The IFTA Award for Supporting Actor – Film is an award presented annually by the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA). It has been presented since the 3rd Irish Film & Television Awards ceremony in 2005 to an Irish actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role in a feature film. For the first and second ceremonies, supporting performances for film and television were combined into one category.
Four actors — Liam Cunningham, Domhnall Gleeson, Paul Mescal and David Wilmot — have won the award twice. The record for most nominations is five, held by both Colin Farrell and Ciarán Hinds. Mescal is the award's most recent winner, winning his second award for his performance in Hamnet (2025).
Eligibility The award is exclusively open to Irish actors. The rules define an Irish person as follows: Born in Ireland (32 counties) or Have Irish Citizenship or Be full-time resident in Ireland (minimum of 3 years)
Winners and nominees In the following table, the years are listed as the year of film. The first three ceremonies were held at the end of the year, but since the 4th Irish Film & Television Awards the ceremonies have generally been held the following year. As there was no ceremony in 2019, the 16th Irish Film & Television Awards covered a period of two years.
+ Table key ‡ Indicates the winner
2000s Year Actor Film 2003(1st) Intermission Intermission Veronica Guerin 2004(2nd) Troy Man About Dog 2005(3rd) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory On a Clear Day Batman Begins Boy Eats Girl 2006(4th) Middletown Breakfast on Pluto 2007(5th) Kings Kings Garage Speed Dating 2008(6th) Hunger Hunger Anton Dean Spanley 2009(7th) Happy Ever Afters Fish Tank Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2010s Year Actor Film 2010(8th) Perrier's Bounty Inception 2011(9th) Bridesmaids Albert Nobbs 2012(10th) Anna Karenina Death of a Superhero Shadow Dancer 2013(11th) 12 Years a Slave Saving Mr. Banks Run & Jump 2014(12th) Frank Gold Pride 2015(13th) Sing Street Brooklyn Pursuit My Name Is Emily 2016(14th) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Trespass Against Us Bleed for This 2017(15th) Handsome Devil Cardboard Gangsters Maze 2018/19(16th) Ordinary Love Dublin Oldschool Arracht Calm with Horses Black '47
2020s Year Actor Film 2020/21(17th) Dating Amber Death of a Ladies' Man Pixie Herself Undergods 2021/22(18th) Belfast Belfast Foscadh Who We Love The Bright Side 2022/23(19th) Black Adam God's Creatures Catherine Called Birdy 2023(20th) All of Us Strangers Oppenheimer Sunlight Double Blind That They May Face The Rising Sun Lies We Tell 2024(21st) Conclave Kathleen Is Here Kneecap Bird Baltimore Oddity 2025(22nd) Hamnet Christy Palestine 36 Christy Aontas Blue Moon
Multiple awards and nominations The following individuals have received two or more Supporting Actor awards: Wins Actor Nominations 2 Liam Cunningham 4 Domhnall Gleeson 3 Paul Mescal David Wilmot
The following individuals have received two or more Supporting Actor nominations: Nominations Actor 5 Colin Farrell Ciarán Hinds 4 Liam Cunningham Brendan Gleeson Barry Keoghan Andrew Scott 3 Michael Fassbender Domhnall Gleeson Paul Mescal Gerard McSorley David Wilmot 2 Pierce Brosnan Cillian Murphy Diarmuid Noyes Seán T. Ó Meallaigh Peter O'Toole Stephen Rea Tom Vaughan-Lawlor Chris Walley Barry Ward
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