Irish stars Sarah Greene, Snow Patrol, Amy Huberman and Oscar-nominated director Lenny Abrahamson were among the guests on the green carpet at the US-Ireland Alliance's Oscar Wilde Awards in Santa Monica, California on Thursday night.
The awards ceremony "honours the creative Irish and introduces people in the entertainment world in Ireland to those in the US", and on occasion also pays tribute to honorary Irishmen and women.
Penny Dreadful star Greene and Room director Abrahamson were honoured alongside Northern Irish band Snow Patrol, Star Wars: The Force Awakens actress Daisy Ridley and actor and talk show host James Corden. Corden joined Snow Patrol onstage at the event, and singer-songwriter Róisín O also performed.
Lenny Abrahamson
Ridley, who has previously spoken fondly of her Irish roots, was excited to be at the event telling RTÉ on the green carpet, "It feels very nice, it feels, like, scarily premature [to receive the award]. But no, it's wonderful, its really wonderful. And especially the other people that are here this evening, its pretty cool."
Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley
The 23-year-old actress also spoke about filming on the island of Skellig Michael saying Ireland "absolutely" has a place in Star Wars lore now.
"It was amazing filming there, it felt very special being there," Ridley told RTÉ. "And for that last scene to be shared with fans worldwide, and to see the stunning beauty that JJ captured is really special."
JJ Abrams and wife Katie McGrath
The celebration took place at the offices of JJ Abrams' Bad Robot production company with the Star Wars: The Force Awakens director emceeing on the night. Abrams is a previous recipient of an Oscar Wilde Award and has hosted the awards at his offices for six years.
Other guests included Steven Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw, Idris Elba, Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt, Star Trek's Karl Urban, Irish actors Jason O'Mara and Nora-Jane Noone and Irish filmmaker Benjamin Cleary, who is nominated for Best Live Action Short for his film Stutterer. After Corden received his award, Luther star Elba said he too wanted to become an honorary Irishman.
Snow Patrol also performed at the event
Corden's place among the honourees comes after he joined the cast of Riverdance on his US talk show.
The star revealed that he is "honoured to be honoured" and that his first act of duty as an honorary Irishman will be to stop his fellow Englishmen from greeting Irish people with the phrase "top o' the morning to ya".
James Corden and wife Julia Carey
"I'm honoured to be honoured in such a way," Corden told RTÉ.
"But I'm mostly, it makes me feel embarrassed for every time myself, or any of my countrymen, have said to anyone Irish 'top o' the morning to ya'. I cannot begin to imagine how annoying that must be and I will endeavour to stop that and if there's anything I can do, as an honorary Irishman, I will spread the message that it's not funny," he added.
James Corden reveals his first act as an Honorary Irishman #OscarWildeAwards @jkcorden https://t.co/u9w07fS8yhhttps://t.co/u1vlOkFVhM
— RTÉ TEN (@RTE_TEN) February 26, 2016
"He deserves to be our 'honorary Irishman' this year just on the basis of the courage it takes to perform with some of the finest Irish dancers in the world," US-Ireland Alliance President Trina Vargo told entertainment trade publication Variety ahead of the event.
Last year, Corden showed-off his Irish accent to TEN, click hear to check it out.
