Kerry Condon is the breakout star of Brad Pitt's latest blockbuster movie, F1, but the actress is definitely not forgetting where she came from.
It was particularly important for the Tipperary native that the film's producers wanted her to keep her accent, as Kerry is keen to represent Irish women on the big screen.
She explained that you rarely hear a female lead in a film speak in an Irish accent, and so she was thrilled to showcase hers as her character, APXGP technical director, Kate McKenna.
'I’ve always wanted to do a blockbuster movie, and obviously this is the female lead in a massive blockbuster movie,' she told the Irish Independent on a call from her home in Los Angeles.
She continued: 'And then they wanted me to be Irish. I thought, "Jeez, I don’t think I’ve seen that before, the Irish accent in a female lead, in a big, massive movie."'
Kerry even went one step further, keeping her Claddagh ring on show throughout the film. 'I wanted to wear my Claddagh ring in the movie too, one that my mother got me and I wear all the time, so my character got to wear that.'
The Thurles woman plays Brad Pitt's character Sonny Hayes' love interest in the film. Sonny is a hunky driver forced to retire from sport after a serious accident, though he never truly leaves the racing world.
Kerry admitted that she is glad that she got to wait until she was in her forties to star opposite the Hollywood giant, as she likely would have been very nervous about it in her youth.
F1 will be available to watch in cinemas from June 25.
