DRESSED TO CILL’...

Oscar winner Cillian Murphy puts on the glitz for Irish Film and Television Awards night

‘I have a heart of stone at this point. I can’t feel anything anymore’

ACTRESS Eve Hewson has joked that she is “dead inside” as she learns to handle the inevitable rejection that is part and parcel of the film industry.

Speaking on the red carpet at tonight’s Irish Film and Television Awards, the Bad Sisters actress quipped that she has developed a “heart of stone” and she learns to take knocks as she vies for roles in the acting industry.

“I have like a heart of stone at this point. I can’t feel anything anymore,” she quipped. Killers of the Flower Moon actress Lily Gladstone was also in attendance and paid tribute to the special relationship that exists between Ireland and Native Americans.

In 1847, The Choctaw people collected money to send to the starving in Ireland during the Famine. Speaking on the red carpet, the Oscar-nominated actress said the fact that the Choctaw sent money to Ireland during the Famine “makes absolute sense.”

“I think it’s wonderful. Choctaw, at the time, as a sovereign nation, were also struggling to feed their own. They were experiencing cultural survival through all of it. So there was an immediate recognition with what was going on here.

“It’s a real spirit of generosity. When you have wealth you demonstrate it by showing it and they didn’t have much but what they had, they shared.”

Gladstone was among some of the biggest names in Hollywood who turned out for the ceremony,.

Also in attendance was Oscar winning actor Cillian Murphy. Famously shy at red carpet events, he slipped inside without taking questions from the press.

Oscar-nominated actor Stephen Rea was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony for his outstanding contribution to the Irish and international screen industry.

The annual awards ceremony welcomes Irish and International guests from around the world for a gathering of industry peers, to mark the incredible achievements of the Irish screen industry, at home and abroad.

Highlights of the Iftas are on RTÉ2 tomorrow, at 9.35pm.