List of film actors and actresses from Ireland, listed alphabetically with photos when available. Ireland has produced some very talented actors and actresses in the last century, many of who have gone on to star in comedies, dramas, horror movies and more. These Irish actors specialize in film, television or even theater, so they're not all necessarily movie stars. These are some of the best Irish actors the country has ever seen, so if you're a native of Ireland and an aspiring actor/actress then these are people you should look up to.
This list features actors like Colin Farrell and Liam Neeson.
This list answers the questions, "Who are the best Irish actors?" and "Which movies stars are from Ireland?"
You can click on the names of these legendary movie stars of Ireland in order to get more information about each one. If you're a film buff use this list of talented Irish film actors to find some new movies you haven't already seen.
Andrea Jane Corr MBE (born 17 May 1974) is an Irish musician, songwriter and actress. Corr debuted in 1990 as the lead singer of the Celtic folk rock and pop rock group The Corrs along with her three elder siblings Caroline, Sharon and Jim. Aside from singing lead vocals, Corr plays the tin whistle, the ukulele and the piano.With the others, Corr has released six studio albums, two compilation albums, one remix album and two live albums. Andrea has also pursued a solo career, releasing her debut album, Ten Feet High, in 2007. The album moved away from the sound of the Corrs and features a dance-pop sound. Her next album, released on 30 May 2011, was entirely made up of covers of songs that were important to her when younger.
Andrea is involved in charitable activities. She has played charity concerts to raise money for the Pavarotti & Friends Liberian Children's Village, Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the victims of the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland and The Prince's Trust in 2004. She is an ambassador for the Nelson Mandela's "46664" campaign, raising awareness towards AIDS in Africa. During the Edinburgh Live 8 on 2 July 2005 The Corrs performed "When the Stars Go Blue" alongside Bono to promote the Make Poverty History campaign. Along with her siblings, she was appointed an honorary M.B.E. in 2005 by Queen Elizabeth II for her contribution to music and charity.
Cecelia Ahern (born 30 September 1981) is a bestselling Irish novelist known for her works like PS, I Love You, Where Rainbows End and If You Could See Me Now. Born in Dublin, Ahern is now published in nearly fifty countries, and has sold over 25 million copies of her novels worldwide. Two of her books have been adapted as major motion films.
She and her books have won numerous awards, including the Irish Book Award for Popular Fiction for The Year I Met You.She has published several novels and contributed a number of short stories to various anthologies. Ahern also created and produced the ABC comedy Samantha Who? starring Christina Applegate.
She is a face of Littlewoods Ireland.
Colin Farrell (born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Farrell appeared in the BBC drama Ballykissangel in 1998, made his film debut in the Tim Roth-directed drama The War Zone in 1999, and was discovered by Hollywood when Joel Schumacher cast him as the lead in the war drama Tigerland in 2000. He then starred in Schumacher's psychological thriller Phone Booth (2003) where he plays a hostage in a New York phone booth, and the American thrillers S.W.A.T. (2003) and The Recruit (2003), establishing his international box-office appeal. During that time, he also appeared in Steven Spielberg's science fiction thriller Minority Report (2002) and as the villain Bullseye in the superhero film Daredevil (2003).
After starring in the independent films Intermission (2003) and A Home at the End of the World (2004), Farrell headed Oliver Stone's biopic Alexander (2004) and Terrence Malick's The New World (2005). Roles in Michael Mann's Miami Vice (2006), the adaptation of John Fante's Ask the Dust (2006), and Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (2007) followed, underscoring Farrell's popularity among Hollywood writers and directors; however, it was his role in Martin McDonagh's In Bruges (2008) that earned him a Hollywood Foreign Press Association Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Farrell starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses (2011), for which he received critical praise, along with the comedy-horror film Fright Night (2011) and the sci-fi action film Total Recall (2012), both remakes, and McDonagh's second feature, the black comedy crime film Seven Psychopaths (2012). He also starred in the Niels Arden Oplev action film Dead Man Down (2013), and as Travers Goff in the period drama Saving Mr. Banks (2013). In 2014, Farrell starred as Peter Lake in the supernatural fable Winter's Tale, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Mark Helprin. In 2015, he starred as Detective Ray Velcoro in the second season of HBO's True Detective, and also starred in the film The Lobster, for which he was nominated for his second Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2016, he played Percival Graves in the Harry Potter spin-off film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish actor, who appeared in numerous films and television productions in a career lasting more than 70 years.
Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is a retired English actor who holds both British and Irish citizenship. He has been hailed by many as one of the greatest and most widely respected actors of his generation, and one of the greatest actors of all time. He has earned numerous awards throughout his career, including three Academy Awards for Best Actor, making him the only male actor to have three wins in the Best Actor category and one of only three male actors to win three Oscars. He won four BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
Born and raised in London, Day-Lewis excelled on stage at the National Youth Theatre before being accepted at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which he attended for three years. Despite his traditional training at the Bristol Old Vic, he is considered a method actor, known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles. Displaying a "mercurial intensity", he would often remain completely in character throughout the shooting schedules of his films, even to the point of adversely affecting his health. He is one of the most selective actors in the film industry, having starred in only six films since 1998, with as many as five years between roles. Protective of his private life, he rarely gives interviews, and makes very few public appearances.Day-Lewis shifted between theatre and film for most of the early 1980s, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company and playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream, before appearing in the 1984 film The Bounty. He starred in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), his first critically acclaimed role, and gained further public notice with A Room with a View (1985). He then assumed leading man status with The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988). His performance in My Left Foot (1989) saw him receive his first Academy Award and BAFTA, and he would win both awards again for There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012). He was also nominated for the Academy Award for his work in In the Name of the Father (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), and Phantom Thread (2017). In June 2014, he received a knighthood for services to drama. Day-Lewis announced his retirement in 2017, following the completion of Phantom Thread.
Dani Masterson is an Irish actress. Born in Galway, she lived in London for eight years and is now living in Dublin. She has also lived in Spain and Dubai.
Masterson trained in Thames Valley University in Acting for Stage & Media. Credits include feature film WC and TV series Great War Diaries, Podge & Rodge, The Tudors and Fair City.
She has also worked in modeling. After being crowned Miss Teen Dublin as a teenager, Dani went on to be a finalist in Miss Ireland and Miss Planet Beach Ireland.
