A final decision has been made that Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson will be promoted for awards recognition in different acting categories — Farrell for lead actor and Gleeson for supporting actor — for their work in Martin McDonagh’s Searchlight film The Banshees of Inisherin, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
The film, which elicited rave reviews and Oscar buzz following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival (where it received a 12-minute standing ovation) and North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, centers on two best friends whose relationship is suddenly terminated by one (Gleeson), prompting considerable distress for the other (Farrell).
Some felt both Farrell and Gleeson should be campaigned as lead actors, but all parties weighed in and a conclusion was reached that Farrell is the film’s lead and Gleeson, with less screen time, supports him. (This approach also decreases the likelihood of the two canceling each other out in voting, a concern for other films with multiple performers potentially competing in the same category or categories, including The Woman King, The Fabelmans and Women Talking.)
Neither Farrell, 46, nor Gleeson, 67, has ever been Oscar-nominated before. The two previously co-starred in another McDonagh film, 2008’s In Bruges, for which both received lead actor Golden Globe nominations.
It was announced on Wednesday that Gleeson will host Saturday Night Live for the first time on Oct. 8, ahead of Inisherin’s limited theatrical release on Oct. 21.
