Everyone has a favorite accent, it’s a commonly acknowledged fact. Do the Outback’s brassy Australian vowels entice you? Do you become weak at the knees when you hear Nigeria’s melodious, punctuated English? Perhaps it’s the upward Irish lilt that makes you fantasize about rolling emerald hills.
Despite the fact that our distinct ways of talking make us interesting, the Great Hollywood Machine has a certain way of making every actor sound the same.
With professional voice coaching and a worldwide casting system, almost anyone can portray almost any character. As a result, many Irish brogues have disappeared from the screen.
In reality, if you know where to look, you may still find a few natural Irish lilts in Hollywood. We’ve compiled a list of your favorite actors that you may not have realized were Irish.
American’ Celebrities Who Are Actually Irish
1. Anne Hathaway
Hathaway is one of the world’s most famous actresses, having previously received an Academy Award for her performance in Les Miserables. Anne has claimed that her mother and grandmother are both Irish, with the surnames McAuley and Sinnott, and that she has relations in Ireland.
I’ve only met a few, and I was about to mention my beloved, dear cousin Noel. In 2007, she shot her film “Becoming Jane” in Ireland. Hathaway remarked that she hopes to live there eventually but is concerned about the weather.
2. Pierce Brosnan
After playing the infamous James Bond in several films, it’s difficult to think that one of Britain’s most iconic characters could be played by an Irishman, but it’s true. Pierce is Irish and was born in the town of Navan in the county of Meath.
Brosnan went to London with his mother and stepfather when he was 10 years old and attended an all-boys comprehensive school, where he earned the moniker “Irish.” Despite being granted American citizenship in 2004, Brosnan feels himself to be 100% Irish now and always.
3. Michael Fassbender
Michael is a German-Irish actor with an Irish mother. Fassbender came to Co. Kerry with his parents when he was two years old and stayed there until he was 19 years old when he moved to England to pursue acting.
Michael’s mother is supposed to be Michael Collins’ great-grandniece, so it doesn’t get much more Irish than that! There’s no disputing that Fassbender’s accent has a significantly Irish tinge to it!
4. Mischa Barton
Mischa grew up in the United Kingdom, and her mother is Irish to the core. She migrated to the United States when she was five years old and has lived there ever since. Barton’s mother is Irish, and her maternal grandfather was a Gaelic language professor at the University of Belfast.
Despite having spent the biggest part of her life in America, Mischa has claimed, “I’m an English-Irish kid who grew up in New York City and traveled about a lot because of my father’s career.” Barton returned to the stage in an Irish production of “Steel Magnolias” in 2012.
5. Victoria Smurfit
Born and raised in Ireland, Victoria Smurfit is from one of Ireland’s wealthiest families, and her uncle Michael Smurfit supports athletic events including the Smurfit European Open and the Champion Hurdle.
Smurfit is the mother of three children and recently divorced from her advertising executive spouse. She is presently starring in ABC’s Once Upon a Time as Cruella de Vil.
6. Rose Byrne
Rose is of Irish and Scottish origin, and her surname “Byrne” is one of the most prevalent surnames in Ireland. Byrne, who was born and reared in Australia, has visited Ireland and traveled throughout the nation, considering it to be lovely.
With a name like that, I’m sure they’ll accept her as one of them!
7. Ruth Negga
Ruth Negga is an Irish native who recently acted in the American film Loving, which tells the true story of an interracial couple who sued the United States to repeal anti-miscegenation laws. Negga was born in Limerick, Ireland, and lived there until she was 24 years old.
8. Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy was raised in County Cork, Ireland, and is best known for his roles in 28 Days Later and Inception. After living in England for many years, he and his family recently migrated to Dublin to be closer to Murphy’s Irish ancestors.
“When it came to moving back, I was initially hesitant, but I was quickly persuaded. Irish people are clever, and you have to leave and return to appreciate it,” Murphy informed the Irish Times of his decision.
9. Aidan Gillen
Littlefinger’s genesis story is unknown, although Aidan Gillen’s is well-known. Gillen, who was born in Dublin, began his acting career with the Dublin Youth Theater when he was a teenager. He has two Irish Film and Television Awards to his name.
Catch Littlefinger in Sing Street, a Netflix film set in 1980s Dublin, for proof of his Irish accent.
10. Liam Cunningham
Sir Davos, it turns out, is a Dubliner.
Cunningham also dropped out of school at the age of 15 to become an electrician and spent three years working as an electrician in a safari park in Zimbabwe. When he returned to Ireland, he abandoned his profession in favor of a new passion: acting.
11. Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen is another well-known American with Irish ancestors. ‘Land of Hope and Dreams: Springsteen in Ireland,’ a book published in 2009, reinforced what his legions of Irish admirers already knew.
While Bruce was born in the United States, he is a descendant of the Gerrity family from County Kildare. Springsteen’s great-great-great grandpa, in fact, was a survivor of the Great Famine.
After fleeing poverty-stricken Ireland, he made his way to America.
Christy Gerrity was his name, and it was his daughter Ann, who joined him in the United States when she was 14 years old in 1853, and subsequently became the grandmother of Marth O’Hagen, who later married Antony Springsteen, the pair becoming Bruce’s paternal grandparents.
Since his initial visit to Ireland in 1985, Springsteen’s bond with the country has grown stronger. His nearly annual concerts are now almost always sold out.
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