Hollywood is filled with a diverse range of incredible talents, and a handful of the best ones come from Ireland. There’s Brendan Gleeson, Pierce Brosnan, and Colin Farrell, to name a few. Recent years have seen an emergence of even more actors from Ireland and Northern Ireland. Some of the most anticipated movies today star Irish thespians in leading roles.

For instance, the Northern Irish native Jamie Dornan is now popularly known as Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades movie trilogy. The first installment, Fifty Shades of Grey, broke box office records and earned over $571 million worldwide. Dornan is currently filming scenes for the third iteration, Fifty Shades Freed.

Then there is Michael Fassbender, who has been in blockbuster hits such as the latest three X-Men titles and the two most recent releases in the Alien continuity. The actor’s skills were acknowledged by the Academy for the first time in 2014, when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 12 Years of Slave. Nonetheless, a long list of awards and nominations from other award-giving bodies in the industry falls under his name.

Fassbender identifies himself as Irish, but the media often calls him British. Digital news outlet JOE documented Fassbender’s comments, wherein the actor jokingly says the British media only label him as such when he’s doing well.

The actress Saoirse Ronan is an Irish gem in Hollywood as well. She rose to fame in the film Atonement, which earned her an Oscar nomination at only 13 years old. Ronan then went on to star in notable movies like The Lovely Bones, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Brooklyn, a film in which she played an Irish character for the first time. She is currently filming scenes for the historical drama movie Mary Queen of Scots, which comes out in 2018.

Another Irish actor who has a very particular set of skills is Liam Neeson. Known best in pop culture for his starring role in the Taken franchise, Neeson is set to receive a diaspora award from Ireland’s president Michael D. Higgins. The Irish Times relayed that Neeson was chosen because he helped raise awareness of the country as well as Irish artists around the world. It’s also interesting to note that Neeson is the only Irish included in Forbes’ list of highest paid actors.

As you may notice from this gesture, Ireland and Northern Ireland are very proud of their rich culture, regardless of the split between two nations. Their way of life has resonated well with other countries so much so that many of its elements are honored all over the world. The globally celebrated Feast of St. Patrick, for instance, is a day dedicated to Irish culture, aside from being an occasion to venerate the patron saint who ministered Christianity in the North Atlantic island.

Ireland also brought the leprechaun to mainstream popularity. The mythical creature even reached the NBA as the official logo and mascot of the Boston Celtics. Leprechaun’s are famous in Hollywood and beyond as well, due to their appearance in the horror film franchise Leprechaun and in video games with the mobile slots title Rainbow Riches, hosted on Slingo, being a classic examples. Leprechauns may not be real, but their influence, along with famous Irish actors, helped bring Irish culture to the limelight.

With Irish communities present in every inhabited continent, it can be stated that more talented individuals of this ethnicity are just waiting for their chance to be discovered. Needless to say, Hollywood’s roster of Irish stars will only get bigger in the coming years.