Film And TV
11 Mar 21

Hazel Doupe: On Winning VMDIFF Discovery Award

Irish actress receives award for her performance in Eva Birthistle’s powerful short Kathleen Was Here.

Dublin actress Hazel Doupe has scooped one of the prestigious Aer Lingus Discovery Awards at the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival. The 18-year-old deservedly took the gong for her brilliant performance as the titular character in Kathleen Was Here, a powerful short written and directed by Eva Birthistle, focusing on a working class Dublin teenager’s conflicted relationship with her mother.

Remarkably, Doupe’s performance is completely wordless, further emphasising her abilities as an actor. As might be expected, she is thrilled to have received the nod from the award judges.

“I’m just so delighted,” she tells Hot Press. “I try not to let awards or reviews influence how I see myself or whatever, but it’s hard not to be absolutely over the moon when you receive an award like that from such a brilliant judging panel. I feel very humbled.”

"From Kathleen Was Here, I’m sure there were three or four nominees – the costume designer, the cinematographer and more. It got great exposure, and they are all equally deserving and incredible at what they do.”

As for the career opportunities that will may arise from winning the award, Doupe – best known for playing the lead in boxing drama Float Like A Butterfly – has yet to give it much thought.

“I don’t really look into it that much,” she says. “I’m sure it will give me a lot of exposure that I wouldn’t have had otherwise – I just feel very grateful and I don’t expect anything from it. I’m just going to continue working and playing as I do. It’s great that the work I’ve done has paid off and resonated with people; really all I’m in it for.”

No doubt there will be plenty of interesting options, as actors are arguably biggest success story in the Irish arts right now, with a huge cohort of performers in demand for prestigious productions around the world.

Emphasising the point, on the day Doupe wins her award, there are also a raft of BAFTA nominations for Calm With Horses, the thriller in which Doupe features alongside Chernobyl and Dunkirk star Barry Keoghan. The film also features Niamh Algar, most recently seen in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi series Raised By Wolves, whose cast also included one Steve Wall. Indeed, the Irish acting success story only continues to grow.

“I absolutely agree,” Hazel enthuses. “I could go on for hours about Irish talent – there’s so much and it continues to grows exponentially. In Calm With Horses, I play Charlie, who’s the sister of Dymphna, played by Barry Keoghan. Charlie has a small but very much effective part, in that she catapults the story via her relation with a different character. I don’t want to give away too much – but basically, something happens to her that Dymphna has to avenge.”