'Jessie Buckley is such a beautiful person': Alisha Weir on star encounters and her new film
Irish actress Alisha Weir at the Critics Choice Awards recently in California. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Alisha Weir has even more reason to be excited than the rest of us about Jessie Buckley's success at the Oscars. After all, Buckley played the teenager’s movie mammy in the 2023 drama and the two formed a close bond on set.
She is delighted with what the Kerry actress has achieved. “She's obviously this incredible actor, but she's such a beautiful person, and when I got to work with her, she taught me so much, and we got so close,” says the 16-year-old.
“I'm happy to see her getting the recognition that she deserves. I feel like everyone in Ireland is rooting for her and everyone's so proud of her.”
For Weir, seeing her compatriots do well offers the younger actress encouragement in what can be a precarious industry. “She's Irish, and for me as a young girl in the industry, getting to look up to her is so inspiring. It encourages you to keep going.”
In some ways, Weir is following a similar path to that which Buckley has treaded. Like our new Oscar winner, Weir has shown considerable maturity in navigating her rising career from a young age. She has also shown a remarkable raw talent both on camera and musically, commanding the screen as the title character in 2002’s feature film Aged just 12 at the time, she won rave reviews for her performance as the feisty and resilient Matilda who first surfaced in the Roald Dahl classic.
She has been busy since, taking on a very different character and genre in 2024’s gritty horror opposite Buckley and Olivia Colman in the lively period drama and lending her voice to animated drama This week, she returns to animation in the charming joining a starry voice cast that includes Ewan McGregor and Helena Bonham Carter.
She voices Elsie, one of two twins who find a magical Wish Watch and are swept by the Wish Collector into the musical Land of Sometimes, where they learn wishes have consequences. “That's where all the magic begins, and they go through a lot of different emotions and adventures, a roller coaster of things. They go through a lot of different emotions, it has a lot of layers and a lot of depth to it.”
Based on the original audiobook by Francesca Longrigg, comes from the producers of and and features new songs by three-time Academy Award winner Tim Rice ( ).
Having worked on a few animated films, Dubliner Weir is fascinated at the animation process and how it differs to live-action films. “It's very, very different. I think at the start, it definitely took a lot of getting used to. You're not with the cast. You're in this booth on your own, reading all your lines again and again. What I think is really helpful is that you'll do one line, and you can do it 100 different ways until you feel like that's perfect.
"And then, because you've tried it out so many different ways, when they go to putting it all together, they can see how it fits with the other characters. What's so special about animation is you can capture things that you can't with a camera, and you can create these magical worlds.”
It’s the kind of movie magic that Weir first discovered herself as a young child, falling in love with Pixar animation in which the young Ernesto dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol.
“I love all films. I'm a film geek. But when I was younger, I remember the first time I watched it. I was with my sisters, and it also had songs in it, and like it has this surface, but it has so much depth to it and meaning behind it. I will put it on no matter what mood I'm in. It's my comfort movie.”
Although she has always loved drama and storytelling — she recalls making videos as a young child — it was the success of that made her think her passion might become a future career. “It was something that I looked at as a dream. I'd seen people doing it, but I never really thought that it could become a reality. I think there was definitely a realisation when I was getting auditions and I was like: If this is what I want to do, and I work hard enough, I can put my mind to it and try to do this for a living.”
First there is the matter of her Leaving Cert next year — and Weir says she is glad of the support of her family as she navigates school life and future possibilities. “I think just remembering why you love to do it is important because there's a lot of outside noise that can happen,” she says.
“I have amazing parents and amazing sisters, and they keep me grounded, and we work together. It's what I've loved to do since I was younger. It's also this crazy world, and it's so different to my normal life. But I think having that balance is really important.”
- The Land of Sometimes is in cinemas now
As Irish screen talent continues to make an impression around the world, new and emerging faces are set to come to our screens.
Power makes a strong impression as one of the breakout stars and the title character in Brendan Candy’s Cork-set feature, , a best-picture winner at this year’s Iftas. He has also starred in
Aran Murphy: Murphy has had a busy casting year, with the teenager set to make his big-screen debut opposite Amy Adams in the forthcoming Klara and the Sun from top director Taika Waititi. He will also star with Sharon Horgan in the forthcoming HBO/Merman series Youth. Aran is the son of Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy.
Breathnach made an impressive debut as Susanna, one of the Shakespeare children, in the multi-award-winning Among her upcoming projects are an adaptation of Jane Austen’s
Dublin teenager Gray has joined the cast of the upcoming Star Wars film, The film is currently in production in the UK. He also features in hit Netflix series,
Sullivan’s first role was as young Bobby O’Brien in the new and award-winning Irish drama He plays a boy who dreams of becoming a detective like his TV hero, He also played the young Steven Sondheim in
