Cork actor Éanna Hardwicke had a big night in Los Angeles on Thursday when he was honoured with the Wilde Card Award at the US-Ireland Alliance's Oscar Wilde Awards.
The annual Oscar Wilde Awards are held by the US-Ireland Alliance in the run-up to the Oscars to celebrate the contribution Ireland makes to film, television, and music.
Also honoured were Irish American actor John C Reilly, Star Wars boss Kathleen Kennedy, and her husband and fellow producer Frank Marshall.
Hardwicke was honoured as a rising star at the Ebell of Los Angeles on Thursday night.
Previous recipients of the Wilde Card Award include his fellow actors Eve Hewson, Dónall Ó Héalai, Jenn Murray, Sarah Bolger, and Saoirse Ronan.
"I've seen actors I really admire get this over the years - you've watched it and you go, 'Oh, I'd love to be there one day'," he continued.
"You have that intrusive thought and you go, 'God, wouldn't it be great to get that one day?' So for it to actually happen is very surreal, very strange."
Hardwicke paid tribute to the training and encouragement he received at home.
"This being a kind of Irish American celebration, I feel very lucky to have started my career in Ireland," he said.
"It's a tough job, but it's a very friendly ecosystem to start in. Everyone I met along the way or everyone I worked with along the way coming up in Ireland is nothing but encouraging and helpful and supportive. I feel very, very lucky to have trained as an actor in Ireland and to have had that as my formative experience."
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Hardwicke's credits include the series Smother and Normal People, the miniseries The Sixth Commandment, for which he received a BAFTA nomination; and the films Lakelands and Vivarium.
Later this year, Hardwicke will be seen as Roy Keane opposite Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy in the film Saipan.
"I play Roy Keane - that's a sentence I never thought I'd say!" he smiled.
"It was a real privilege to get to do it. I loved it. I had a great time."
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