Unlike established Irish A-listers like Michael Fassbender or Colin Farrell, he is still barely a household name and remains relatively unknown outside acting circles.

So it's no doubt a surprise to many to learn that rising actor Jack Reynor has become Ireland's first billion dollar movie star.

The 22-year-old, from Co. Wicklow, has officially become Ireland's most successful box office star for a single movie after 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' became the first film this year to pass $1bn in global receipts.

Colorado-born Reynor's breakout role was as the lead in the critically-acclaimed 2012 production, 'What Richard Did', which landed him an IFTA award.

It was his performance in that movie which is understood to have caught the eye of producers of the multi-billion dollar Transformers' franchise.

Veteran Irish actor Liam Neeson is second in the Box Office Mojo list, with 'Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace' pulling in $983m in global receipts in 1999. Neeson, however, reigns as the sixth-highest paid actor in Hollywood overall.

The website also notes that the Taken star is still the "reigning" king of the box office, with is movies making over $5.3bn worldwide.

Acclaimed Dublin actor Brendan Gleeson is second to Neeson in terms of overall global tickets sales, with the bulk of his $4bn generated by the hugely-successful Harry Potter movies.

Former James Bond Star Pierce Brosnan is in third place with $3.4bn in global sales, while aforementioned stars Michael Fassbender and Colin Farrell are in fourth and fifth spots, with worldwide tallies of $2.4bn and $2.3bn respectively.