It isn't every day—or ever—that you get to shoot a movie about where you're from... where you're from. And then that movie gets nominated for six Oscars!
But it happened to Jamie Dornan, who understandably called the experience of starring in the film Belfast "surreal" when he stopped to chat with host Laverne Cox on Live from E!: Oscars ahead of the 94th Academy Awards.
"You don't think you're going to go through your career and ever be handed a script that is your hometown," the Northern Irish actor said. "So it's a real honor, to be honest, to be able to represent it in that way—and not only that, but to have all the love that we've had."
Best Picture nominee Belfast, shot in black and white, is based on director Kenneth Branagh's childhood experience growing up in the late 1960s as the Troubles were erupting around the city. Dornan plays the father of Jude Hill's Buddy (the Branagh character) who has to make the extremely tough decision of whether to uproot his wife and sons from the only home they've ever known in search of a more promising—and peaceful—future for his family.
Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds are nominated for Supporting Actress and Actor for their performances as Buddy's grandparents, while Branagh is up for Best Director and Original Screenplay and a nod for Best Sound rounds out the film's chances.
"That's not why you make it, you don't expect that," Dornan added, referring to all the accolades, "so that's been a big bonus."
The 39-year-old father of three made for a handsome couple with his date-for-life, Amelia Warner, but he also was half of a dashing reunion with longtime friend and Best Actor nominee Andrew Garfield, once upon a time his roommate when both were just a couple of lads from the U.K. trying to make it in Hollywood.
"We just had this beautiful moment there on the carpet, like, 'Check us out, 'cause this is a cool thing," Dornan shared of his moment with the Tick, Tick...Boom star. "But we've known each other 17 years, you know, and there's times where we weren't working that much and it wasn't happening for us, so to be able to share the whole last few months with him has been a beautiful thing."