Johnny Ward: ‘My biggest money regret? £650 boots with bullets on them. Ryanair made me take them off’

Johnny Ward has been an actor since he was a child. He has ­regularly swapped guns for tights – alternating between tough roles such as Pauley in Love/Hate , a kidnapper in Fair City and a gangster in the upcoming Amazon Prime series Bad Standing with being on the panto stage. The 37-year-old, who married wife Brenda in 2023, is currently starring in the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ panto at the National Stadium in Dublin.

Ward, who is caring for his mother Kathy, is an ambassador for a Lidl partnership with Family Carers Ireland that seeks to raise money and awareness for the charity. How did your upbringing influence your relationship with money? My mum and dad were always brilliant with money but quite strict. Anytime I got a role as a child, the money was put away for me into an account.



I did a film when I was seven called The Boy from Mercury and when I was ten, I was in a film called The Informant with Timothy Dalton. In 1999, I played Gavroche in a production of Les Misérables with Colm Wilkinson at what was then the Point Theatre. My mum didn’t drive but she’d bring me into the Point on the bus.

At that age, all I wanted to do was buy a Sega Mega Drive. But when I did get access to the money at 18, it felt wrong to touch it. My mum and dad would set up meetings with at a bank about investing the money.

Even to this day, I still try to have a certain amount in a savings account, and when it reduces, like it did after my wedding in 2023, that’s when the anxiety kicks in. Have you ever felt broke? Around 2014, 2015. I thought the Love/Hate thing was great while it lasted, but money is very inconsistent when you’re a full-time actor.

With Fair City , you could be working all of March and April and then have nothing for the rest of the year. So I got my act together and started teaching at performing arts schools and now that’s my bread and butter. What’s the most expensive place you’ve ever been to? Dublin’s gone really ridiculous so I don’t go out much these days.

Myself and Brenda went for dinner recently and we had a voucher someone had given us. The bill came to €170. I don’t drink and Brenda only had two glasses of wine – so I was looking at the bill and thinking: “Jesus Christ, how does it cost this much?” What’s your biggest extravagance? Being a massive Celtic fan.

It’s become an addiction. I’m part of the Naomh Padraig Celtic Supporters’ Club and it’s fantastic. I have a Celtic tattoo on my leg, like a big eejit.

My wardrobe is just filled with Celtic socks and jerseys from all the way back to 1993, and every year the club releases three strips and of course I buy all three. I have lost jobs in the past over Celtic; I once worked for Diep at Home and got sacked because Celtic was playing in the Champions League – and of course I stayed home to watch the match when I should have been working! What was your best ever investment? A Honda Fireblade motorbike that I bought in 2013. It has honestly saved me so much time – because you can pass traffic and then park it anywhere.

What’s your biggest financial regret? Spending £650 (€782) on a pair of New Rock boots. They’re massive gothic-like boots with bullets on them. I bought them in Camden Town with my mum and thought I was going to wear them every single day.

The second I was getting on the Ryanair flight home, they made me buy a suitcase for them and put them away – because I couldn’t get on a flight with bullets. I felt like a terrorist. I love those boots, but I’ve only ever worn them twice – once at the Helix and the other time was when I dressed up as The Punisher for Halloween.

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