There were teary eyes for an Irish actor who collected an Oscar on the night of his 31st birthday.
It was a night of dreams for An Irish Goodbye star James Martin as the crowd sang happy birthday to the Belfast native after he collected an Academy Award on stage. Ross White, James Martin, Tom Berkeley, and Seamus O'Hara accepted the award for Best Live Action Short Film award for An Irish Goodbye at the Oscars last night.
The writers and directors of the film, Tom Berkeley and Ross White, accepted the award alongside stars of the film James Martin and Séamus O'Hara. “Thank you to the Academy and to everyone back in Northern Ireland, we wish we could list you all,” 27-year-old director Ross White said while emotionally accepting the award.
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However, while winning the award was something special for the young director, he said that this was the “second most important thing about today” because actor James Martin is celebrating his birthday.
"This award is actually the second most important thing about today because it is this man's birthday," Berkeley said. "He is out here in Hollywood wearing a leopard print suit jacket. We would love to use the rest of our time up here to sing for James.”
They then led the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in singing happy birthday to the Belfast actor on the night of his 31st birthday, as tears flowed. James previously worked at Starbucks in the Northern Irish capital, and since critical-acclaim surrounding the short, has hinted at what he hopes could be a bright future in acting.
If you haven’t managed to see An Irish Goodbye yet, it is currently available to watch online on the RTÉ Player.
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