James Cox
The Bear star Ayo Edebiri won best actress in a comedy series at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday and confused many people by thanking Ireland in her acceptance speech.
The 28-year-old, from Boston, has no Irish family roots but thanked the country as she picked up the gong, adding to an earlier Golden Globes win.
"To everybody in Boston, Barbados, Nigeria – Ireland, in many ways – thank you so much, I love you,” she said.
The mention of Ireland comes from a viral joke after Edebiri put on an Irish accent at a red carpet event and pretended she played Jenny the Donkey in The Banshees of Inisherin.
"Preparing for that? I lived in Ireland – ‘Ireland’ – for about four months,” she said.
"And I got really into character and I was on all fours for four months and it was really painful but beautiful as well and it was probably the most fulfilling part of my career.
"And I’m so happy for everybody going to the Oscars even though I deserved the nomination more than anybody else because I was obviously a donkey for four months."
"Oh my god, sorry,” she said, before returning to her normal accent. “I literally – I was there, you know what I mean? I slipped back into it. Yeah. But it was very fulfilling.
"It was very fulfilling and I want little girls out there everywhere to know that they, too, can be a donkey one day.”
The interview has since gone viral, and become a running joke, which Edebiri referenced as she picked up her Critics Choice award for her role in The Bear.
In the hit series, she plays Sydney Adamu, a sous-chef.
Edebiri has since added an Emmy win to her collection, for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series.
