Oscars Moments
There was good, bad and ugly news for the Irish at the Academy Awards back in March.
Of the 20 nominees in the Oscar acting categories, five were Irish – which computes to 25 percent, an amazing statistic for a nation whose entire population is not much bigger than that of the City of Los Angeles.
The good news: there were two Irish winners at the Oscars, Ross White and Tom Berkeley’s An Irish Goodbye, and Richard Baneham for visual effects on Avatar: The Way Of Water.
Berkeley and White accepted the award with few words, noting that it, James Martin’s birthday, and they would use their time to sing to him. It was a touching moment with the crowd joining in. Martin later said he’s proud to be the first actor with Down’s Syndrome to win the award.Ro
Bad news? Well, for all their nominations, the Irish were shut out.
This lent a hint of ugliness to the lame, old jokes host Jimmy Kimmel told at the ceremony, like: “Five Irish actors are nominated tonight, which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up.”
So, what’s next for the Class of 2023 Irish acting talent?
First up is Paul Mescal, who earned his first Oscar nomination for starring as a struggling Dad in the intimate but powerful film Aftersun.
Next for Mescal is another family drama – but this one also has space ships. Mescal will team with Saoirse Ronan for a movie called Foe, based on a novel by Iain Reid. Foe is about a married couple whose home is visited by a stranger, who takes the husband away on a space ship, and leaves another man in his place.
Mescal, who went viral on Twitter when he spoke in Irish at the BAFTA Awards, also set to star alongside Beanie Feldstein in acclaimed director Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the famous play and musical Merrily We Roll Along.
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Speaking of Saoirse Ronan, she looks like a good bet to make her way back to the Academy Awards, with several other exciting projects in the works.
Look for Ronan later this year in The Outrun, about a recovering alcoholic returning to the Scottish Island where she grew up.
Reports also suggest that Ronan has signed on to star in Blitz, acclaimed director Steve McQueen’s drama about Londoners enduring German attacks during World War II.
McQueen rose to fame directing Michael Fassbender in the grueling drama Hunger, about the infamous 1981 IRA hunger strikes in Northern Ireland.
Blitz is expected to stream on Apple TV later this year.
Gleeson’s Voice
Back to this year’s Irish Oscar cohort, Brendan Gleeson will be appearing in another very Irish production. But unlike The Banshees of Inisherin, which required his mind, body, soul and one very important finger, this role only requires Gleeson’s voice.
A Greyhound of a Girl is an animated film, to be directed by Enzo Dalo. It is based on the 2011 novel by Roddy Doyle, whose Dublin novels, such as The Commitments and The Snapper, have also been turned into acclaimed movies.
Gleeson – who nabbed a supporting actor Oscar nomination for Banshees – will be joined in the Greyhound cast by Sharon Horgan, Mia O’Connor, and Rosaleen Linehan.
This bittersweet film is about an 11 year-old girl who spends cherished time with her grandma, a wonderful cook, whose health is failing.
A Greyhound Of A Girl premiered at the Berlin Film Fest back in February, though details about its official release date in the U.S. have not been finalized just yet.
Gleeson is also slated to have a small role in the next Joker movie, alongside Joaquin Phoenix.
Kerry Condon’s journey from small roles on TV’s Ballykissangel and in the movie adaptation of Frank McCort’s Angela’s Ashes, to the Academy Awards, is itself a great Hollywood story – a testament to the power of patiently doing great work.
Slowly but surely, Condon made it impossible for Hollywood talent types to ignore her compelling talent – even with the wide range of challenges women in showbiz face.
Someone who would know that all too well is Jamie Lee Curtis, the Hollywood veteran who ended up winning the Best Supporting Actress award for which Condon was nominated.
Next up for Condon is another movie that might make Jimmy Kimmel very nervous, given how many Irish actors will appear in it.
In The Land of Saints and Sinners, Condon will appear alongside (deep breath) Liam Neeson, Ciaran Hinds and Colm Meaney, as well as Jack Gleeson, Seamus O’Hara, and Mark O’Regan.
The film is a much-hyped thriller, but also seems to have gotten bogged down in a kind of release date hell, with conflicting reports about when it is coming out (very soon, in the Spring, some say, while others say not until later this year) and even how it will be seen. (Streaming? In Theaters?)
The success of the very Irish but kind of weird Banshees would seem to bode well for the very Irish and far more conventional Land of Saints and Sinners.
Barry Keoghan, also nominated for his Banshees supporting role, has had a faster rise up in the Hollywood ranks.
It’s fitting, then, that the 30 year old Dubliner will soon be seen flying through the skies.
Keoghan is one of several Irish stars in the sprawling Masters of the Air cast.
Think of this Apple TV production as a king flying Band of Brothers.
Masters of the Air takes a close look at a wide range of airmen who fought in World War II.
Other Irish stars slated to star in Masters are Anthony Boyle (who also has a role in the new movie Tetris) as well as Fionn O’Shea.
Published reports have also linked Keoghan to a role in a film idea being shopped around by popular singer The Weeknd (yes, that’s how it’s spelt) and Netflix’s Wednesday star Jenna Ortega.
Colin is Oswald Cobblepot
Rounding this year’s five Irish Oscar nominees is Colin Farrell, the one-time hot young thing who has grown into something of a statesman – not to mention a consistently excellent actor.
Which is why it’s somewhat unfortunate that Farrell has been spending lots of time slathered in makeup and fake, excess body weight. These are the things a thespian must endure to play a penguin.
Oswald Cobblepot, that is.
Farrell will soon be seen in an eight-episode series about one of the most notorious villains in what you might call the Batman extended universe. This series is set after the dark and gloomy events of The Batman – that’s the one starring the dark and gloomy Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader.
Further down the road, Farrell will also star in a drama called Sugar, which is garnering lots of buzz – much of the non-specific variety.
A “genre-bending contemporary take on the private detective story set in Los Angeles,” is the phrase that has whirled its way around the Internet, which sounds really interesting.
It also could describe Farrell’s role in Season Two of HBOs True Detective, which received decidedly mixed reviews.
There’s no point talking about the Oscars unless we look months and months into the future, and the front-runners for the 2024 ceremony.
It’s a good bet that one of the big summer movies – Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy – is going to get lots of awards attention.
Murphy – fresh off blowing audiences and Englishmen away in TV’s Peaky Blinders – plays the father of the atom bomb is this drama from acclaimed writer-director Christopher Nolan, whose last movie Tenet was a mind-bending bust. (Which means it is perfectly positioned to be deemed an overlooked classic in about a decade.)
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Finally, there are a lot of famous names in the upcoming Barbie movie, but there’s also a great Irish showbiz story.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling (yes, as Ken) star in what sounds like a very goofy movie. But keep in mind, not all that long ago, award-winning movies about
Batman, the Joker and the Penguin also sounded pretty weird. And Robbie and Gosling both have a number of Oscar nominations, as does Barbie director Greta Gerwig.
But the actress to look out for in Barbie is Nicola Coughlan, the Galway native best known for her work in the little Irish TV show that went big – Derry Girls. Coughlan has become the breakout star from Derry Girls – hence her role in Barbie.
“Thank you Greta Gerwig for having me as a tiny part of what I think is the greatest movie ever made,” Coughlan posted.
How does a contemptible jerk like Jimmy Kimmel get away with telling such racist jokes in modern America? The Oscars are a joke. I’m not mad about the Banshees but Everything Everwhere… terrible movie…winning everything everywhere all at once! Too many fools now undermining that great country.