Lifetime Achievement Award

Stephen Rea

“So much of Irish culture has been recovered and reimagined. Music, language, literature, theatre. And cinema can be added to that list because of the special energy of John Boorman who produced Neil Jordan’s first film Angel. And to my astonishment, my first film too. Neil thrust the script and a saxophone into my hands and suddenly I was in the movies. Well, one really original movie, which was at the beginning of a new confidence in Irish cinema.
And now many films later, IFTA have, equally surprisingly, offered me a Lifetime Achievement Award. A lifetime of collaboration with the most generous and creative artists you could ever work with. And hang out with. Thanks to all of them. Thank you IFTA.”

Stephen Rea, Recipient of the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award 2024.

Stephen Rea has amassed an incredibly diverse body of work spanning five decades and is known for his collaborations with director Neil Jordan in a number of iconic films, including The Crying Game, Michael Collins, Greta, The Butcher Boy and In Dreams as well as working with renowned filmmakers such as Mike Leigh and Robert Altman.

Stephen Rea receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award

He has appeared on screen with stars including Emily Blunt, Daniel Craig, Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Isabelle Huppert, Martin Sheen, Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., Kate Beckinsale, Paul Dano, Lily James, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Firth, Julia Roberts, Colin Farrell, Helena Bonham Carter, Andie McDowell, Forest Whitaker, Jim Broadbent, Laura Linney, Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith and Miranda Richardson.

Rea’s unique star power was recognised with an Oscar nomination in 1992 for his stunning leading role in The Crying Game, as morally conflicted IRA kidnapper Fergus who becomes embroiled in a complex romance in Troubles-era London. The nuance Stephen brought to this portrayal of an Irish Republican opened the eyes of an international audience to the complicated nature of the violence happening here.

Rea has been the winner of 3 IFTA Awards, with 9 overall nominations; and in addition to his Oscar nomination in 1992, he has received 3 BAFTA nominations and won a BAFTA in 2015. He has appeared in big-screen and small-screen blockbusters like V For Vendetta, Underworld: Awakening and War & Peace, as well as roles in award-winning TV series such as The English and The Honourable Woman. His enduring passion and commitment to theatre has remained steadfast, having collaborated in the early years with Brian Friel and starred this year in a Dublin production of Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape.