By Laura Kendall - IC Croydon

EXCLUSIVE:

He's been a boy band heartthrob and a hugely successful solo singer - is Ronan Keating about to add star of the silver screen to that list?

The affable Irishman has secured the starring role in a forthcoming film. "I'll be working on a movie later in the year. I don't want to say too much about it but I'll be starring in it," he confides. "I've always been interesting in having a go at acting. I mean, who wouldn't?"

It's yet another string to the bow of a performer widely regarded as the nicest man in pop. The son of a pub landlord father and hairdresser mother, Keating and his four siblings grew up in Dublin.

In 1993, while working in a shoe shop, he spotted an advertisement for auditions for the Irish equivalent of all-male group Take That. He sang Cat Stevens' Father and Son and was promptly chosen to join Boyzone.

The group shot to fame, chalking up four number one albums, sixteen top three singles and chart-toppers including Words, A Different Beat and You Needed Me. In 1999, Keating struck out on his own and released his debut solo single, When You Say Nothing At All, which entered the charts at number one.

Despite his solo success, Boyzone - by now one of the biggest-selling bands in the world - insisted they were still very much together. But the announcement they were to take a year off to "pursue solo projects" was taken by most fans to mean the group had split.

Keating credits his family - wife of six years Yvonne and children Jack, 5, and Marie, 4 - with keeping him sane during the heady whirl of the Boyzone days and the continuing glare of the media spotlight as a solo artist. "My wife is amazing. She's got great strength and we really take it one day at a time," he says. "She's the one that pieces all the puzzles together; I just go out and do it. I really take my hat off to her."

With three solo albums, a greatest hits compilation and hit singles including Life is a Rollercoaster, Lovin' Each Day and I Hope You Dance under his belt, it's hard to believe Keating is still just 28. After a decade in the business, he's working harder than ever.

"I did my UK tour in December, January and February, all through the winter months. I took a break and then did a charity walk from the top of Ireland to the bottom, which took me three weeks," he says. "I'm starting on the new album as well. I'm working with Greg Alexander, who wrote Rollercoaster. I'll probably have it finished by Christmas but I think I'll hold off and put it out in February."

His as yet untitled fourth album, which Keating describes as having "that good, up-tempo kind of vibe", has been inspired by children - his own, and those in less fortunate circumstances.

"My kids have come to an age now where they're an inspiration to me and I'm starting to live my childhood through them again," he says. "I also went to Ghana last year and that was an inspiration. A lot of emotion came out of that and I had to put it down on paper."

The Africa trip arose from yet another of Keating's passions: the Trade Justice Movement. He is a staunch supporter of Christian Aid's work on the issue, and is also involved in the Make Poverty History campaign.

He showed a four-minute film of his experiences in Ghana at all of his UK concerts last year. "I got involved through reading articles and starting to understand and educate myself. I approached Christian Aid because I felt they were the right people to work with on this," he says. "I feel that trade is the biggest step because it's actually giving power back to the people and that's what they need so that they can make the difference themselves."

"You give them back their pride (when) you allow them to work, to bring money home to their families, so that they can get back on their feet themselves."

Keating says celebrities have a responsibility to use their public profile to draw attention to such issues. "I feel that I have a duty. I've been given so much and I'm at a great place in my life and I want to give back. I think people in my shoes should feel that way because we do have a voice," he says.

"You should try and enlighten people with what you see and what's going on in the world."

To that end, Keating will join acts such as Travis, Annie Lennox and The Thrills in a free concert in Edinburgh on Wednesday to coincide with the G8 summit at Gleneagles.

The event, which comes just days after the world-wide series of Live 8 concerts, has been organised by former Ultravox frontman and the man behind the original Band Aid, Midge Ure.

But does Keating believe a bunch of pop stars can really make a difference to Africa? "It's already making a difference. In the last two weeks the G8 finance ministers have already decided to drop the $22 billion debt, which was an immense debt. What's left (to do) is trade and aid," he says.

In the midst of making records or striving to change the world, Keating has also found time for a handful of open air concerts, including a performance at Leeds Castle in Kent tonight and at the Epsom Downs Racecourse Epsom Live! event on Thursday.

"It's a really busy time but it's a great time and you want to be out and about and doing stuff like this," he says. "It's about being outdoors and seeing families out. Summer's a great time of year."