Joy (24) is from Ballincollig, where she lived with her mother Patricia, older brothers Paul and John, and younger sister Aimee. After school, she landed a part in The Collector, and now lives in Ballincollig with her boyfriend, Simon.

Rachel and Joy both studied Theatre Performance at ColA iste StiofA in Naofa, and have been in several professional productions together. They are currently playing best friends in The Sunbeam Girls, a play about seven women spanning three generations who share a secret, set in 1950s and 1960s Cork.

Rachel on Joy Joy and I first met at an improvisation workshop in college four years ago, that was taken by Marian Wyatt, who is the director of The Sunbeam Girls. I was absolutely terrified because I was the youngest in the class, but Joy was so lovely to me. We became great friends, and regularly met up for a coffee, and then we were both cast in shows that were directed by Marian, so we saw each other at rehearsals.

I'm an only child, so Joy is like an older sister to me and she's brilliant.

We go out shopping and she advises me on what to wear because she's really stylish and I haven't a clue - I'm straight into my pyjamas as soon as I get home. It's brilliant being friends with Joy, as she has a bit more life experience than me, so she's great for giving me advice, especially on boys, as I'm single at the moment. It's really strange actually, because she always seems to ring me at the exact moment that something is going wrong for me, and always helps with my problems.

Joy is very caring and sensitive, and she's very funny and bubbly. Some people think we look alike, and once my grandmother Bridie was convinced the whole way through a play I was stagemanaging that Joy was me on stage.

The funniest thing about her is that the director sometimes asks questions that are meant for the stage manager, like "Who was meant to put that chair there?" and Joy will always go, "Oh Mary was!" even though the question isn't aimed at her. She just can't help it - her head just pops in everywhere, but it's in a good way - she just likes to be helpful! She's a brilliant actress, and is really encouraging of me, reassuring me that I'm doing things right on stage.

We're very alike in many ways, and are both very close to our mothers, who are our role models.

Joy and I were involved in writing The Sunbeam Girls and we came up with the characters of Linda and Rose, and when we went home and were writing in the evenings, I would always imagine Joy as Linda and me as Rose, and she did too. We didn't even know if we would end up with these roles because we had to audition for them like everyone else, but when we found out we got the parts we were hysterical, because we had been so involved with the characters from the beginning. We play best friends, and it's brilliant because that's what we are in real life too.

Joy on Rachel When Rachel and I first met, I was a little intimidated at first, because she is unbelievably talented. I knew she was three years younger than me, so I didn't really think we would have anything in common, but I found her to be very lively and funny and open.

She's sort of goofy, like me, and we ended up laughing the whole time.

Rachel became my acting buddy, and it was great because none of my friends from home were into drama I was acting in Under Milkwood at one point, and Rachel was the stage manager, and that was weird because we're both kind of control freaks and it was a different dynamic to when she was acting alongside me. She was able to tell me what to do, and when to be in, which was gas because she's the one who is always late for everything, but she always has an amazing excuse!

Rachel doesn't drink or smoke so she doesn't have any drunk fun, but since I've met her, it's had an effect on me and I've started giving them up too and she's been a great support to me. We find other avenues to enjoy ourselves, such as going shopping and out for coffee. We live in different parts of Cork, but we both drive; Rachel has this tiny little yellow Cinquecento - we're both as bad at driving as each other.

Funny things are always happening to us, such as when we were crossing the road the other day and I told Rachel that there was a van coming. She turned to thank me and then walked smack into it, because she didn't realise it had stopped in front of her. We were crippled with laughter, and the poor guy in the van got out and he thought he'd hit us. Rachel is so accident-prone - in the last production a ladder fell on her head and she ended up in hospital with a really serious concussion!

There are a lot of people in the acting industry who would step over you, but Rachel and I are really very likeminded, and would never stab anyone in the back to get a part.

She's extremely sensitive and will always know straight away if I'm upset about something. Sometimes we would have to do some very tense emotional scenes, which can be very draining. I mightn't be able to talk to anyone afterwards, but Rachel always understands what I'm feeling. She always makes me laugh, and has fantastic energy, so if I'm feeling down she'll always bring me back up. And she's a very giving and generous actor, and there is never the slightest bit of begrudgery between us.

'The Sunbeam Girls' is running until Saturday 24 February at Cork Opera House.