The actor plays fisherman Syracuse in Ondine, about a man who meets a woman he thinks is a mermaid. Colin explained many of his friends and family are amazed he landed the part as he is so terrified of water. He joked he is so petrified of it he struggles to bring himself to wash, let alone go paddling in the sea.

"I won`t even take a bath," he laughed. "Actually I can swim but I`m not good in water. It depends on how close I am to shore. I`m not a good swimmer. I`ve got a family of good swimmers, all the kids. My brothers and two sisters are great swimmers but I could never swim."

Water wasn`t the only thing which left Colin terrified when making the movie. The film was shot in the south of Ireland, with the star learning to perfect an accent for the region.

Although he is Irish, Colin now lives in America, and was concerned his accent might not be good enough. "That kind of accent can be very lyrical and I`ve been out of Ireland for a while - that`s my excuse. I hope I don`t sound like an American doing an Irish one, that`d be the worst," he laughed.
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