Here's How 'The Bear' Actress Ayo Edebiri Became Irish—When The ...

16 Jan 2024

Forbes

Topline

Newly minted Emmy and Critics Choice Award winner Ayo Edebiri, star of “The Bear,” gave a few shoutouts to Ireland at awards ceremonies this weekend, contributing to a long-running viral internet joke that the actress is Irish—which has persisted since she gave an interview last year in an Irish accent.

Edebiri won the Emmy Award for supporting actress in a comedy series Monday night. (Photo by Gilbert ... [+] Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

Variety via Getty Images Key Facts

Edebiri, winner of the Emmy Award for supporting actress in a comedy for her role in “The Bear,” gave a shout out to Ireland on the Emmys red carpet Monday evening, her latest nod to a viral internet joke that she is Irish.

She also won a Critics Choice Award for “The Bear” on Sunday and thanked her family in Boston, Nigeria, Barbados—and “Ireland, in many ways”—to cheers and laughs from the audience.

Edebiri previously addressed the Irish jokes in November, posting a TikTok with her co-stars from the film “Bottoms” celebrating the end of the SAG-AFTRA actors strike and announcing the film is playing in “my home nation of Ireland.”

Film in Dublin, an Irish film review publication, also played along, congratulating “Ireland's own Ayo Edebiri” for her BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination last week, garnering 80,000 likes and sparking even more jokes—and confusion—in the replies (Edebiri reposted the tweet on her Instagram story, writing “Go díreach”—or “exactly” in Irish).

Social media users have created plenty of memes, including some declaring Edebiri is a “Derry girl” and others imagining what film roles Edebiri could use her Irish accent for.

Some have celebrated Edebiri’s success alongside Irish actors winning awards this season, like “Oppenheimer” star Cillian Murphy—and a photo of the two meeting at the Critics Choice Awards went viral on social media.

Key Background

Edebiri, 28, was actually born and raised in Boston to a Nigerian father and a Barbadian mother. The long-running joke began when she spoke in an Irish accent in an interview with the film social networking website Letterboxd in March 2023. Edebiri joked that she played Jenny, the donkey in the Oscar-nominated Irish film “The Banshees of Inisherin,” and spent four months in Ireland to get into character. “I was on all fours for four months, and it was really painful but beautiful as well, and it was probably the most fulfilling part of my career,” Edebiri said. She said she was happy for the film’s success at the Oscars—it earned nine nominations at last year’s ceremony—but joked she “deserved a nomination more than anybody else because I was obviously a donkey for four months.”

Surprising Fact

Irish news outlet RTÉ included Edebiri in a list of the best-dressed Irish celebrities at the Critics Choice Awards. “Of course, no Irish round-up can go ahead without a mention of honorary Irish princess, Ayo Edebiri,” the article stated, praising her all-white outfit. The list also included Murphy, nominated for “Oppenheimer,” and Barry Keoghan, star of “Saltburn.”

Crucial Quote

“Shout out to my people! Shout out to Derry! Shout out to Cork! Shout out to Killarney! Shout out to Dublin!” Edebiri said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight on the Emmys red carpet.

Tangent

“The Bear” has had a hugely successful awards run this year, with three wins for Edebiri alone at the Emmys, Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards this month. Her co-star Jeremy Allen White also won acting awards at all three ceremonies, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach won supporting actor awards at the Emmys and Critics Choice. “The Bear” was the biggest winner at the Emmys on Monday with 10 awards from 13 nominations, including a win for Outstanding Comedy Series. Edebiri, White and Moss-Bachrach will compete for Screen Actors Guild awards next month.