by Actor James Martin, who stars in An Irish Goodbye, has revealed the Hollywood stars he wants to meet when he attends the Oscars next month.
The film, which is set in Northern Ireland and follows two estranged brothers who come together after the death of their mother to fulfill her wish list, has been nominated in the Best Short Film category at the 95th Academy Awards. .
Martin, 30, whose birthday coincides with the awards ceremony in March, said he is looking forward to meeting fellow Northern Irish actor Liam Neeson and other big names including Tom Cruise, Robert De Niro and Jennifer Aniston.
The actor, who has Down syndrome, told BBC Breakfast on Thursday: “Well, it’s not every day you go to America, and an Oscar might be a good birthday present, because it’s actually March 12, my birthday, so the timing is fantastic.”
He added: “I would love to meet Tom Cruise, of course I would, Top Gun is a fantastic movie. I would love to meet Liam Neeson because we have something in common.
“I would love to meet Robert De Niro because we also have something in common.”
The black comedy, set on a country farm, which was filmed on location in Londonderry, Templepatrick and Saintfield, is directed and written by Tom Berkeley and Ross White.
Berkeley said, “We’re probably going to lose our minds.”
White also said it was “terrific” and “enough for us” to qualify for the Oscar longlist, before they were nominated for their short.
When asked how they knew they had created something special, Berkeley brought up the relationship between Game Of Thrones and The Northman star Seamus O’Hara, who plays Turlough, and Martin, who plays Lorcan.
Added Berkeley, “(When we found out) that the two of them would trade face to face at night to originally execute their lines, and then ended up doing it because they became really fast friends, so I think we realized they had a thing. special together.”
In the film, when the brothers are reunited, Turlough must make new care arrangements for Lorcan and plans to send him to live with his aunt on the other side of Ireland.
Lorcan tells Turlough that he will only leave the farm when they complete the 100 items on the list of things his mother, played by Game of Thrones actress Michelle Fairley, wanted to do before she died.
Martin, who previously starred in the BBC film Ups And Downs and works in the hospitality industry at Scalini’s Italian restaurant in Belfast and Starbucks, called his friendship with O’Hara “a special bond” and it was important that he made people laugh. when they saw her.
He added: “Because I did An Irish Goodbye in lockdown, you just want to make people laugh and because you don’t want to see the same thing again on TV.
“So we have to see something new and I think that’s good.”
An Irish Goodbye has also been nominated for the British Short Film Award at the 76th Baftas, which will take place on February 19.
The film has already received awards at the British Short Film Awards, the Indy Shorts International Film Festival and the Irish Film Festa.
