With a record-breaking 14 Oscar nominations in the running, Irish stars and filmmakers have arrived at this year's Oscars ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Martin McDonagh's black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin leads the pack with nine nods and is vying for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Score, and Best Film Editing, while the film's core cast - Colin Farrell, who arrived to the pre-ceremony event with his son Henry Tadeusz, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, and Kerry Condon - have each earned a nomination.
Asked by Sky News on the champagne carpet why Farrell should win, Banshees director Martin McDonagh said, "Colin is so open to being broken. It's not an alpha type role.
"It’s just so sensitive and he’s so nuanced and both heart-breaking and funny, all at the same time and his change from the first scene to the end is momentous and I’m sure I’ve seen that on screen before. He gets my vote."
"it’s been a wild ride, we got as far as here, and we’ve done all the cool things on the way. It’s gone well all over the world and it’s kind of strange for a small Irish film to have done all that, but we like it."
McDonagh, who won an Oscar in for his short movie Six Shooter in 2006 and previously directed Farrell and Brendan Farrell in In Bruges, also joked that he may reunite with the pair again. "I think we might have to do the end of the trilogy.
"Maybe in fourteen years because that’s how long I left it after In Bruges and we all agree that I can’t leave it as long as that."
Speaking ahead of the ceremony, Thurles-born actress Kerry Condon said she is "so happy" to be at the Oscars that she does not mind what the outcome is.
"It’s the end of the road so I hope I won’t get too emotional… I’m exhausted too and when I get exhausted I start crying," she said. "I’m just so happy to be here, I don’t mind what happens."
Asked if she had an acceptance speech prepared, she said: "I have got people in my mind that I don’t want to forget but I haven’t written anything, no."
Condon was dressed in a bright yellow Versace gown, which she said had been the colour of her childhood bedroom.
"It makes me feel like me," she said.
26-year-old Kildare actor Paul Mescal is in the running for his first-ever Oscar nomination for his critically acclaimed performance in Charlotte Wells' debut film, Aftersun, but he is facing stiff competition from Farrell in the Best Actor category.
Someone woke up very, very happy because it's his first Oscars day!
— best of paul mescal (@paulmescalfiles) March 12, 2023
📹 Paul Mescal via his sister Nell Mescal! pic.twitter.com/fyyhnTtRIm
Mescal said he feels like he is on a "crazy train" after arriving at the Oscars.
The Irish star takes on Colin Farrell and his "idol" Brendan Fraser in the best actor category.
Asked on the event's carpet how he felt, he replied: "Like I’m on a crazy train right now and I haven’t really caught my breath."
Mescal recalled how Fraser had reached out to him following the nominations, adding: "Brendan is one of my idols and has been for a long, long time.
"So him reaching out… it was so unbelievable. He’s just and incredibly generous man."
Farrell is joined in the category for best actor by Elvis' Austin Butler and The Whale star Brendan Fraser for best leading actor, as well as veteran British actor Bill Nighy for Living.
Colm Bairéad and Cleona Ní Chrualaoí's An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) has become the fairy-tale success of the Irish film industry and is the first ever Irish-language film ever nominated for Best International Feature Film, while Tom Berkeley and Ross White's short film, An Irish Goodbye, is up for Best Live Action Short Film.
Paul Mescal at the 2023 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/qYCwQsZHB2
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) March 12, 2023
Meanwhile, Irish animator Richard Baneham is up for Best Visual Effects thanks to his work on James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, and Irish film editor Jonathan Redmond has been nominated for Best Film Editing for his work on Baz Luhrmann's Elvis.
