How Irish Singer Glen Hansard Accidentally Won An Oscar

Glen Hansard built a career that took him from busking on the streets of Dublin, Ireland, to winning an Academy Award, but his success almost never happened. Hansard left school at a young age and spent years performing on Grafton Street before forming The Frames in his late teens. The band was named after his hobby of repairing bicycle frames, and his mother even took out a bank loan to help fund their earliest recordings. Although they were dropped by Island Records after their debut album, The Frames steadily built a loyal following and gradually became one of Ireland's most respected rock bands. His biggest breakthrough came almost by accident. John Carney, a former member of The Frames, was making the low-budget movie ‘Once’ and had originally hoped to cast Cillian Murphy in the lead role. When Murphy dropped out, Hansard reluctantly took the part opposite Markéta Irglová. Their duet ‘Falling Slowly’ became the movie's emotional centerpiece, helping ‘Once’ gross over $20 million worldwide and unexpectedly win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Despite his Oscar success, Hansard never focused on acting, choosing to continue making music instead. He even returned to busking on Dublin's Grafton Street every year to raise money for people experiencing homelessness, staying deeply connected to the place where his remarkable journey first began.