The Banshees of Inisherin was the big winner at the Golden Globes with three awards - whilst Colin Farrell was hailed for his heart-warming and hilarious speech.
It was a golden night for the cast and crew of the Irish flick, which led with eight nominations, as they celebrated a win for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor for Farrell and Best Screenplay for writer-director Martin McDonagh.
Accepting his award on stage in Beverly Hills, Farrell thanked the entire cast and crew of the dark comedy drama, from his co-stars Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan to Jenny the Donkey, whilst he thanked McDonagh for ‘changing’ his life.
Read more: Banshees of Inisherin gets 14 nods on BAFTAs longlist
The Dubliner said: "Martin McDonagh, I owe you so much, man.”
Recalling their award winning work on McDonagh’s earlier hit, In Bruges, where he also paired Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, he went on: “14 years ago, you put me working with Brendon Gleeson, my dance partner, and you changed the trajectory of my life forever in ways that I begrudgingly will be grateful to you for the rest of my days.
"To work on this film, I never expect films to work or to find an audience and when they do, it's shocking to me and so I'm so horrified by what's happened around Banshees over the last couple of months in a thrilling kind of way.”
Crediting his co-star Gleeson as one of his biggest inspirations, he added: "Brendan, I just I love you so much. I love you so much.
"To get to cohabitate this creative space with you every day. All I did when I came to work every day was aspire to be your equal.
"I'm not saying I even got there, but the aspiration kept me going and I thank you for that for the rest of my days also.”
Farrell also gave his co-star Kerry Condon a shout out on her performance, and was met by laughs from everyone in the room as he poked fun at his co-star and housemate during filming, Barry Keoghan, for eating all of his food joked: ‘You should never send a man to work on an empty belly’.
The father of two concluded his speech with a message for his sons James and Henry, who he called "the loves of my life," saying: "I love you so much".
McDonagh paid tribute to Farrell and Gleeson as he accepted his screenplay award, and said: “I'll try not to leave it another 14 years till I do the next one."
Both Farrell and McDonagh are previous Golden Globe winners.
Farrell previously won in the same category, Best Actor - Musical or Comedy, in 2009 for his performance in McDonagh's In Bruges. McDonagh won in 2018 for his screenplay for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Gleeson and Keoghan, who were both nominated for Best Supporting Actor, missed out on the award on the night, as it went to Everything Everywhere All at Once star Ke Huy Quan.
Their co-star Condon also lost out to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Angela Bassett in the Best Supporting Actress category.
In the television categories, Gleeson’s actor son Domhnall also missed out the Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television award, which went to Black Bird's Paul Walter Hauser.
The red carpet coverage and ceremony highlights are on RTÉ2 from 9:05pm tonight.
Following the Golden Globes success, ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ is also expected to sweep the board at the Oscars this year.
Colin Farrell is now one of the hot favourites for the Best Actor gong, with his odds cut as short as 2/1 from 7/2, , according to Ladbrokes bookmakers.
Farrell is just behind category favourite Brendan Fraser at 4/6.
The ‘Banshees of Inisherin’ film itself is now a serious contender for ‘Best Picture’ with its odds slashed to 11/4 from 3/1 overnight, making the drama second favourite to ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ at 6/4.
Elsewhere, the film’s director Martin McDonagh is also now in the mix for Best Director at odds of 10/1, but faces stiff competition in the category with the likes of Stephen Spielberg the top choice at 8/11, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert at 9/4, Sarah Polley at 4/1 and Damien Chezelle at 6/1.
Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “All roads are leading to the Oscars for the Banshees of Inisherin.
“Since the film’s award hat-trick at the Golden Globes last night, we have been inundated with bets, in particular for Colin Farrell, who is now a serious contender for Best Actor. It’s shaping up to be a great year for the Irish at the 2023 Oscars!”
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