Caitríona Balfe to present Wilde Card Award at Oscar Wilde Awards in LA

Golden Globe-nominated Outlander and Belfast star Caitriona Balfe has been chosen present the Wilde Card Award at the Oscar Wilde Awards in LA.

With the venue being moved this year to the Ebell in Los Angeles, the list of actors plucked to be honoured this year include Jamie Dornan, Kenneth Branagh, and Adam McKay.

Caitríona Balfe will be on hand to present the Wilde Card Award to up-and-coming Irish actor Dónall Ó Héalai, star of Irish language film Arracht.

The remake rights to Tom Sullivan’s Irish famine-set thriller were snagged by The Hurt Locker producer last August. The award-winning film caught the eyes of Greg Shapiro’s Kingsgate Films, alongside Patrick Milling-Smith and Brian Carmody of Smuggler.

The film, set in 1845 Ireland, centres on fisherman Colmán Sharkey, who takes in a stranger, Patsy, a former soldier, who arrives just ahead of the blight – a crop disease that caused the Great Plague, killing and displacing millions of Irish people. He is forced to go on the run following a violent night of events where confronted a local landlord. Filmed entirely on the remote west coast of Ireland in Connemara, the film received backing from Screen Ireland, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, and TG4.

Caitríona, a previous recipient of an Oscar Wilde Award, currently stars opposite Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds and Jude Hill in the Kenneth Branagh-directed film Belfast. She also stars in the wildly popular STARZ series Outlander, which has earned her multiple Golden Globe nominations.

Ó Héalai also appears in the protagonist role in fellow Irish language film Foscadh. The 35-year-old was named a 2020 Screen International Star of Tomorrow, and landed on a rake of 'Ones to Watch' lists for 2022.

The Maynooth graduate and Galway native went on to train at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York and Bow Street Academy in Dublin. Dónall will appear in a forthcoming adaptation of the social novel The Thing About December by Donal Ryan for his next project.

Irish performers Loah & Bantum, and the band True Tides will perform on the night of the Oscar Wilde Awards.

Trina Vargo, president of the US-Ireland Alliance said, “Our event is normally held at J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath’s Bad Robot, and we were hoping that would be the case this year. But, due to the continuing uncertainty around COVID, and therefore the need to be in a larger space than usual in case social distancing is still required, J.J., Katie and I agreed to play it safe this year. J.J. will emcee at the Ebell.”

The event was held at the Ebell from 2006 through 2011, at which time it moved to Bad Robot. Irish-born caterer Richard Mooney of Kensington Caterers will continue to provide the food, as he has since the first year.

Presenting Sponsors of the Oscar Wilde Awards include Hackman Capital Partners, along with its affiliate and studio operating and service company, The MBS Group (owners of Ardmore and Troy Studios in Ireland). Other major supporters include Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen.

Revisit the 2016 Hot Press interview with Caitríona Balfe here.