Oscar winner Neil Jordan says mocking the Irish at the…

Oscar winner Neil Jordan says mocking the Irish at the Oscars was 'unfair'

OSCAR winner Neil Jordan has said it was “unfair” awards host Jimmy Kimmel made the Irish the butt of his jokes at the ceremony.

Kimmel faced backlash from numerous Irish celebs after he poked fun at our Oscar nominated stars during the Sunday night ceremony.

Speaking at the premiere of his new movie Marlowe, Neil also waded in on the furore, calling it “unfair.”

He said: “I always thought Jimmy Kimmel was Irish.

“The Irish are the only race they take the piss out of these days. It’s a bit unfair,” he remarked.

But Neil said he was equally shocked that cast of The Banshees of Inisherin came away empty handed.

But he admitted he was “surprised” that American audiences were so interested in the Martin McDonagh movie.

“It was a good movie, it was a really good movie. It was a really smart movie and I was actually surprised that the world took to it as it did but I thought it was a great film, clever.

“I couldn’t believe he stretched it out so long.

“A great theme, ‘I just don’t like you anymore’.”

Neil jetted into Dublin alongside Hollywood heavy weight Liam Neeson for the premiere of Marlowe.

The Sky original is a screen adaptation of novelist John Banville’s 2014 book The Black-Eyed Blonde, which he published under the pen name Benjamin Black.

Set in the era of the late 1930s, this neo-noir crime thriller brings Old Hollywood to life as the film follows a private detective Phillip Marlowe (Neeson) who is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamourous heiress.

It looks an open and shut case, but Marlowe soon finds himself in the underbelly of Hollywood’s film industry and unwittingly drawn into the crossfire of a legendary Hollywood actress and her subversive, ambitious daughter.

Speaking about casting Liam in the movie, Neil said he would love to cast Liam “in 20 more of his films.”

He said: “I would’ve loved to have made 20 more movies with Liam but he is not always available.

“I was offered the script, I was offered the project and Liam had already been interested in it.

“He’s one of the main reasons I agreed to do it.

“First of all, I was honoured to be offered the script, I normally do my own scripts and do my own work and when Liam is attached. I thought, ‘Great, I would love to go through this.’”

But Neil admitted he would love to see a “quieter” Liam again on our screens after years of playing hardman characters.

“I would also love to see the quieter Liam again. He’s had a very successful run, shooting people and bashing them over the head but he’s got many more muscles to his talent.

“This was a quieter kind of character and a quiet kind of journey,” he added.