Robert Downey Jr. seems ready to exit Hollywood for a quieter life. The Irish-American actor says that though he’s grateful for his success, he finds himself wanting to take a break from acting and relax.

Gerard Butler has been named the best British actor in Hollywood. The Scottish hunk, who is best known for playing King Leonidas in “300,” beat a host of stars, including Christian Bale and double-Oscar winner and Irish citizen Daniel Day Lewis to win the title in a poll of more than 1,000 British film fans by the DVD rental service LoveFilm.

Olivia Wilde’s star is firmly on the ascent. Best known for her recurring role in Fox’s “House,” the Irish American actress trained at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and chose her stage name in honor of Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. She talks about her Irish background, her pride in her heritage and her ultimate dream – the chance to make a film in Ireland.

Irish star Pierce Brosnan joined Hollywood A-listers Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at a private session with Lady Gaga in LA.

Lindsay Lohan newest crush and her self-described “perfect man” is none other than A-list actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

Dana Delany has opened up about turning down the role of Carrie in “Sex and the City.” The actress and multiple Emmy winner, who first hit it big as Nurse Colleen McMurphy on “China Beach,” is enjoying currently stardom again on “Desperate Housewives.”

Robert Pattinson says he was mortified by the rumors that were floating around about him and Megan Fox going on a “cheesy” date.

Niall O'Dowd: "2012," the new blockbuster movie from director Roland Emmerich about the end of the world, is clearly anti-Catholic. It stars Irish-American actor John Cusack, who is obviously along for the payday. | WITH TRAILER

Irish golfing sensation Rory McIlroy will become a card carrying member of the US PGA Tour in 2010 as he sets his sights firmly on cracking the top ten in world golf rankings.

Irish American actress Dakota Fanning says she took a role in 'New Moon' because she was desperate to be part of it after reading the Twilight books.

Mel Gibson was too short to play James Bond! That's the astonishing news coming out from Hollywood this week. Gibson, who recently celebrated the arrival of his eighth child Lucia with Russian girlfriend Lyudmilla Chernukha, was deemed too tiny for Bond by producer Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli.

Robert De Niro, an Irish (and Italian, and German) American veteran actor, believes his struggle to find success in his early career has kept him grounded and feels modern stars need time to find their feet.

Hopper - the Oscar-winning actor's 16-year-old son with estranged wife Robin Wright Penn - was taken into custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department last week after officers visited his high school in Malibu and found drugs on

Who’s the leading contender to win the Academy Award in February for Best Actress? According to the influential Los Angeles Times, it’s none other than Irish actress Saoirse Ronan.

Niall O'Dowd: Somewhere in Australia there's an Irish lad called Rowan McCormick who broke Maureen Dowd's heart. When she went back in the early 1970s to visit her homestead in County Clare, hard by the majestic Cliffs of Moher, she met him and fell madly in love.

Robert Pattinson admits he can’t understand why girls find him attractive, and claims he thinks he looks like a “blob.”

The 23-year-old actress, who has been in an on/off relationship with DJ Samantha Ronson since 2008, was seen canoodling with model Petey Wright.

A clique of rich teenage girls has been arrested in connection with the robbery at Lindsay Lohan’s Hollywood home.

Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan is keeping a brave face after her French fashion debut was roundly panned. Lohan, who was hired by the French fashion house Emanuel Ungaro as "artistic advisor," was blasted when the Lohan-inspired collection hit the French fashion collections.

Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan has revealed that she used supermodel Kate Moss as a human shield at the French fashion collections. Lohan was swarmed by reporters and paparazzi during her debut as artistic advisor for Emanuel Ungaro.

Niall O'Dowd: A "plain-looking spinster" is how WomansDay.com described Susan Boyle this week. Whatever happened to beauty being skin deep?

After a 10-year wait that felt like an eternity, the moment that Irish Americans have been waiting for has finally arrived: the Boondock Saints are back with a bang.

Have you heard the news girls? Robert Pattinson says he can't get a date. Oh Lord, this guy is as phony as a three dollar bill and a teller of big fat lies to boot.

He’s king of the box office yet again with his latest hit “Couples Retreat,” and Vince Vaughn is doing the rounds on a promotional victory lap in Europe. Dublin, it appears, was easily his favorite stop.

Gerard Butler may be a hunk, but according to Gawker.com, he’s no movie star.

Irish model Luiza Hogan will appear on season two of E! Entertainment’s "Playboy Shootout," which is set to air next year.

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Here is the long-awaited cover of Susan Boyle's album "I Dreamed a Dream." The album, which features songs from Madonna "You’ll See" and her stunning cover of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," doesn't even go on sale until November 24.

Irish rock band The Script have added "90210" to their list of cameos after appearing on the "The Hills" last year. Lead singer Danny O'Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power played themselves on the opening episode of the second series of "90210" this week.

Liam Neeson may be busy filming blockbuster Hollywood films, but that doesn’t mean he can’t take time out to get back in touch with his Irish roots.

Michael Lohan has revealed that he fears prescription drugs are killing his daughter. Lindsay Lohan’s semi-estranged father blames her downward spiral – professionally and personally – is due to the drugs she’s on.

It seems as if Irish American talk show host Bill O'Reilly was the only person who took up Irish American actor Charlie Sheen's offer to debate 9/11.

Actress Anna Friel’s nude scene in the West End production of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is causing quite a stir.

Tabloid queen and sometime actress Lindsay Lohan is reportedly in talks to participate in the next, and last, season of Britain’s “Celebrity Big Brother.”

On the film festival circuit in September is Conor McPherson’s new movie “The Eclipse,” starring Aidan Quinn. The Quinn family, as a whole, is raising its Hollywood profile behind the camera as well.

Look out for Irish and Irish-American actors on the DVD front, as well as on the silver screen, this fall.

Sometimes one mad idea can turn into an unexpected goldmine. When bestselling Irish author Derek Landy was pursuing his dream of becoming a horror film screenwriter, fate pointed him toward a whole new career. He talks about his long and winding road to success.

Today’s reigning tabloid queens, 23-year-olds Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox, have more in common than being sometime-actresses and all-the-time trouble-makers. The two starlets are in direct competition to be crowned the next Marilyn. IrishCentral had a look at the stars’ stats and decided: who’s more of a Marilyn wannabe?

Hey Hollywood! Irish actor Colin Farrell says he's ready for a blockbuster role. "I love good action films, he said. "I love the spectacle of guns in the cinema, I really do."

IrishCentral's AJ Voelpel with this week's movers and shakers in his top dozen teams in college football.

Patrick Swayze's family were today mourning the Hollywood star who died Monday from pancreatic cancer. "He was born with a star on his head," said his Irish American mom

It is quite an image... Maureen Dowd, scourge of every president since Poppy Bush and, arguably, the most powerful journalist in America thanks to her must-read column in The New York Times, talking of the road not taken, living a quiet life as a barkeep's wife back in Clare. Maybe that image isn’t so fanciful, though.

Hollywood cliques have been around for decades. But it’s time for the Rats, Brats and Frat boys to move over – because here comes the Pat Pack.

So the 23-year-old Robert Pattinson has admitted he couldn't get a date before “Twilight.”

She may have a bold, in-your-face sense of humor, but Irish-American comedian Kathy Griffin wasn’t always so confident. When Griffin began her career in L.A., she was extremely insecure about her body, and went to great extremes to obtain the thin, perfectly sculpted Hollywood look.

Lindsay Lohan is known for being a big fan of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, but some new body ink on the Irish-American actress suggests she’s becoming obsessed.

Looks like IrishCentral movie critics had it right: legendary Scottish actor Sean Connery has the worst movie accent of all time, according to film fans.

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg is on a secret summer vacation in Ireland. Spielberg, along with his wife, actress Kate Capshaw, and their teenage son have criss-crossed the country from the windswept Aran Islands to the Burren to plush Rathmines in Dublin.

Irish star Cillian Murphy has weighed in for Leonardo DiCaprio after Hollywood reports said the "Titanic" star was too fat for his new film, "Inception." Murphy, who is currently shooting "Inception" in Paris with DiCaprio said the Hollywood press was telling porkies.

Irish-American actor John Cusack recently took a three-week vacation to Ireland to celebrate his mom’s 80th birthday, and luckily for his fans, he Tweeted his thoughts and pictures along the way.