When Bradley Cooper steps behind the camera again in 2025 with IS THIS THING ON?, he’s assembled a cast that reads like a masterclass in understated brilliance. Among the names—Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Amy Sedaris—sits Ciarán Hinds, the Belfast-born actor whose face you know even if his name doesn’t immediately register. Hinds will play Jan in this exploration of divorce and stand-up comedy, a pairing of subjects that promises the kind of uncomfortable humor that lands like a punch to the gut before you realize you’re laughing.
For an actor who’s portrayed everyone from Julius Caesar in ROME to the tormented father in BELFAST, from the sinister Steppenwolf in JUSTICE LEAGUE to Albus Dumbledore’s brother in HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, adding a character named Jan to the repertoire feels almost refreshingly ordinary. Almost. Because with Hinds, nothing is ever quite ordinary. He brings gravity to fantasy, warmth to prestige drama, and a lived-in authenticity that makes you forget you’re watching someone act. His Mance Rayder in GAME OF THRONES felt like a king precisely because he never seemed to be trying to convince you he was one.
IS THIS THING ON? marks another chapter in a career that’s been less about headlines and more about the slow accumulation of indelible moments. Cooper, fresh from his ambitious turn with MAESTRO, clearly understands that sometimes the most interesting stories about falling apart require actors who know how to hold themselves together on screen. With Hinds in the mix alongside Arnett’s comic timing, Dern’s emotional precision, and Sedaris’s sharp wit, the film has the ingredients for something that could cut deeper than your typical comedy about life’s wreckage. And in an industry increasingly obsessed with spectacle, there’s something quietly radical about a project that seems content to explore the messy, ordinary devastation of a marriage ending and a comic trying to find the joke in it all.
BAD SISTERS creator @sharonhorgan strikes gold again!
Her new comedy, YOUTH, about a 50-year-old caught between her college-aged son and her aging parents is now on @hbomax.
Watch trailer via irishfilmtv.com.
She commands every room she walks into 🎭
Siobhán McSweeney, the BAFTA-winning star of DERRY GIRLS, is now the host of THE TRAITORS IRELAND, guiding strangers through a game of trust, suspicion, and deception where a single glance can shift the balance of power.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio!
Don`t miss Liam Neeson with @patrickielty on THE LATE LATE SHOW!
Big Liam joined campaigner Catherine Corless to discuss THE LOST CHILDREN OF TUAM, the most important Irish film of 2026.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio!
In theatres today!
Saoirse Ronan returns to the big screen in BAD APPLES. the dark comedy where she plays a teacher driven to extremes.
Watch Saoirse`s interview with @picturehouses via 🔗︎ in bio.
Irish eyes were shining in #Toronto this week 🎬
Monaghan`s own Caitríona Balfe hit the red carpet at TIFF for the premiere of TENZING — the incredible true story of Tenzing Norgay, the Himalayan climber history almost forgot, and his historic 1953 ascent of Everest alongside Edmund Hillary.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio.
Tea, reflection, and a very different kind of classroom drama ☕🎬
Saoirse Ronan opens up on A MUG OF LIFE about presence, growth, and calm — then goes full dark comedy in BAD APPLES, in UK cinemas from September 18.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio.
Meet Liam Neeson, the producer!
Enraged by a 2017 New York Times investigation into the Tuam mother and baby home scandal, Neeson has backed THE LOST CHILDREN OF TUAM, in Irish theatres on Sep 25.
Full details via link in bio 🔗︎
Andrew Scott could make Oscar history 🎭
His performance in ELSINORE — as an actor giving everything to one final role while his body fails him — is the kind you don`t shake off.
Watch Andrew`s @tiff_net "In Conversation" via 🔗︎ in bio.
Domhnall told Taylor "I`ll do it for the dance".
THE PAPER star spills the tea on how he ended up starring in Taylor Swift`s "Opalite" video — jumpsuits, a talking cactus, zero-star judges, and a night of panicked dance rehearsals with the one and only Mandy.
Watch now via irishfilmtv.com.
