JOE Men of the Year Awards: Irish Actor of the Year

Who gets your vote?

Of all of the categories in the JOE Men of the Year awards, this one proved to be one of the most difficult when it came to finalising the list of contenders. Merging the TV and movie star categories (both were separate in 2015) presented difficulties, as did the sheer wealth of Irish talent currently making people sit up and take notice on the big and small screen. We had to cut the list down to five so the likes of Jack Reynor and Domhnall Gleeson missed out, but the eventual nominees were well worthy of inclusion; cast your vote at the bottom of the page.

Alex Murphy and Chris Walley

The Young Offenders, the tale of two badly-behaved best buds from Cork trying to pull off a major drug deal, was one of our favourite flicks of the past 12 months. The performances of the two leads, Alex Murphy (Conor) and Chris Walley (Jock), was the main reason it was so enjoyable; sure, they’re bold as brass and they're trying to pull of something totally illegal, but you can’t help but root for them at the same time. We’re looking forward to seeing plenty of these two in the future.

Jamie Dornan

Such is its popularity all over the world that Dornan will be associated with 50 Shades of Grey for the rest of his days, but he showed in 2016 that he’s got a lot more in his locker. As well as his bread and butter, a starring role in The Fall, Dornan shone in a collaboration with Cillian Murphy in the historical thriller Anthropoid and starred in The Siege of Jadotville, which met with positive reviews and is available to watch on Netflix.

Cillian Murphy

The winner of the TV star award in 2015, Murphy will be hard beat in this category now that we’ve decided to merge TV and movie star together this year. With the success of Peaky Blinders continuing unabated, Murphy showed his range and versatility on the big screen with roles in Anthropoid and the action comedy flick Free Fire. Murphy is set to team up with Christopher Nolan yet again in 2017 for the war epic Dunkirk, which, even at this stage, looks like it will be the subject of much discussion come awards season in early 2018.

Liam Cunningham

Game of Thrones continues to get bigger and bigger and as it does, it seems that the role of Davos Seaworth increases in importance and influence with each passing season. In Season Six (SPOILER ALERT), Davos plays a key role in bringing about Jon Snow’s resurrection and subsequently becomes one of his most trusted aides as he marches on Winterfell. One of the few characters in the show to have any trace of compassion, he illustrates it again when confronting Melisandre for sacrificing Shireen, the daughter of his former commander, Stannis Baratheon. And that Geordie accent isn’t half-bad either.

Michael Fassbender

Fassbender is not only one of the best actors around at the moment, he’s also one of the most prolific and he mustn’t have had a minute to breathe in the last 12 months. After being pipped to a Best Actor Oscar by Leonardo DiCaprio in March, Fassbender featured in the latest instalment in the X-Men series, in Trespass Against Us with Brendan Gleeson (slated for release in early 2017) and The Light Between Oceans, where he met his current girlfriend, Alicia Vikander. And there’s still Assassin’s Creed to come yet. Closer to home, he was also inducted into the Order of Innisfallen in Killarney, an honour he celebrated with a cracking rendition of ‘Suspicious Minds’ in the Europe hotel in his hometown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEgGpmFKhTE Clip via The Wedding Swingers