Stars attend green carpet for Ronnie O'Sullivan documentary
The relationship between Ronnie O’Sullivan and his dad, who spent nearly two decades in prison for murder, is a powerful thread running through the seven-time world snooker champion’s new documentary, ‘The Edge of Everything’.
O’Sullivan Snr found success during his son’s younger years by running a string of sex shops in London. He used the resulting funds to buy a new house in Ilford, which caught his eye because of the big garden, at the bottom of which he went on to construct a snooker room.
All the while, the Rocket was gaining notoriety while rising through the ranks as a teenager. But O’Sullivan’s life took an agonising turn when, at the age of just 17, his dad was jailed for murder.
“By the time he went away I had a really special, close relationship with my dad,” he told Express Sport before his documentary premiered in London this week. “We’d been on that march together, and for him to not be there, I felt like half of me had just been sliced out and taken away. It was horrible.”
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Moving documentary footage showed an emotional O’Sullivan recalling his dad’s concise message after being sentenced: ‘Tell my boy to win’.
“When he said that, I knew he meant it,” he continued. “It was tough. But that’s what sort of drove me on to play and try to do a good job. I didn’t want to make him feel bad or disappointed in me. I was doing it more for my dad, at times, than I ever was for myself. Is that a bad thing? I’m not sure. I think it kept me playing.”
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By the time of O’Sullivan Snr’s release in 2010, having served 18 years behind bars, the man widely considered to be the greatest snooker player of all time – his son – had racked up three world titles. The Rocket has notched four more in the time since, with his total of seven unsurpassed in the modern era.
While it is clear that O’Sullivan idolises his larger-than-life father, the documentary also uncovers a complex relationship stemming from the extent to which he was pushed to succeed as a child.
“I wouldn’t want to be that brutal with my kids, I couldn’t be,” added the 47-year-old. “But maybe there’s an in-between somewhere. Maybe I’m a bit too easy with [mine]. Your parents just do the best they can possibly do.
“Certain things you go through as a kid and you think, ‘I don’t really want to put my kids through that’. I know both of my parents would never do something that would knowingly be bad for me.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything is released on 23 November on Prime Video, and on 24 November in UK and Irish cinemas.
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