REX RYAN has told how his late father predicted a Hollywood career for him – and claimed he could be the next Al Pacino.

The actor can be seen entertaining audiences in US spaghetti western series That Dirty Black Bag, in which he plays a sleazy photographer.

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And Rex believes the role on America’s AMC network is only the start of his journey into TV and movies.

The Dubliner successfully established his Glass Mask Theatre, above the Bestseller cafe on the capital’s Dawson Street, where he has written, produced and starred in a number of acclaimed productions.

Rex, 31, told The Irish Sun: “I suppose it was great timing getting cast in this insane western series because I was dying to test myself on a bigger stage.

“The past few years, I’d been single-minded about setting up a new writing theatre, one which would be for everyone in Dublin.

“Now that’s done, I feel I can now bail off and start searching for new work like the AMC show, and nip back to the Glass Mask when needed”.

Rex credits his late father Gerry with encouraging him in his pursuit of an acting career.

The broadcasting legend named his eldest son Rex because “he thought it would look good on a movie poster.”

He said: “Dad always thought Rex Ryan would be a good stage name.

“It’s the opposite of some parents, who would say, ‘Rex, you should really consider a fall-back’. He almost forced me to be an actor.

“We’d be watching films and he’d go, ‘You could do that’. I’d say, ‘Dad, that’s Al Pacino in Heat, what are you on about?’

“Dad seemed to have some sort of supreme confidence that I was going to be a performer of some sort — and not on the radio. He seemed convinced that I could be an actor.

“I think it was inevitable that I was going to become an actor.”

‘GREAT START ON AMERICAN TV’

The Clontarf man dons a moustache to play Oscar in That Dirty Black Bag, which is being hailed as both a homage to the classic spaghetti westerns while also revolutionising the genre for modern audiences.

Irish director Brian O’Malley developed the project with Italian filmmaker Mauro Aragoni and cast Rex in the role.

He explained: “This show is a great start on American TV for me.

“Brian created a mix of the classical western sensibility with his own beautiful unique sort of gothic style. I absolutely love it.”

TALENTED CAST

Another Irish face in the TV drama, which delves into the dark side of the old West, is Aidan Gillen.

The Dubliner plays a seemingly gentle goat farmer who regularly explodes in religious zealotry which sees him evangelising with a meat hook.

Rex said: “Aidan’s performances have been amazing and there are some many other talented actors in our cast.”

The father-of-one, who married wife Migle Jasiene in 2018, plays a creepy photographer who tries to persuade women working in a brothel to have their photographs taken.

He hopes that his performance in the series and future roles will create business for his left-field Dublin theatre, whose latest pro-duction, Bloody Yesterday by Deirdre Kinahan, opens on May 4, with Rex directing.

‘TAKE A RISK’

He said: “The beauty is the more work I do on TV and film, the more people will come into Glass Mask and take a risk on a lunatic play touching their soul.

“It’s all about persuading people to take a chance on seeing a great play which might truly move them.”

 Prior to his TV debut in 2015’s Norse warrior saga Vikings, Rex made his name in a number of acclaimed stage roles.

He played a crime lord in Jimmy Murphy’s play Idlewild, based on the real-life underworld feud between the families of Daniel Kinahan and Gerry Hutch.

He also donned a red mask and horns to play a devil who burns up on the dance floor in a video for Irish band Inhaler.

‘GREAT DAD’

But Rex found the most satisfaction establishing Glass Mask Theatre, which was inspired by the iconic Focus Theatre and “insane theatre companies in Chicago in the Eighties” who did plays in shop fronts.

Now the emerging star thinks his dad Gerry, who passed away suddenly in 2010 when Rex was just 21, would be chuffed to know that his son is branching out from the stage into TV and film.

Rex previously told us: “You always feel that you want to tell someone you love them one more time, but if you had a great life with them, that’s irrelevant.

“It would have been a tragedy if I wasn’t talking to him when I died but I got on so well with him. He was a great dad.

“We were always on the same page. The best way you can honour someone who has died is to live your life with vigour and love.

“Dad wouldn’t want me to sulk. He would want me to go out and embrace life like he did. I think my whole family embraced that.”

Bloody Yesterday, featuring Elizabeth Moynihan and Sinead Keegan, previews at the Glass Mask Theatre from Monday, May 2, and runs until May 24.

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