Actor John C. Reilly has been announced as the first honouree for the US-Ireland Alliance’s 19th annual Oscar Wilde Awards. The event will be held on 27 February 2025, at the Ebell of Los Angeles.

Named after one of the country's greatest literary figures, the awards were created 18 years ago to honour the Irish in entertainment, and to provide an opportunity for people in the entertainment community in Ireland and Northern Ireland to meet their counterparts in LA, in hopes that creative collaborations would result.

The likes of Richie Baneham, Molly Shannon, and Pierce Brosnan were honoured at the 2024 ceremony.

A Chicago-born Irish American, Reilly has often spoken about his family ties to Ireland, and was the International Guest of Honour at Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

“When President Kennedy arrived in Ireland in June 1963, he noted ‘that Ireland’s sons and daughters are scattered throughout the world’ and that that they have ‘kept a special place in their ancestral memories, of this green and misty island, so in a sense, all of them who visit Ireland come home,'"  said US-Ireland Alliance president Trina Vargo. "That deep connection with Ireland so clearly applies to John C. Reilly, and we look forward to celebrating his impressive career.”

Reilly has starred in a number of acclaimed films, including Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York, Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, as well as comedy hits Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Step Brothers.