Bill Nighy and Paul Mescal among Brit screen stars battling it out for top gongs at the Oscars

BRITISH screen stars are in the running to collect top gongs at the Oscars.

Bill Nighy, 73, nominated for the first time, is up for Best Actor for his role in Living, playing a bureaucrat facing a fatal illness.

Newcastle-born Andrea Riseborough, 41, is in the Best Actress list for To Leslie, where she plays an alcoholic Texan mum.

Meanwhile Irish actor Colin Farrell, 46, got his first Oscar nod — for his part as a spurned pal in The Banshees of Inisherin.

Irish co-stars Brendan Gleeson, 67, and , 30, are up for Best Supporting Actor, and Kerry Condon, 40, Best Supporting Actress.

Fellow Irishman Paul Mescal, 26, is in the Best Actor category for Aftersun.

Paul’s sister Nell revealed the news came as their mum Dearbhla was preparing for chemo.

She tweeted: “My mum got a haircut today in prep for her chemotherapy and then Paul got nominated for an Oscar… life is so crazy.”

British-Irish director Martin McDonagh was also nominated.