She'll probably be forever remembered as the girl whom Colin Farrell punched in the mush at the start of Intermission, but after a head-turning appearance in the acclaimed TV series, Rome, Kerry Condon is set for great things. Donal O'Donoghue caught up with the Tipperary actress.

Kerry Condon arrives in the driving rain. "Jeez, look at my jeans!" she says as she surveys the weather damage to the bottom of her trousers. She runs a hand through her wringing hair, beams a winning smile and says that she enjoys walking, even in a Biblical-style downpour. And as you shake her rainy hand, you're already thinking: 'Hey I like this lady!'

The Tipperary-born actress is not only lacking pretension but is refreshingly frank about being the best she can be. From the age of eleven or so she knew what she wanted; to act and to make money doing it. If this suggests some win-at-all-costs All About Eve-like ingénue, the reality is somewhat different (although Condon does admit to being seriously competitive). "Some people are jealous of your success but I got off my ass when I was 16," she says. "So they can't make me feel bad."

Feeling bad is not part of the Condon (25) deal. Currently playing Slippy Helen in Druid Theatre's production of The Cripple of Inishmaan, she talks in excited bursts about the play, her helter-skelter career and her dog, a Jack Russell called Peggy (or Pegasus depending on her mood). "Oh Jeez she's so cute!" she says with such empathy that you look around to see if Peggy has somehow materialised in the hotel. Nope, no pooch, but her admiration for Cripple writer Martin McDonagh, is very real. She got friendly with the award-winning playwright after her acclaimed performance in an RSC production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore and since then has enjoyed an irresistible rise through stage, film and TV (Angela's Ashes, How Harry Became a Tree, The Halo Effect, Rome and a JJ Abrams' pilot, Anatomy of Hope).

Condon grew up in a big converted schoolhouse just outside Thurles. "I had a really nice childhood, it was really innocent," she says. "I didn't start wearing make-up or anything until very late. I'm really glad of that. Although I was quite naïve, I was also quite clever because I don't think that you have to be sexually aware to be clever or mature. Thinking of boys and giving all the power over to men is a bit silly for girls too."

When she was barely 16 she wrote a letter to the film director, Alan Parker. "It was something like 'Dear Alan, I like your films, I have no acting experience but I think I would be really good, so if you're ever going to make a film in Ireland please contact me'". Nothing happened but then two years later Condon got her big break in an Alan Parker movie, Angela's Ashes, but truth be told her first 'professional job' was actually on Liveline. "I was just 11 years old or so," she says. "I heard this Liveline piece about culchies versus Dubliners and I was really pissed off." After that impassioned phone-in, RTÉ contacted her to come back on and review The Lion King. She and her mum travelled to Dublin, stayed in a plush hotel and she got paid. After that there was no stopping her.

At 16, just after doing her Leaving Certificate ("all As and Bs") she moved to London. That was after just one day doing the acting course in Trinity College. The same day she got a part in Rat and hightailed it out of academia. "I don't think it would have been good for me that teaching-you-how-to-act environment," she says. "I'm quite competitive."

The HBO/BBC series Rome, in which she served for two seasons, got her face - and other bits - noticed. "My mother was very cool about that so that was not a big deal at all," she says. "OK some of the stuff I don't want to think about but it's not me doing it. I'm getting paid and there's a big difference." Rome opened doors and landed her a part in the JJ (Lost) Abrams pilot, Anatomy of Hope (it subsequently didn't get picked up). "I never take a job thinking it's going to make me famous because it sets you up for a crazy fall," she says. "Hoping for this big catapult to fame is kind of sad because what if it doesn't come? I just want money and to do good parts."

Her next movie out of the traps is The Last Station with Helen Mirren and James McAvoy. It's about Leo Tolstoy (or "the War and Peace guy" as she calls him). She plays Masha. "She's quite like me," she says. How? "She's very independent, very sure of herself and not swayed by any fellow. Although I don't know about that ." So, then, is she swayed by a fellow? "I can't be saying that on the principle that I don't want to promote my career based on whom I'm going out with," she says. "I want to be merited on what I have achieved, not on whom I'm going out with. Anyway he can be known for going out with me. Hahaha!"

The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh. Tour Dates: Town Hall Theatre, Galway, until September 27; Cork Opera House, September 30 to October 4; the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, October 6 to October 11; Backstage Theatre, Longford, October 13 & October 14; Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, October 16 to 18; Glór, Ennis, October 20 to 22; Siamsa Tíre, Tralee, October 24 & 25; An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny, October 28 to November 1.