character who is really and truly on the straight and narrow. Tracy says joining the cast was extremely challenging. "I was so nervous," she says. "It's like jumping on a moving train. It's very nerve racking to join a cast and crew that have already got their rhythm." "They all know each other," Tracy explains. "Their characters have all grown on the show and they have a history together. I'm the new person and on top of that, I'm on the right side of the law." But the petite brunette says she soon forgot all about her nerves as she was blown away by the talent of the other Love/ Hate cast members. "Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Nidge) is so committed to his character it's frightening," she says. "He really submerges himself in his work, then at the end of the day, he's back to being Tom and gives you a big hug. He's the nicest guy." The Trim actress will also soon be starring opposite former Love/ Hate baddie Aidan Gillen in the upcoming short 'The Note', which will star Gillen as the lead male character who has lost his way through alcoholism and is now trying to reconnect with life through his eight-year-old son, who he doesn't really know. Other Irish stars set to feature in the short include Ruth McCabe, Ed Cosgrave, Jason Quinn and Mark Turley. And she has appeared in 'No Saints For Sinners' recently released on DVD in the UK and Ireland, a gritty drama about an IRA lifer named Mickey O'Hara who has become disenchanted with "the cause."