People who work in the entertainment business still talk about a scene from the end of 2023. Paul Mescal was already a big star on TV thanks to his role in Normal People. He went to the premiere of Gladiator II and was asked, as if with a sense of respect, about meeting King Charles. As usual, his answer was flat: “I’m Irish, so it’s not really high on my list of priorities.” He didn’t say sorry. No awkward going backwards. Just a quiet shrug that was almost funny at how silly the question was.
That moment, no matter how small, says a lot about why this wave of Irish talent has caught something Hollywood wasn’t quite expecting: not just talent, but a groundedness that comes across as naturally cool instead of carefully managed.
Just following Mescal’s path is interesting. Before he became the most talked-about actor during the pandemic in Normal People and before Connell’s silver chain became a cultural moment in its own right, he was filming an ad for Henry Denny & Son sausages. A young man who graduated from Lir Academy plays a man who gets the travel bug after eating a breakfast sausage. What makes it interesting is that the origin story could be about anyone, which is part of the appeal. That is very different from a Ridley Scott epic, I feel. The person doesn’t seem to care about any of it.
He’s not by himself. Cillian Murphy won a lot of awards in 2024. He did it with the quiet strength of someone who had been waiting a long time. He gave a short, clear, and surprisingly moving speech to accept the Oppenheimer award at the Oscars. He dedicated it to “the peacemakers everywhere” and signed off in Irish Gaeilge. Any actor giving that kind of speech at that podium might have gotten attention, no matter what country they were from. It seems like Murphy didn’t mean for it to be that way, though. He thought it was something he had to say.
In Ripley, Andrew Scott was called “spellbinding” for most of the year. This is one of those critical words that gets used too much, but in this case, it felt like it was deserved. A lot of people on the internet were interested in Barry Keoghan’s relationship with someone and his performance at Cannes. He managed to stay interesting through all of this. Nicola Coughlan spent her Bridgerton press tour wearing a pin for peace and raising money for Palestinian children. She also politely refused to let reporters talk about her waistline again. A room full of men, including Mescal, were laughing about women using their phones as weapons of self-defense when Saoirse Ronan said one sentence on a chat show couch that broke them down. Ronald wasn’t mean about it. She was right on, and she made it clear.
One honest act isn’t what’s interesting about this whole thing. That’s how it works. Dr. Enda Murray, a filmmaker from Sydney and the founder of the Irish Film Festival Australia, has a theory about it that has nothing to do with celebrities. He says that Ireland’s history of colonization has given people a strong sense of empathy and a willingness to talk about tough issues in public instead of avoiding them. There’s also the fact that artists in Ireland have long been seen as people who should be heard, not just seen. Wilde, Joyce, and Beckett. There is a long history behind it, and it seems like the current generation of actors has taken on some of that freedom to speak.
The building itself is also important. It’s not by accident that Irish talent has been on national TV for a long time and that there are programs like Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen. Murray draws an important connection between the re-establishment of the Irish Film Board in 1993, which happened after movies like “My Left Foot” and “The Crying Game,” and the industry that now makes actors who can give great Oscar speeches and walk the red carpet at Hollywood premieres. Ireland has about seven million people living in both of its countries. When you compare the output to that number, it’s striking.
It’s not possible to say for sure why this moment is happening right now. It’s possible that the timing is a mix of chance, years of deep institutional investment, and something harder to measure: a cultural mood that values authenticity, or at least the convincing appearance of it. It’s clear that Hollywood has taken notice. And, as usual, the Irish don’t seem too impressed by all the attention.
Mescal went from a sausage ad to a kilt for a gladiator. He was the host of Saturday Night Live. When asked about royalty, he sidestepped the question with a one-liner. It doesn’t look like any of it has changed him in a clear way. More than anything else, that might be what draws people in the most.
