New generation of Irish actors harness talent for global stardom

When the envelopes are opened at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, one of the few guarantees is that actors from Ireland — population just over five million — are increasingly likely to be in the frame.

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Drama students rehearse at the Lir Academy in Dublin.

Performers from the Emerald Isle have become regular fixtures on Oscar shortlists in recent years, with wins, nominations and breakout performances. Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan are among those helping cement the country's reputation as a powerhouse of screen acting.Now Jessie Buckley, who has swept all major awards this season for her role as William Shakespeare's wife in Chloe Zhao’s "Hamnet", is poised to add a Best Actress Oscar to her collection. Thousands of miles from Los Angeles the next wave of Irish acting talent is being shaped on rehearsal floors at institutions like The Lir Academy in Dublin's docklands.

Founded in 2011 and linked to Trinity College, Dublin, The Lir Academy — whose alumni include Mescal — admits only small cohorts of just 16 students each year for intensive conservatoire-style training. In the rehearsal room, however, there is little talk of Hollywood.

The focus is on voice, movement, accents and classical text, which produces performers with technical control and — crucially — "authenticity", Director of Actor Training Gavin O'Donoghue said. One of the most important elements of learning here is the ability to be a spontaneous actor on stage and on screen," O'Donoghue told AFP on a grey Dublin morning between classes. "Screen acting demands being rooted in emotional and psychological truth, and Irish actors do that really well." The foundational skills taught at The Lir Academy are reinforced by Ireland's wider theatre-first tradition in which actors often do stage before screen.