Past honorees include: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Reynolds, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jaden Smith, Emma Watson, Zac Effron, Reese Witherspoon, Jody Foster, Mila Kunis, Joaquin Phoenix, Kirsten Dunst, Jake Gyllenhall, Megan Fox, Saoirse Ronan, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Brie Larson, Elle Fanning and Hillary Swank.
“Being nominated means the absolute world to me”, Ely said upon hearing the news. “I put my heart and soul into perfecting my performance in Detainment so getting recognition for something that I put so much hard work into makes me feel amazing”.To even think of the idea of being able to make a living out of something that I enjoy so much is absolutely crazy” he said.
The film kick-started a hugely successful acting career for Ely, who is now represented by Young Artists Management in Dublin, and he has landed roles in major film and television productions. Following ‘Detainment’, he was cast as a young Charles Dickens in the feature film ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’, alongside Jonathan Pryce, Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer. He played a young Dave Allen in the BBC drama ‘Dave Allen At Peace’ starring Aidan Gillen. He played “Bertie Makepeace” in the tv drama ‘Inspector Jury 4’, “Young Brandon” in the feature film ‘A Christmas Perfection’, “Paul Blake” in the crime series ‘An Irish Crime’ and he plays the voice of “Jimmy” in the children’s animated series ‘Peak Zoo’. Ely will soon be appearing as “Rory” in the new season of ‘Drop Dead Weird’ which screens on RTE 2 in Ireland and the Seven Network in Australia, and he plays “Robert” in the upcoming feature film ‘Four Kids and It’ starring Michael Caine, Russel Brand and Daniel Bruhl.
All of the nominations for the Young Artist Academy awards can be watched below. We at the Junior Galway Film Fleadh would like to take this opportunity to wish Ely the best of luck on his adventure to Hollywood on Sunday July 14th.