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Dónall Ó Héalai
Irish actor and voice actor (born 1987) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dónall Ó Héalai (Irish: [ˈd̪ˠoːnˠəl̪ˠ oː ˈheːlˠiː]) (born 5 March 1987) is an Irish actor and voice actor. He was named a 2020 Screen International Star of Tomorrow[2] and twice nominated for best leading actor in film at the Irish Film and Television awards in 2020 and 2022.[3][4] He was also the recipient of the Wilde Card award at the Oscar Wilde awards in Los Angeles in 2022 [5][6] as well as one to watch in 2021 by The Irish Examiner.[7]
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Early life and education
Ó Héalai was born in the Gaeltacht village of Inverin, County Galway and grew up in Inverin and Spiddal. He began acting at the age of 14 at a local youth club.[8] He completed his secondary education as a boarding student at St Jarlath's College in Tuam.[9][10]
He graduated from Maynooth University. He was awarded the Dr. H.H Stewart Literary Prize during his studies.[11] He went on to train at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York and Bow Street Academy in Dublin.[12][13]
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Career
In 2006, Ó Héalai made his onscreen debut as a teenager in the recurring role of Jeaic in season 1 of the TG4 coming-of-age family series Aifric.
Ó Héalai played Otis in the 2019 American psychological thriller Impossible Monsters.[14][15] That same year, he starred as Colmán Sharkey in the Irish-language period drama film Arracht, which won Best Irish film at 2020 Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF) and the Audience Award at the 2020 Glasgow Film Festival.[16] In addition to receiving critical acclaim, Ó Héalai won the Aer Lingus Discovery Award at the DIFF as well as receiving a Best Actor nomination at the IFTAs.
Ó Héalaí stars as John Cunliffe in the Irish-language film Foscadh, an adaptation of the social novel The Thing About December by Donal Ryan.[17] Foscadh is the Irish submission for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.
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Other ventures
A native speaker of Irish, Ó Héalaí founded the cultural initiative Celtic Consciousness and, in 2018, gave a TEDxBerkeley talk on the Irish Language and Beauty.[18]
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Music videos
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Awards and nominations
References
External links
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