“Star quality”: Irish Actor Éanna Hardwicke Selected for European Shooting Stars Award 2023
Posted: 14th December 2023
The Lakelands and Normal People star is one of 10 actors presented as the most promising up-and-coming European talents this year
Irish actor Éanna Hardwicke has been selected for the 26th edition of European Shooting Stars, a prestigious initiative to promote European acting talent. The actor’s selection follows in the steps of Irish actors Ruth Negga, Domhnall Gleeson and Andrew Scott, all previous recipients of the honour, which is presented at the Berlinale Film Festival each year.
Immediately after graduating from the The Lír Academy in Dublin, Éanna plunged into the film and television world with roles in hit series Normal People and alongside Jesse Eisenberg in the feature film Vivarium. For his role as a Gaelic footballer in the award-winning Irish film Lakelands, directed by Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney, the Shooting Stars jury recognised Éanna’s “star quality” and lauded his performance, calling it “nothing short of gripping, skilfully revealing layers of sensitivity beneath a seemingly tough exterior.”
Éanna’s growing body of work as an actor in recent years has resulted in a nomination for the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Rising Star Award for 2023. In the same year, he was also selected by Screen International as a Rising Star Ireland 2023, a Screen Ireland-supported initiative to highlight up and coming talent across Irish acting, directing and producing.
From 16 - 19 February 2024, the selected seven actresses and three actors will be presented to the international press, industry, and public in an exclusive four-day programme during the 74th Berlinale (15 - 25 February 2024), with major support by Creative Europe - the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. One of the programme’s many highlights will be the European Shooting Stars Awards Ceremony on 19 February 2024 at the Berlinale Palast.
European Shooting Stars has been an important stepping-stone for an actor's international career - notable Shooting Stars of recent years include: Carey Mulligan (The Dig, Promising Young Woman, The Great Gatsby), Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander (Beckett, Tomb Raider), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), Riz Ahmed (Encounter, Sound of Metal, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Mogul Mowgli), and George MacKay (Munich – The Edge of War, 1917).
About the Shooting Stars Programme
The ten selected EFP European Shooting Stars for 2023 are: Thibaud Dooms (Belgium), Margarita Stoykova (Bulgaria), Suzy Bemba (France), Salome Demuria (Georgia), Katharina Stark (Germany), Éanna Hardwicke (Ireland), Valentina Bellè (Italy), Džiugas Grinys (Lithuania), Kamila Urzędowska (Poland) and Asta Kamma August (Sweden).
EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS is made possible thanks to the support of Creative Europe – the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media, the Berlin International Film Festival, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Spotlight, as well as the national film promotion institutes and film centres from the Shooting Stars’ home countries (EFP’s member organisations): With special thanks to German Films, Bulgarian National Film Center, Cinecittà (Italy), Flanders Image, Georgian National Film Center, Lithuanian Film Centre, Polish Film Institute, Unifrance, Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann and Swedish Film Institute. The programme’s industry partner is the International Casting Directors Association (ICDA). EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS’ main media partner is Variety, with additional media partners: Screen International, Cineuropa, Blickpunkt:Film, HeyUGuys and Festival Scope.