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By
Linda Maher
on
7th May 2022
in
Entertainment

By
Linda Maher
on
7th May 2022
in
Entertainment

Irish actors have always done well in Hollywood, with many of them becoming some of Tinseltown's biggest stars.

But while the likes of Jamie Dornan and Michael Fassbender have been flying the flag for a while now, a new generation are finding their feet and becoming superstars.

Adaptations of novelist Sally Rooney's books have become the launchpad for many of them, with Paul Mescal in particular benefitting from his role in Normal People.

Not only are they finding work, it seems they're also finding love too, with several meeting equally famous significant others via their roles.

Ahead of the release of Rooney's second TV adaptation this month, Conversations With Friends, we take a look at the stalwarts of the red carpet and those who are eyeing up their own moment in the spotlight with their famous partners in tow.

The Met Gala garnered plenty of attention this week and it's credited as also being the place where Conversations With Friends star Joe and music icon Taylor first met, back in 2016.

By mid-2017 it was reported that they were an item, though they've both done their best to keep the relationship out of the spotlight.

It was almost a year later when they went Instagram-official in May 2018, posting pictures of themselves in front of the same giant cactus.

They've since spent time with each other's families as well as going on several holidays to places such as Turks & Caicos, the Maldives and Paris. Slightly less luxurious was their trip to Belfast, where Joe was filming when Swift paid him a visit.

Yet another Sally Rooney crossover relationship, Alison stars in Conversations With Friends, while her boyfriend Eanna appeared in Normal People.

They're thought to have met while they were both struggling to break into the entertainment industry, and started dating in 2018.

They went Instagram-offical in March 2019, Alison is currently based in London, having worked on a four-part drama series with Sharon Horgan after appearing in Conversations With Friends, and Eanna is planning to move to the city soon too.

One of the most private couples in the acting world, Kerryman Michael and his Swedish wife Alicia met on the set of The Light Between Oceans in 2014.

Three years later, in October 2017, they married and now live together in Lisbon.

They had a baby last year, though they have revealed neither the gender nor the name. Michael told Entertainment Tonight in 2016: 'I'm not going to talk about my private life with a total stranger, unless I feel like I need to.

'Why would I? I might have been curious about actors' lives when I was growing up. That's human nature. We're all curious about a lot of things. But my curiosity didn't obligate them to tell me.'

Michael is included on almost every list that speculates about who the next James Bond will be. If he gets the iconic role he may find it impossible to maintain this level of privacy.

Patrick and Cat played the long game with their relationship, meeting as presenters on Fame Academy in 2002 but remaining friends for a decade before tying the knot in 2012 after just 11 months of dating.

They've since had two young sons, Milo and James.

Since moving to Los Angeles, Cat has landed a number of high-profile gigs, amassing a €13million fortune and five Emmy nominations as the host of two of the country's biggest entertainment shows, So You Think You Can Dance and This Time Next Year. Patrick, meanwhile, has done a number of stand-up tours and still appears regularly on television as a host on shows such as Debatable and Bad Language.
He also presented a BBC documentary, My Dad, the Peace Deal And Me in 2018, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Cork star Jonathan first made an impact in big-screen hits such as Michael Collins and Bend it Like Beckham. His career continued to skyrocket, and he quickly became one of the nation's most recognised talents.

In 2006, he won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Elvis in a CBS mini-series, and between 2007 and 2010 he occupied what is probably his most notable role to date, King Henry VIII in The Tudors.

However, his remarkable talent has often been overshadowed by his turbulent personal life, and he is no stranger to appearing in headlines for all the wrong reasons. Incidents of heavy drinking and allegedly aggressive behaviour on aeroplanes have been reported.

It was thought wife Mara Lane - an actress and producer known for American Night, Damascus Cover and The Brink - might be a steadying influence, as well as their son Wolf, but Jonathan still hits headlines for the wrong reasons. Which is a shame as he really is a huge talent.

Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie wanted his first date with future wife Amelia to be memorable so he wore a Christmas jumper, even though it was February in LA. It appears to have worked as the two have been married since 2013 and have three daughters.

Amelia, who had roles in the likes of Casualty, Lorna Doone and Nine Lives, has more recently focused on her music career and composed the score to the movie Mary Shelley.

She said she was able to focus on her career during lockdown because Jamie had been spending more time with their kids. She even released a new single, Haven.

'Haven is all about the warmth and safety of your home. I recorded it here,' she says.

Though Jamie is perhaps best known outside Ireland for the EL James Fifty Shades movies, Amelia has admitted she couldn't watch his performances in the raunchy dramas.

Since then, their relationship has moved offline and into the real world, with an early date taking place in Kinsale in July 2020, where they went for lunch in The Lemon Tree cafe.

In December of that year, Paul appeared in Phoebe's music video for her song Savior Complex. They recently soaked up the vibes at the Coachella music festival, before heading to last week's Met Gala too.

Conversations With Friends starts on May 18 at 9.35pm on RTÉ One