Oscar-nominated actor Ciaran Hinds has recalled Liam Neeson cooking for him, the possibility of working with Kenneth Branagh again and why he’s rooting for fellow Irishman and “beautiful man” Cillian Murphy at this month’s Oscars.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph at the launch of Whiteabbey Hospital’s involvement in the InterAct programme, a new charity set up which involves getting actors to read to stroke patients, Hinds reflected on his career and said it’s always great to be back in Belfast.

“A very close friend of mine put me in touch with (organiser) Emma D’Inverno who worked with InterAct, and I was told it was a really great charity,” said the actor, who flew over for the event at the Newtownabbey hospital from London via Amsterdam where he is filming a “beautiful drama” Midwinter Break with Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville.

“I was more than happy to help to raise awareness and highlight it. I mean to do something back here (in NI) is great, especially if it helps.”

Hinds has already had a busy year with three high-profile releases due to come out later this year including the drama with The Crown star Manville.

Last year he reunited with self-described “best mate” Liam Neeson in Netflix’s drama In the Land of Saints and Sinners, 43 years after first appearing together in sci-fi Excalibur.

Oscar-nominated actor Ciaran Hinds speaking to patient Penny Donavan at Whiteabbey Hospital

“He’s my best mate, we had a good time on that shoot. We rented a place together in Co Donegal, and I had Liam cooking for me every night, he did all the heavy lifting.

“I think it will be brilliant,” he said about his friend’s new reported role in a reboot of The Naked Gun series.

“Liam has that comedy part in him as we saw in Derry Girls, he can be the straight man so well — which is funny cause he’s really a big Ballymena galoot,” the Belfast star said laughing.

“Those scripts with Leslie Nielsen were so good, but I think Liam will get it right, sure he even called himself Lyle Nelson at one point.”

Hinds will be next seen in The Narrow Road to the Deep North which was shot in Australia last year and has the Belfast actor playing an older version of Euphoria and Priscilla star Jacob Elordi’s character.

“Poor Jacob Elordi, I’m sure he was surprised to see he turns into me in 40 years,” adds Hinds.

The actor’s appearance in Belfast comes as several of his fellow Irish actors have been tipped for awards success in recent weeks, with his former co-star Cillian Murphy the favourite for Best Actor for Oppenheimer.

“Gosh, I’d love to see him win, he’s a beautiful and extraordinary man, he’s also wonderful on stage, which I’m not sure a lot of people know about.

“He’s a true artist. The Oscar voters can be difficult, I mean Paul Giamatti (nominee for The Holdovers) his performance is wonderful too and it’s a beautiful film so they want to swing towards that, you just don’t know.

“I don’t subscribe to much of that world though. He’s such a great guy, I’ll have my fingers crossed for him.”

Murphy and Hinds were originally billed to work together on the Oppenheimer star’s next film, the Irish drama Small Things Like These — however Hinds revealed his scenes, which were a flashback, have been cut from the finished film.

“It was a great scene too, a big long monologue just me and him in what was supposed to be a flashback, but they’ve told me it was due to timings — or maybe I was sh***. First time it’s ever happened to me too,” he laughed.

The film follows Murphy as a coal miner who spots something sinister at a local convent.

“It was brilliant to work with him though, it’s a horrific story, really harrowing. You couldn’t find something more opposite than Oppenheimer,” he said.

Oscar-nominated actor Ciaran Hinds with the staff at Whiteabbey Hospital

The ex-St Malachy’s Belfast pupil is familiar with the awards himself, having been nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2021 ceremony for his turn as ‘Pa’ in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast.

Despite their great working relationship in the film, he doesn’t have plans to reunite anytime soon.

“I don’t know, I think it was a one-off so probably not. It was such a joyous time,” he said.

Asked if he could make an appearance in one of his Hercule Poirot movies, with Branagh having already worked with his Belfast stars Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench and Jude Webber on previous instalments, Hinds remains coy.

“You never know, he’s had Jamie and Jude now, so you just never know.”

One performance he is looking forward to is his part in Anna with Maxine Peake. The Belfast star plays Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, the editor of Anna Politkovskaya (Peake) who was murdered in Moscow in 2008.

He is due to attend the world premiere for the film in Washington DC in the coming months.

“That was a really great time and a brilliant role, we filmed in Latvia. No Russian accent from me thankfully, we didn’t bother with any of that — I just hope it turns out well, you never know with these scripts sometimes.”

During the event at Whiteabbey Hospital, staff gathered to have conversations with the Oscar-nominee actor as he took time to discuss the InterAct project with patients.

Oscar-nominated actor Ciaran Hinds with speaking patients at Whiteabbey Hospital

Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar is Hinds’ co-ambassador for the charity. Dunbar was unable to attend Friday’s event, but said in a statement:

“InterAct Stroke Support is a wonderful organisation doing amazing work with stroke survivors. It would be a huge loss if they don’t retain a presence in NI. I urge anyone reading this to give them your support.”

InterAct’s services have been received very well across the UK, including in Scotland where it is led by ex-Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi.

“It removed me from the status of being a patient and made me feel more equal and human. I felt like I was a person again and not a patient,” said one patient at Whiteabbey Hospital about their session.

InterAct’s chief executive Nirjay Mahindru said he was delighted the charity had expanded to Northern Ireland.

“It was always my goal to bring it out of London and into the wider UK. After we did Scotland, I knew we had to come to Belfast.

“Once Covid was sort-of removed from the equation, we came here to explore. We’re so pleased to come here.”