Thaddea Graham to receive Wilde Card Award at upcoming Los Angeles ceremony

Thaddea Graham, the actress from Northern Ireland, will be honored at the 21st annual Oscar Wilde Awards. The ceremony is scheduled for March 11 at the Ebell in Los Angeles. The event takes place three days before the Academy Awards. It is organized by the US-Ireland Alliance to celebrate contributions to film, television, and music by individuals of Irish heritage.

Graham, 29, will receive the Wilde Card Award. Trina Vargo, president of the US-Ireland Alliance, described the specific honor. Vargo said the award is presented to someone the organization expects audiences will hear a lot more from. Previous recipients of the Wilde Card Award include Saoirse Ronan, Barry Keoghan, Sarah Bolger, and Eve Hewson.

Jack Reynor, an Irish American actor, was announced as an honoree last month. The event will also feature a performance by Shobsy, an Irish synth-pop singer. Shobsy completed a U.K. and European tour with SO Recordings labelmates MY BABY last year. He also performed at SXSW and an Irish music industry showcase in Dublin hosted by Ireland’s president, Catherine Connolly. Shobsy recently released the EP The World Will Not Remember alongside a new single titled Perfect.

Graham’s recent film credits include a role in Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt. She appeared in that production alongside Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, and Michael Stuhlbarg. She has reunited with Guadagnino for the upcoming film Artificial. That movie stars Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Graham also played the personal assistant of George Clooney’s character in Noah Baumbach’s 2025 film Jay Kelly.

Her television work includes the final season of Netflix’s Sex Education, where she played the therapist O. In 2024, she appeared as the detective Una Houlihan in the second season of Bad Sisters. This year, she starred as the roommate of Elle Fanning’s character in Margo’s Got Money Troubles on Apple TV. Earlier in her career, she portrayed the head of Sherlock Holmes’ band of street urchins in Netflix’s The Irregulars and had a recurring role on the BBC’s Doctor Who in 2021.

Graham was found as a baby on the steps of a building in Changsha, China. She was adopted at 13 months and brought to County Down by her parents. She is one of the first Chinese-born children adopted in Northern Ireland. In April, she told The London Times that she would not be here without the kindness of strangers. She cited the person who found her, her parents, and her teachers as sources of that support. Her primary-school teacher introduced a Chinese New Year celebration that continues today.

Graham has discussed the impact of her roles on audiences. After an Emmy event for Bad Sisters, she noted that many people from Asian backgrounds approached her. They told her it was amazing to see her as a lead character. They appreciated the representation and her distinct accent, which differed from what some might expect.

The Oscar Wilde Awards have become a standard pre-Oscar evening in Los Angeles. The organization focuses on recognizing talent that contributes to the arts. Graham’s selection places her among other rising and established figures in the industry. The ceremony will combine formal honors with musical performances to mark the occasion.