Legendary film director Neil Jordan has said he hopes Ciaran Hinds wins an Oscar this Sunday.
Ciaran is in the running for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in hit film Belfast at the star-studded event this Sunday.
He has never been nominated for an Oscar until this year – and Neil hopes he wins the prestigious award.
“Ciaran will probably win. He deserves to win.”
Neil admitted he tried to recruit Ciaran for his new movie he has just finished filming, called Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson.
Marlowe is based on the 2014 novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville and stars Neeson as private detective Philip Marlowe, a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler.
The film also stars Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Alan Cumming, Danny Huston, Ian Hart, Colm Meaney, Daniela Melchior, and François Arnaud. It is scheduled to be released before Christmas.
He said he wanted Ciaran to be part of the cast but he was “too busy”.
“Never have (worked with him). I asked him to be in my last movie, the one I’ve just made with Liam Neeson actually, but Ciaran was busy.”
Ciaran, along with fellow nominees Kenneth Branagh and Jessie Buckley are set to walk the red carpet this Sunday night.
And Neil, who won an Oscar for The Crying Game at the 65th Academy Awards in 1993, said the awards are a “brilliant occasion” for actors - but for those who are nominated desperately want to win.
“It’s a brilliant occasion. The Academy is a great organisation. I know there has been a lot of conversation, they’ve been trying to address the issues in inclusivity but as an organisation it is very, very well run and when you are nominated for an Oscar, all the various nominees, they meet and there are these social events where they meet, and they discuss cinema, and they cross-fertilise. It’s that kind of event. It’s great. It’s unique.
“So people who are nominated, even if they don’t win, they still have a great experience.
“Everybody says, ‘oh it is such an honour to be nominated, I’m so glad to be amongst all these other people’ and we’re celebrating our craft – but believe me they desperately want to win one of these things. They really do.
“The truth is to be nominated is one thing, in many ways it is the main thing. I mean... they've been in a bit of trouble over the last few years because so many people aren’t going to the cinema anymore. It happens that movies that get nominated are often movies that the broader public probably don’t see and don’t watch.”
Neil was speaking to us at the launch of An Post releasing four new stamps to celebrate Ireland's Oscar winners, featuring Neil, Brenda Fricker and Daniel Day Lewis, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and Martin McDonagh.
Designed by Dublin Studio Red&Grey, the booklet of four 'N’ stamps which cover standard letter postage within the island of Ireland, celebrate Irish success at the Oscars and feature photographs of the moment when each of the winners picked up their Oscar at the awards ceremony.
Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker were winners of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress for My Left Foot in 1990, Neil Jordan won Best Screenplay for The Crying Game in 1993, Martin McDonagh won of Best Live Action Short Film for Six Shooter in 2006, and Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová win for Best Original Song in Once in 2008.
The four-stamp Oscars stamp booklet, priced €5, is available at main post offices or online at anpost.com/Oscars
Speaking at the unveiling of the new stamps, Neil Jordan said: "I never thought that I would win an Oscar, but I never ever thought I would be on an Irish stamp. What a privilege.
“They phoned me and said you’re going to be on a stamp. I said yes, that’s class, that’s a laugh. I love that.
“It’s the coolest thing. I’ll start sending loads of letters now,” he jokingly added.
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