Saoirse Ronan Opens Up About Her Career
Child star and successful actress Saoirse Ronan recently shared her thoughts about her career and the industry in an interview. The actress was articulate and had many different thoughts to share.
Among the topics she discussed was having to transition into an actor after being a child star. A role she played while she was younger includes Briony Tallis in the movie adaptation of the book Atonement, a role that got her nominated for an Oscar. Of course, there’s her well-received performance as the main character Susie Salmon in The Lovely Bones. She has been on this path since she was roughly 8 years old.
Even so, she maintained a humble attitude about her experiences so far. She says, “The experiences I was having were different from most other young people of my age, but I wasn’t in a big Disney show where I was, like, a superstar – and I wasn’t in Harry Potter, either. I wasn’t famous. I was just a kid who was in stuff and was very lucky to be that.”
Despite her success, she revealed that she was told not to expect any roles for 3-4 years as she began entering womanhood. Stories were written about women and girls, but there wasn’t as much attention on the period when the transition between those stages is happening. She expressed a lot of gratitude for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel as it gave her another opportunity. Though, she did acknowledge that her role in this movie was fairly shallow in nature, just like other roles she was offered in this time.
Ronan also went on to talk about the hustle and bustle of having grown up as a child star. She talked about how she would be gone so often and for such long periods of time that she began being homeschooled instead so that she wouldn’t miss out. Ronan also said that she’s been able to keep in touch with some friends since she was a child, despite her busy schedule over the years. They are the children of her parents’ best friends, and she expressed fondness for them and the memories she’s made with them.
One other topic she addressed was the pressure surrounding looks that is often imposed on women who act. She acknowledged that male actors tend to have diverse looks and are still able to meet relative success, but the same case doesn’t seem to apply to women. Ronan then added that she believes she was never cast for her looks because most of the characters she’s portrayed are tomboys or their looks have no connection to the character.
Saoirse Ronan’s most recent role was in Mary Queen of Scots as the titular character.