Paula Malcomson and Barry Keoghan join Mark Hamill as honorees at the US-Ireland Alliance’s 13th annual Oscar Wilde Awards. The event will be held on 1 March at J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot in Santa Monica. Abrams will emcee. The Irish band, The Academic, will perform at the event known for its casual, house party atmosphere.

Born and raised in Belfast, Malcomson moved to New York’s East Village at 18 and began acting shortly thereafter. Her first film was TOMBSTONE followed by roles in THE GREEN MILE, AI, HAMLET, and all four installments of THE HUNGER GAMES, to name a few. She has worked on hundreds of hours of television and is probably best known for her roles as Trixie on DEADWOOD, for which she received a SAG Award nomination, and Abby Donovan on RAY DONOVAN, garnering an IFTA nomination. Last year, she worked in the UK for the first time starring opposite Sean Bean in Jimmy McGovern’s highly acclaimed series BROKEN. Paula just completed work on the BBC series COME HOME, opposite Christopher Eccleston. She splits her time between Los Angeles and Belfast.

Trina Vargo, founder and president of the US-Ireland Alliance, noted that “RAY DONOVAN has been Showtime’s number two drama behind HOMELAND, and Paula has played a major role in its success. She held nothing back in this fifth season. In a recent interview, Paula said, ‘I hope that I ended my tenure on the series on a high note. I did my best. I wanted to get this right.’ She did, she did, and she did. We’re honored to honor her.”

Young Irish actor, Barry Keoghan, will be honored as the “Wilde Card”, presented to up-and-coming Irish talent. Saoirse Ronan was a previous recipient of this award. Barry’s latest film is acclaimed documentarian Bart Layton’s first scripted film, AMERICAN ANIMALS, which is based on the true story of four college students who stole valuable manuscripts from a university library in Kentucky. The movie premiered in competition at the 2018 Sundance film festival and was purchased by The Orchard and MoviePass Ventures to distribute.

Barry co-starred in Yorgos Lanthimos’ KILLING OF A SACRED DEER, opposite Colin Farrell & Nicole Kidman.  The film premiered in competition at Cannes in May.  Barry has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his performance. Barry was seen this summer in Christopher Nolan’s award-winning DUNKIRK. His

first starring role was in MAMMAL, opposite Rachel Griffiths, which was at Sundance in 2016. Also in 2018, Barry will be seen in Lance Daly’s BLACK 47.