Eve Hewson: ‘I moved to the US to be a star – but now I’m back home to Killiney with my family’

Actress Eve Hewson said receiving a standing ovation at the Sundance Festival after her new film’s world premiere made her feel “as if we’d won the World Cup”.

Directed and written by John Carney, plants and boys received a warm reception when it was broadcast at the prestigious Utah event.

Apple TV has now acquired the worldwide rights in a reported $20 million deal.

“It’s fun. It was so great, we drifted out of the screening. It was beyond our wildest possible hopes and dreams,” she said.

The musical drama, set in Dublin, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jack Reynor, tells the story of a single mother (Hewson) trying to use music to reconnect with her son, due to Orén, the son of actor Laurence Kinlan, plays the role.

Bono’s 31-year-old daughter has starred in more than a dozen films but moved closer to stardom after receiving rave reviews for her performance in Sharon Horgan’s film. bad sisters.

She said it was “very happy” that she is now starting to use her accent more and has even moved into the family home in Killiney, south Dublin, with her mother Ali delighted to see get her house.

“She was always mocking me because I said, ‘I’m going to move to America to be a star.’ But it’s special to work with Irish characters, Irish writers and Irish directors and just being at home is a different feeling than when you’re somewhere far away.” she said.

Carney, whose movie was in 2013 Once won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, said the film was “strange” because they hadn’t shown it to anyone yet.

“I haven’t even shown it to my family yet so we were really blind, with no expectations,” he said.

“So it’s definitely stressful. A movie is very different from a play because there is nothing you can do about it.

“You hit play and you know what you did. I know Eve was brilliant in this movie and I know that this kid, Orén, you’ll hear a lot about and obviously I’ve known Jack Reynor for many years. So I know that at least. And Gary Clarke, who co-wrote the music with me, I know for sure there’s material in it.

“But as a film director, you always think it’s going to die and it’s going to be horrible.”

Regarding the movie chosen for the monster deal, he said it was “so much fun, I felt like a gangster”.

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“We were sitting in the back of the car, trying to make deals on the side streets,” he said. “But they gave us a lot of money, which was the strangest thing when I clearly considered myself a great artist. So to turn anything I do into money is crazy.”

He is speaking at the launch of Fís Éireann (Screen Ireland) about the company’s list of upcoming film, television and animation productions. There are 44 new projects to be released this year, and spending is expected to rival last year’s figure of 361 million euros.

Behind a record 14 nominations for Irish projects in the 2023 Academy Awards, Screen Ireland’s chief executive, Désirée Finnegan, hailed it as a “groundbreaking moment for Irish talent”.

Oscar-nominated Colm Bairéad says nominated for An Cailin Ciun It has been an “incredible journey” for him and his producer wife, Cleona Ní Chrualaoí.

It’s just a matter of who will notice their two young children, ages four and six, when he and Cleona walk the Hollywood red carpet on March 13. “Sometimes Cleona will stay home and I will have to go. But in the more important moments, we want to be together because it’s been an incredible journey for us as a couple.”