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06-12-00 news BY PAUL MARTIN
Keating quits acting dream...

Irish singer Ronan Keating has ditched his dreams of an acting career after being knocked back for roles in a top musical and film. The star has revealed that he was devastated when he lost the lead role in West End show Billy Liar to fellow Boyzone star Stephen Gately. He was also beaten to the post by Ewan McGregor for a role in Nicole Kidman's lover in Baz Luhrman's period drama, Moulin Rouge.

Ronan had been approached by the Romeo and Juliet director to audition for the part but he finally lost out at the last hurdle. He said: "I did consider going into acting but I have lost the only two parts I have gone up for. First I lost Billy Liar. Then I was offered the lead in Moulin Rouge starring opposite Nicole Kidman. I met with Baz and we had a good laugh but I eventually lost the role to Ewan - which is kind of understandable - he is incredibly talented."

Ronan now says that he has ditched his dreams of acting and will concentrate on his bid for solo pop stardom. "I don't think acting is for me. It's a different world and I can't see that I have the patience to be any good at it. I'll just stick with the music - I seem to be better at that anyway."

Ronan was first approached about an acting role when plans for a Boyzone movie were being discussed. The film idea never took off but Ronan continued to pursue a high profile acting role and was approached for a number of roles.

Ronan said he was not disappointed that his latest single release only reached number six in the UK charts. "The idea is to sell albums and if you can get big singles sales too then it's a bonus. The fact is that lots of people have bought the album and they don't need to go out and buy the single when it is released. I never said that every song would go straight to number one, I was happy enough with the chart position of The Way You Make Me Feel. Obviously you want a chart topper with every song, but it's not always that easy."