Saoirse Ronan says her experience as a child actor continues to shape her work

The entertainment industry is notorious for mistreating child actors, but Saoirse Ronan says that hasn’t been her experience. Maybe it was because his father was an actor and his mother was there to protect him. “My mom and dad always made me feel, at the core, that this should be fun,” Ronan says. “As soon as it stops being fun, don’t do it again.”

He was nominated for his first Oscar at the age of 13 for the 2007 film PenanceThe Irish actor says he was “very lucky” to have worked with a number of supportive filmmakers when he was young. peter jackson, Peter Weir And Amy Heckerling.

“It was an incredible environment to grow up in, where youth and innocence were kind of encouraged and play was never forgotten,” he says. “That really shaped who I am as a player now.”

Ronan is currently starring in two films. Lightening And Exit. In the first, she plays a mother living in London with her young son and elderly father during the German bombing campaigns of World War II.

“Honoring the mother-child relationship was something I really couldn’t give up,” says Ronan. Lightening. “I’m incredibly close to my own mother, and we spent a lot of time together in an environment where it was just me and her, so that dynamic is something I’ve always wanted to bring to life on screen.”

Exit Based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir. Ronan plays Rona, a young woman whose life is derailed by alcohol addiction. Rona makes various efforts to get sober before returning to Orkney, Scotland, to help her father tend his farm. In a scene that Ronan describes as “the craziest experience I’ve ever had in a movie,” the character helps deliver a baby lamb.

“What was really interesting and really humbling was that the sheep didn’t stick to the schedule,” Ronan says of the nativity scene. “So we had to change our shooting schedule according to nature. I would get ready around 4:00 in the morning. We would go to the shed and just wait and the camera would be ready to go.”

Interview highlights

Reading Amy Liptrot’s memoirs Exit

I think it was the first time I was exposed to an addiction story that made me feel like it wasn’t all doom and gloom. And it allowed me to get to know this person completely. Amy Liptrot did not identify with alcohol addiction, but she acknowledged that alcohol played a large role in her life and led to its destruction for a long time. The fact that we were going to follow a young woman struggling with alcoholism really appealed to me. I think usually when you think of it as a story, you probably imagine a middle-aged man or a woman going through a divorce or she’s lost her family or there’s a familial element to it. And no matter how bad it looks on paper, the fact that we’re going to follow someone who “shouldn’t” have this addiction but still has it reminds us that this is something that can affect anyone.

Addressing the issue of addiction

This is a special topic that is very personal to me. This is an addiction that I don’t struggle with myself, but I have seen people very close to me struggle with it. And some eventually saw the light, and some did not; and it’s incredibly painful. And I think, as someone who’s been on the receiving end of this, there’s a lot of anger and resentment that comes from that experience because you’re not experiencing it yourself. You don’t understand, or I certainly don’t understand how addiction works. …Unless you sit down to really examine the effect of a substance on your brain, you don’t really take the time to figure it out because you’re so hurt by it and you’re so hurt that it was chosen instead. You. I think I’ve spent most of my life carrying this with me. But it was scary. … I think that created a lot of pain for me.

Open Steve McQueenWorld War II movie, Lightening

Of course, I knew this would be a new take on the British World War II epic, but I didn’t quite know how. And when he started explaining to me that it was going to be about a mixed-race little boy, and that it was going to focus on the people who were actually left behind, mainly on those who had to keep society going, which was women and children and the elderly, guys, that immediately piqued my interest.

The unforgettable moment when he first walked on a movie set as a little boy

It was a movie about problems, of course, and there were plenty of explosions. We’ve definitely had phases of this in Ireland as well. …I think that’s where I got my mild tinnitus. I still have ringing in my ears and I think that’s why. There was an explosion for which no one was prepared, and my father ran towards me and put his hands over my ears to protect them from this huge explosion that occurred. And he would always say, “I don’t know if I have time for you,” because my ears are ringing just talking to you right now. And that’s why I have such bad tinnitus. This is my first memory of being on a movie set. Even though I was young, I remember being like 5 years old. Even then, I remember loving the atmosphere of the film. So I loved how cool everyone was and how much fun they seemed to be having.

On feeling like a stranger in both the USA and Ireland

I was born in the Bronx. I was there until I was 3 years old. I always sounded Irish. When I was there, I was surrounded only by Irish people. I then moved to the countryside with two parents from Dublin and so I still didn’t fit in and I was reminded of that a bit. And so I never felt – and still don’t – that I truly belonged anywhere. I think I have pieces from different places. And I think as I get older and the more people become part of my bubble, they become my home. My partner is my home… and therefore not site specific. … The really cool thing about being on the road from such a young age is that you can make a home for yourself anywhere. And you know what you need to feel safe, feel, and relax. I think any actor, any filmmaker, any musician, I’m sure they’re experts at setting up camp really anywhere.

On working with filmmaker Greta Gerwig Ladybird And Little Women

Simply put, what I love and admire most about Greta is that she loves actors. He is not afraid of players. He is not afraid of them. He knows how to deal with them. It gives them support and structure but also allows them to just play and be free. And it’s pretty incredible how many directors fail to do that. He enjoys being on set very much. He has such a positive impact on all of us. And it tastes impeccable. And that girl will never stop working to make something better. He pays attention to every little detail without feeling clinical. Actually put a line Ladybird I think the nun in the movie is saying that the greatest form of love is to pay attention. … It is the most beautiful line. That’s what Greta does. He’s paying attention. I have never met or worked with anyone who cares so genuinely about human nature and people. And it always makes me better.

Lauren Krenzel and Anna Bauman produced and edited this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.

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