The luck of the Irish has taken some actors and actresses from obscurity in remote Irish towns, straight to the top of Hollywood.
Saoirse Ronan
At only 21, Ronan has achieved more than plebs like us could ever dream of. Peter Jackson chose her to play the lead, Susie Salmon, in the film The Lovely Bones (2009) before he even met her, so impressed with her audition tape and wanted an unknown to encapsulate the young character. However, his plans changed when Saoirse was nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe for her performance in Atonement (2007). Her performance also earned her a Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at just 13, making her the 7th youngest girl to achieve such a feat.
She also stars in Brooklyn which is due for release soon, and there is talk of an Oscar nomination.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Rhys Meyers had a tumultuous upbringing, spending some time in an orphanage and being permanently expelled from school at age 16. He was first discovered at local pool hall and had minor roles until Michael Collins (1996), which he apparently scored because he looked like a young Tom Cruise… I’d be lying if I said I saw the similarity. He then starred consistently in films throughout the 90s and early 2000s, most notably (for me) in Bend It Like Beckham (2002). He got to act alongside his ‘lookalike’ in Mission Impossible III (2006), and played King Henry VII in The Tudors from 2007-2010. He’s got a lot in the works, but I think we all know he peaked as the coach in Bend It Like Beckham, get a load of his Irish accent…
Pierce Brosnan
I know, we all thought he was a suave English gentleman, but that’s because he moved to England when he was 12, so he’s still Irish.. just let them have it. The first movie he saw was Goldfinger (1964) which inspired him to act. I hope that’s true and not some genius publicist speaking when he himself became James Bond. Although he is only one of four actors to star in more than 2 James Bond films, he is the only one to not have ended his reign of his own accord. You might think I’d post a link of his most notable role as 007, but you’d be wrong, because Mrs Doubtfire is the greatest movie of all time, so cast your eyes on him alongside Robin Williams in drag.
Yes I got that video off a channel dedicated entirely to slicked back hair…
Michael Fassbender
Whaaaaat? Yep, it’s true. He was born in Germany, but raised in the town of Killarney, Co. Kerry, in south-west Ireland, where his family moved to when he was two years old. AND he’s the same age as Tom Hardy, this guy is full of surprises. His roles are impressive, including Inglourious Basterds (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), Shame (2011) and 12 Years a Slave (2013). He speaks German, thanks to his dad, but had to brush up on his German before Inglourious Basterds. He has a lot of movies coming out soon, with Macbeth currently in cinemas.
Colin Farrell
It’s okay, we’re back on track. We have an actor with a thick Irish accent and all is right in the world. He’s being quoted saying,
“Being Irish is very much a part of who I am. I take it everywhere with me.”
so he’s definitely on the right list. Farrell is known for playing violent yet moral characters that are often pragmatic and observant. His resume is extensive, with films such as Minority Report (2002), S.W.A.T. (2003), Alexander (2004), and Saving Mr. Banks (2013), which if you haven’t seen, download it right now and start making popcorn. He harnessed his dry humour and has somewhat recently turned to offbeat comedies, like In Bruges (2008), Horrible Bosses (2011), and The Lobster, which comes out this Thursday.
Evanna Patricia Lynch
Lynch is most well known for her role as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter franchise and was born in the town of Termonfecken, Ireland. While hospitalised for anorexia at ages 11-12, she claimed her dreams of acting in a Harry Potter film would be suffocated by her small home town in a fan letter to J.K Rowling, to which the author replied
“Don’t be too hard on Termonfeckin; it does have a brilliant name! And I come from a very sleepy place”
Lynch decided to go to an open audition of 15,000 girls to achieve her dream of playing a part of her favourite series. J.K Rowling said that, of all the actors in the film series, Lynch has had the most influence on how her character was subsequently written. In 2012, she told Charlie Rose that when composing the final books,
“I saw her. [She] got in my head. I even heard her voice when I was writing Luna.”
Liam Neeson
Neeson was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. He had a couple of careers before deciding on acting, previously working as a forklift operator for Guinness, truck driver, assistant architect, an amateur boxer, and attended St. Mary’s Teaching College, Newcastle to become a teacher. In his career, Neeson has often taken roles in which he is a mentor/trainer/father figure to a younger man, such as, Batman Begins (2005), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Gangs of New York (2002) and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). He has a penchant for playing strong leading men, with Schindler’s List (1993) and, more recently, the Taken Franchise, which may be up to number 7 by now, who knows.
James Nesbitt
Nesbitt is an actor, presenter and comedian who also hails from Ballymena, Northern Ireland and, also like Neeson, had intentions of becoming an actor before being bitten by the acting bug. He has dominated the world of high quality, British mini series, such as Babylon (2014) and The Missing (2014). Nesbitt broke into Hollywood recently with his role of Bofur in The Hobbit trilogy.
Don’t know why there’s a lot more men than women, time for Hollywood to source more talent.