Gabriel Byrne has addressed the recent Irish accent emergency following a trailer release of Hollywood's latest Irish rom-com, Wild Mountain Thyme.
A teaser for the upcoming movie, which stars Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Christopher Walken and Jon Hamm, went viral on social media for its Irish clichés and the stars' questionable accents earlier in the week.
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on Friday night's Late Late show, the 70-year-old award-winning actor said: "The thing about it is, I think we all stereotype each other. French people don't go around with striped jerseys around their necks and Spanish people aren't continuously up on tables dancing Flamenco.
"As somebody said, it's a subgenre of filmmaking that Irish people are foaming at the mouth with literary epilepsy or they are talking to donkeys in fields.
"I think a lot of people have a very romanticised idea of who Irish people are and who they are."
Byrne continued to hilariously recall how a man once told him he was from Ireland before stating that he wasn't really, and explained how he was loosely connected to the Emerald Isle as his grandfather was from 'Co. Edinburgh'.
Fighting back the laughter, Byrne added: "And I said 'Co.Edinburgh. Yes, I know it very well'".
He continued: "So we have this idea and I think it has to do with an understandable feeling of a need for a Shangri-la. A place where troubles evaporate and you can talk to donkeys and this idea that this place exists is not uncommon outside of Ireland.
"Irish people are wonderful. They're friendly, they're hospitable, the fields are green; but the reality of it is that it's a developing country with all the problems of a real world," he added.
"This idea that this place exists is not uncommon outside Ireland"
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) November 13, 2020
Actor Gabriel Byrne shares his thoughts on Wild Mountain Thyme's portrayal of Ireland 😬#LateLate pic.twitter.com/T29CF8kWhj
The Walkinstown raised star, who recently launched his evocative memoir called Walking with Ghosts, said that he will never forget his Irish roots.
"Somebody asked James Joyce about how he felt about not living in Dublin anymore and he's rumoured to have said: 'I haven't lived in Dublin in forty years but I've never left it'".
"I understand what he means because I am from Dublin, I am a product of Dublin and I've never given up my Irish passport," he said. "I speak the language of Ireland and I am very much a part of the country."
