Ireland was well-represented in the nominations for the 80th Academy Awards, announced in Los Angeles yesterday.
Irish citizen and Wicklow resident Daniel Day-Lewis was shortlisted as best actor for his portrayal of an avaricious US oil prospector in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood. He is the front-runner for the award, which he received in 1990 for his portrayal of Christy Brown in My Left Foot.
"I'm very pleased to be included among such a group of fine actors," Day-Lewis told The Irish Timesyesterday. "I'm proud to be in their company. And I'm absolutely thrilled for Paul Thomas Anderson the film has been so broadly recognised. I couldn't be happier about that."
The youngest acting nominee is Saoirse Ronan (13), from Carlow, nominated as best supporting actress for Atonement. Armagh native Seamus McGarvey is nominated in the best cinematography category for the same film.
Glen Hansard, lead singer with Dublin band The Frames, received an Oscar nomination in the best original song category for Falling Slowly, which he co-wrote with Markéta Irglová, his Czech co-star in Once, the micro-budget Irish musical which has made more than $9 million (€6.15 million) at the US box office.
Saoirse Ronan was asleep in New Zealand, where she is acting in Peter Jackson's film The Lovely Bones, when she was woken with the news. "It's the most wonderful feeling," she said. "I probably sound really boring because it's the same thing that happened with the Golden Globes, but I was sleeping and my dad screamed and started shouting for us. I came downstairs thinking there's a chance that maybe I was nominated for an Oscar. I'm really proud of all the guys and Seamus McGarvey in particular because he's Irish. I can't believe this is happening to an Irish person.
"New Zealand is the most beautiful place I've been to and I've only been here for two days. It's 3.30 in the morning, so we'll celebrate later. We might get fish and chips because I hear they're really good here, but it won't be anything too posh. We're going to go to the local supermarket and get the nicest bottle of champagne that we can. I might have a sip or two."
McGarvey said yesterday: "It feels wonderful. I'm over the moon and I began jumping around the room when it was announced. The long shot during the war was the hook for the film, photographically speaking, and something that we were very proud of. It was a really challenging film to shoot."