From The Australian

For Caitriona Balfe, walking away from the catwalk and into the acting world after a successful, decade-long career modelling for brands such as Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana was a leap of faith. “Especially at 30, which is a dirty number in the [film] industry, you know,” she says.

Although modelling to acting is a well-trodden path in Hollywood, the 36-year-old Irish actress says crossing the threshold between the industries was the most challenging thing she has done. “I had no idea how to get into the industry: how I was going to get an audition, let alone a job,” she tells Review from Los Angeles.

It was, in fact, something of a full circle for Balfe, who, at age 18, had been studying theatre at the Dublin Institute of Technology before being approached by Ford Models. “After a while it became clear that modelling wasn’t a passion, and that was getting very frustrating,” she says. In 2009, Balfe dropped everything to pursue her original career choice. “For me it was now or never. I think when you have a passion or a dream in life you have to give it a shot, because if you don’t, you’ll be miserable”.

You can read the rest of the interview at the source