Paul Mescal has joined the short film, Mary Is Missing as an executive producer, a movie based in his native Co Kildare.
Mescal has backed the Aisling Byrne directed movie, which has a chance of being nominated for an Oscar in the Best Live-Action Short Film category.
Mary Is Missing which has been described as being "created through a collaborative writers' room with learning-disabled artists", is co written by Aisling Byrne and Catriona Daly, as well as produced by Killian Coyle for Run of the Mill and Arcade Film.
It was revealed that thirteen of the film's 19 cast members have intellectual disabilities.
The synopsis for the movie reads: "When care worker Mary vanishes without a trace from the Yellow Tree Day Service, Garda Foley arrives to investigate," says the synopsis.
"The attendees, who were among the last people to see Mary, become key witnesses, but their accounts quickly begin to contradict one another.
"As their stories become increasingly confounding and fantastical, Foley must determine not only whether the witnesses are telling the truth - if not, why not?
"Are they protecting Mary, protecting themselves, or is the truth something far more complicated?"
It is in contention for inclusion among the 15 titles which will be included on the shortlist for Best Live Action Short Film, which is to be announced on December 15, before the final five nominees for the Academy Awards are announced on 21 January next year.
Speaking about this project, Paul Mescal released this statement.
"There are films that remind you just how exciting cinema can be when it opens itself up to new voices," he said. "For me, Mary Is Missing is one of those films. It's bold, surprising, and unlike anything else I've seen, and what stayed with me most when I first saw it was the collaborative spirit behind it".
"The film has been shaped through the imagination and lived experience of artists with intellectual disabilities, and that originality is there in every frame", he added. "Knowing it was created in Maynooth, where I grew up, makes it feel especially close to home". (All quotes according to RTÉ).
The cast for Mary Is Missing includes: Derek McSweeney, Eoghan Ashe, Maurice Coll, Ella-Jane Moore, John Egan, Jackie O'Hagan, Keith Foley, Teresa Flood, Wesley Fairbrother, Neil Coffey, Lucy Smith, and Conor Begley. It also stars Craig Connolly, Lloyd Cooney, Lauren Larkin, Danny O'Connor, Clare Monnelly, and Kamilla Fenger.
