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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Sandra Mallon

Irish talent top of pile at BAFTAs with Colin Farrell, Daryl McCormack and Paul Mescal up for Best Actor

Colin Farrell, Paul Mescal and Daryl McCormack are set to battle it out for the award for Best Actor at this year’s BAFTAS.

The annual awards have announced a host of famous Irish faces as part of this year’s nominations.

Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin and An Cailín Ciúin along with Paul Mescal and BAFTA’s Rising Star nominee Daryl McCormack have all been nominated for prestigious awards.

Kerry Condon is up for Best Supporting Actress, while Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan are both up for Best Supporting Actor.

The Banshees of Inisherin is up for 10 nominations.

But Colin Farrell will be up against Paul Mescal in the Best Actor category leading actor for his performance in Aftersun, as well as Daryl McCormack for his role in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. McCormack is also up for the BAFTA Rising Star award.

The trio will face tough competition for the leading actor award as they are joined in the category by Austin Butler for Elvis, Brendan Fraser for The Whale and Bill Nighy for Living.

Elsewhere, the hit Irish-language film An Cailín Ciúin has received nominations for Best Film Not in the English Language and Best Adapted Screenplay for its writer-director, Colm Bairéad, whose heart-rending drama is based on the Claire Keegan book Foster.

Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive at Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, said: “Our heartfelt congratulations to Colm Bairéad and the creative team behind An Cailín Ciúin on today’s BAFTA nominations.

"We are so proud of the journey this film has undertaken, from its beginnings via the Cine4 scheme to the incredible audience response at home and around the world, breaking new ground for Irish-language film.

“We’re also delighted to see such incredible recognition for Irish acting talent, with nominations for Paul Mescal, Daryl McCormack, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon.

"The continued success of The Banshees of Inisherin, with 10 nominations, showcases the incredible work both on camera and behind the scenes from Irish creatives and crew.”

Meanwhile, Netflix’s All Quiet On The Western Front leads the pack with 14 nominations.

The film, directed by German filmmaker Edward Berger and based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque, has received nods for top gongs including best film, best director and best film not in the English language.

Its string of nominations means it equals 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as the film not in the English language with the most nominations in BAFTA’s history.

The leading actress prize will also be hotly contested as the nominations include Cate Blanchett for Tar, Viola Davis for The Woman King, Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once, Dame Emma Thompson for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Ana de Armas for Blonde and Danielle Deadwyler for Till.

The nominations for quirky science-fiction thriller Everything Everywhere All At Once also include best director and best original screenplay.

Alongside Yeoh, other members of its star-studded cast have also received nominations, with Jamie Lee Curtis picking up one for supporting actress and Ke Huy Quan for supporting actor.

Jane Millichip, chief executive of Bafta, said: “The EE Bafta Film Awards are a celebration of the full spectrum of craft and creativity that go into filmmaking.

“We extend our warmest congratulations to the 215 people nominated today who represent 45 extraordinary films, spanning a vast range of narrative styles, genres and perspectives.

“We are proud of the role our awards play in inspiring the public and future filmmakers around the world, and we look forward to celebrating all the nominees and their films at the ceremony next month.”

It was announced on Tuesday that Sex Education’s Emma Mackey and Aimee Lou Wood, Naomi Ackie, who recently portrayed Whitney Houston in Sony’s musical biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, The Woman King’s Sheila Atim and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’s McCormack have all been nominated for the EE Rising Star Award.

The category is the only one at the Bafta film awards which is voted for by the public and previous winners include Lashana Lynch, Bukky Bakray, John Boyega, James McAvoy, Kristen Stewart and Tom Hardy.

Actors Hayley Atwell and Toheeb Jimoh announced the nominations via a live broadcast from Bafta 195 Piccadilly in London.

The 2023 Baftas ceremony will be held at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall and broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on February 19.

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