Mother tells of shock at son’s win

THE proud mother of Golden Globe winner Jonathan Rhys-Meyers said yesterday that she knew her son would be a star from an early age but she never imagined the heights he would reach as an actor.

Geri Meyers-O’Keeffe was overjoyed, although still a little bit in shock, at the news of the 28-year-old’s success at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday night.

His performance in the title role in the mini-series Elvis helped him leapfrog legendary actors such as Donald Sutherland, Belfast-born Kenneth Branagh and Ed Harris to the award.

Jonathan rang his mother at home in Glanmire, County Cork with the good news at 7.30am yesterday. “He was just after leaving the ceremony and he was thrilled. But I’m still in denial, I’ll find it hard to believe it until I see him in the flesh, hopefully next week,” she said.

Despite the shock, Geri said Jonathan was always a bit of an actor. The first time she said he was going to be different was when he was little more than three, and stood up and sang Total Eclipse of the Heart.

“Then when he was in hospital aged seven, he was performing Michael Jackson stuff and the student nurses loved him so much they invited him to their graduation party.”

Although she was overjoyed by Jonathan’s success, she expressed disappointment for his fellow Corkonian and good friend, Cillian Murphy. He missed out on best actor in a musical or comedy, for his acclaimed role as an Irish transvestite in Neil Jordan’s Breakfast on Pluto.