A long way from Tipperary! The rise and rise of Kerry Condon
Actress Kerry Condon has certainly come a very long way from her hometown of Tipperary.
A native of Thurles, Kerry's big screen career has gone into literal and metaphorical overdrive with her standout performance in Brad Pitt's new race car flick F1.
While Hollywood hottie Brad may be in the driving seat in the film, which is proving a smash hit with movie goers, and Kerry's standout performance has helped steer the movie into pole position. Kerry Condon. Pic:F1 sees Kerry take on the role of Kate McKenna, a technical director on the Formula 1 race team, that sees Pitt come out of retirement to mentor a fledgling driver.
Condon collaborated with Northern Irish F1 analyst Bernie Collins to ensure a thorough, authentic performance.
And while Kerry is garnering stellar reviews for her role in the Hollywood film, her success is by no means overnight. Kerry Condon at the IFTA Awards 2024 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre. Pic: Brian McEvoy
In fact, Kerry's love of acting began on her family farm in Thurles, which took her to the Royal Shakespearean Theatre and from there on to Hollywood.
Kerry's love for acting first emerged whilst working alongside her father on the family farm in Thurles, surrounded by animals and open fields. Kerry's imagination ran rampant.
It was amidst this backdrop that her passion for performance was nurtured and led her to the Dublin Theatre Arts School. Kerry Condon. Pic:Then, at just 16, Kerry landed her first role in Alan Parker's Angela's Ashes, marking the start of a glittering career.
Her early television appearances saw her land roles in the BBC series Ballykissangel, but it was theatre that saw her true talents shine bright.
Her groundbreaking role came in 2001 when she took on the part of Ophelia, making her the youngest actress to tackle this classic with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
This, coupled with her stage work in Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore, marked Kerry out for true stardom.
Through the years, Kerry Condon has played a diversity of different roles that run the gamut of genres.
Her filmography charts her rise from stage to small screen to global movie theatres.
In 2003, Kerry's first big screen break saw her delve into the realm of historical fiction when she played the part of Kate Kelly, the outlaw sister of Ned Kelly, alongside Heath Ledger, in the Hollywood-produced movie Ned Kelly.
Her next big part came in 2005 when she starred in the HBO/BBC series Rom, taking on the supporting character Octavia of the Julii.
And small screen success was to continue with aplomb when she was cast in the Breaking Bad spin-off seems Better Call Saul, where she appeared for seven seasons.
Her next big screen standout role was to come in the smash hit Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri which saw her once again work with acclaimed director Martin McDonagh.
But it was in 2022 that Condon's true talents were globally recognised when she was nominated for an Oscar for her stellar performance in The Banshees of Inisherinwhere she appeared alongside Colin Farrell.
While she didn't win the Oscar, Kerry did earn a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
But while her career is firmly on show in her personal life, Condon is far more low-key.
But her love of animals has stayed with her from her childhood farm in Thurles as she runs an animal sanctuary in her adopted home of Washington State.
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Extra.ie
37 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
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Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
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Irish Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
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When Blair decided to raise debt relief at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, he knew it was critical to persuade Bush. 'The relationship was a very close relationship. We were in constant conversation with each other, and I thought there was a chance, because we had formed this commission that Bob (Geldof)had asked us to do.' They also had the backing of Bono, who had already formed an unlikely alliance with the Bush administration when he got access to Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor, who was a 'huge fan' of U2, soon after his election. Although she says in the documentary that Bush's tastes went 'toward country music'. As he's been briefed by his Deputy White House Chief of Staff, Joshua Bolten, Bush smiles as he recalls his aide asking him, 'You do know who Bono is, don't you?' He replied: 'Yeah, he married Cher'. But Bono found common ground when he brought along an 'ancient Irish bible' as a gift to the White House, as he knew Bush was a 'man of faith' 'He surprised me by giving me a Bible. I don't think this was a way to make me like him. I think is the way he really wanted to share with me a part of his being", Bush said. During their religious discussion at the start of the meeting, Bono asked him if there was a hierarchy to sin. 'He gave me the best answer anyone ever gave. He said, 'the sin of omission'', recalled Bono. This was taken as meaning it was wrong not to do anything. Bono wanted the US administration to take action on the AIDS pandemic, which was seeing 6000 Africans a day die of a preventable, treatable HIV disease. 'I'm being informed that there's a pandemic destroying an entire generation of people on the continent of Africa at the time that I'm the president, which I consider the most generous nation in the world, and we're doing nothing about it. It struck my heart', said Bush. Around a year later, in his State of the Union address, Bush pledged an incredible $15 billion over the following five years to 'turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.' 'Bono got George Bush to give $15 billion to black people who don't vote, who have AIDS', said Bobby Shriver, co-founder of DATA, Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa, along with Bono. Bono said PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is the largest health intervention in the history of health interventions. 'It has saved 26 million lives'. In the programme, the lack of diversity of the rock acts in the charity concerts is debated with Harvey Goldsmith, the concert promoter behind Live Aid and Live8 concerts: 'There's always a criticism about not being enough black acts. I didn't care whether they were black, brown, green or yellow, if they were a big act and they were great and they wanted to play great', he says. But Bono does think it could have been more inclusive of the African continent. 'We did our best to make it more involving of African acts and failed, we f**ked up', he said, referring to the Live8 gigs. He later says, "Getting this stuff right is really hard because you are essentially raising an alarm." At the start of the G8 summit, a few days after the Live 8 concerts, aides recall how Blair rushed back to London from Scotland when he was told of the July 7th bombings in London. When the exhausted British leader arrived back towards the end of the summit, Blair's advisor, Justin Forsyth, says he had little patience with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who was holding up agreement on Africa. 'He went down into the bar with all the leaders there, and their wives. I remember him, not to exaggerate, but he had Schroeder up against the wall, saying, you know, 'we've got to do this deal, aren't we, (Gerhard)?' And at that moment, I think Schroeder gave in, and we got across the line with the Germans.' The G8 leaders agreed to immediately cancel $40 billion of debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries, and promised to increase aid to developing nations by $50 billion a year by 2010. Blair remembers it as the 'most extraordinary weekend' during his time as prime minister. 'To be frank, even President Putin played his part in that', he says, adding, 'It was probably one of the last moments of truly global solidarity that I can remember.' He remembers being fed up with criticism from NGOs that it hadn't gone far enough. 'They ask you to do something, you do it, and they still criticise, and Bob and Bono just weren't like that at all.' Kumi Naidoo, one of the critics, had mixed feelings. 'I think there were very many good people with good intentions that were involved both with Live Aid and Live8. 'I think that there was not enough sensitivity to understanding that it's not right for a bunch of predominantly white male folks to get together and say, 'we got to frame a continent like this'.' At the end of the documentary, the U2 frontman fears the 40th anniversary of Live Aid will have a very different resonance for global aid. 'The 20th anniversary was just a convergence of good fortune and good actors on the world stage. But what's happening now in politics means this anniversary could be a funeral for the last 40 years.' Live Aid at 40: When Rock N Roll Took On The World will be shown on Sunday, July 6th, with the first episode starting at 21.00 on BBC Two, and it will also be on BBC iPlayer. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
