Aidan Gillen to be honoured with an Oscar Wilde Award

Dubliner Aidan Gillen will receive the prestigious award at next year's Oscar Wilde event in LA.

The bash lauds those from Ireland — and some who are not — for their contribution to film, television and music.

"Aidan’s body of work is rich with a range of diverse and memorable roles that span television, theatre and film," says Trina Vargo, founder of the US-Ireland Alliance.

"While his career has taken him to London, Los Angeles and beyond, he has remained loyal to working Ireland as well."

Aidan Gillen is best known for portraying Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish in the HBO series Game of Thrones, and Tommy Carcetti in the HBO series The Wire.

Raised in Drumcondra, the now 50-year-old got his first big break in 1999 when he played Stuart Alan Jones in the Channel 4 TV series Queer as Folk and its sequel, for which he received a British Academy Television Award nomination for best actor.

In the theatre world, Aidan earned a 2004 Tony nomination for his performance in The Caretaker. He's also worked in The West End and at the Gate Theatre.

Aidan Gillen has also appeared in movies such as The Dark Knight Rises, Calvary, Sing Street, and Bohemian Rhapsody.

This annual pre-Oscars event will be held at JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot offices in Santa Monica on 21 February.

“The early years of the event were held at the Ebell on Wilshire,” Vargo says. “I’d worked with J.J.’s wife, Katie McGrath, when I was a foreign policy adviser to Sen. Ted Kennedy, and we’ve been very close ever since. I asked her for some venue suggestions as we needed more space, and she and J.J. graciously offered up Bad Robot.”

The annual Irish-American event is also known for introducing Irish musical talent and in 2019 they have organised for Irish band Vinci to perform at the ceremony.

The event is hosted by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, a non-profit that’s going into its 20th year.

“The reason I started the U.S.-Ireland Alliance was to build new working relationships for people within the framework of culture and business," says Trina Vargo.

"The Irish are a very creative group of people, and I wanted to create ties for artists to make the connections that they need in order to grow and succeed."