Why the Internet Thinks Ayo Edebiri Is Irish

The Bear actress Ayo Edebiri has been in the spotlight lately after a successful start to award show season. In the past two weeks, she has won a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award, and an Emmy for her role in the FX series. With all this attention, people are starting to uncover more and more about Edebiri… including the internet-wide joke that she’s from Ireland.

Confused? Let’s back up. Though Edebiri is actually from Boston, back in March 2023, she did an interview with Letterboxd where she talked about how she had to live in Ireland for four months to prepare for her role of Jenny the donkey in The Banshees of Inisherin.

“I lived in Ireland for about four months, and I got really in character, and I was on all fours for four months, and it was really painful, but beautiful, as well,” she joked in an Irish accent.

“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,” she added.

Turns out, the accent was a bit too convincing, because some people believed that Edebiri is actually Irish. Edebiri has also been playing into the bit; when she gave her acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Comedy Series at the Critics Choice Awards, she jokingly gave Ireland a shout-out.

“To everybody in Boston, Barbados, Nigeria, and Ireland, in many ways,” Edebiri said.

Even Ireland has joined in on the fun. After Edebiri’s BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination was announced, the Film in Dublin X account shared these funny tweets:

In case it’s still not clear: No, Edebiri isn’t Irish. But she sure is a great spokesperson.

Bri is the editorial and social media assistant at ELLE.com. Before joining the team at ELLE, she worked as the editorial assistant for Seventeen.com and Cosmopolitan.com where she covered all things celebrity news and pop culture. You can probably find her sipping an oatmilk iced chai while searching for the best new makeup products or thrifting her entire wardrobe.