Jan 12, 2008 - Saoirse Ronan is aware her name trips up people, particularly Americans. The Irish actress patiently explained to the journalists gathered for a special Los Angeles press day in support of Atonement’s Golden Globe nominations her name’s pronounced ‘Sursha’. Ronan said it’s more common in Ireland than anywhere else. “There’s a few people who call their little girls Saoirse. There’s not loads of people,” explained Ronan. “But yeah, it’s common enough. But still when people hear it they kind of go, ‘Ahhh…’ You know what I mean?”
Atonement earned a total of seven Golden Globe nominations, including one for 13 year old Ronan in the Best Supporting Actress category. The film took home two trophies (Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Original Score) at the bizarre press conference which was held in place of the usual glitzy Golden Globes ceremony. It also dominated the pack of British Academy of Film and Television Award nominees with 14 nominations. Ronan, who couldn’t be prouder of the film, admits to being a little overwhelmed by the whole awards season experience.
“I knew as soon as I did that film, as soon as we did the first shot, that this was going to be a really special film. I knew that people were going to come out of the cinema thinking about they’d just seen, and thinking about their own life and the way they should tackle things. That’s the kind of film it is. And yeah, it’s great to be recognized. Just kind of being in this film is fantastic, and working with these people. Working with Joe [Wright], especially, because he’s an amazing director and I love him to bits.”
She also loved working with her co-stars Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Vanessa Redgrave. Working with such seasoned actors didn’t intimidate Ronan. “As soon as you meet Keira and James and Vanessa and all the rest of the cast as well, it’s not just them, for these people who are so successful, they’re so normal. They’re really just normal people. I didn’t really work with Vanessa; I just did rehearsals. But when I did scenes with Keira and James, they looked after me. When we went to premieres and the Venice Film Festival and stuff, it was kind of a bit daunting with the photographers and everything. There was a lot of flashing cameras so I was kind of a bit taken back by that, and they looked after me. And Vanessa looks after me as well. They’re just lovely people. They’re my friends.”
“There’s such a big crowd at these things,” said Ronan about the promotional appearances the cast has done since finishing Atonement. “And even at the question and answer thing, which is what we do a lot of, they just make sure I don’t get lost or anything. And Keira’s bodyguard Marcus looks after me. He’s great. You know, James and Joe are like big brothers. They bring me in. They just looked after me.”
But Ronan did her share of looking after at least one adult on the set. According to director Wright, Ronan was always there to comfort him when he was upset. “I suppose I do look after Joe,” said Ronan. “It was great because you know some people who I work with they – not that I wanted to be treated like an adult – but they treat me like a little kid. ‘Oh, you’re so cute!’ And, ‘Look at that little outfit on you!’ I don’t like that, and Joe just treated me like a human being. He actually used to forget that I was 12. He forgot that I was 12. We’re really great friends and I suppose that’s what friends do, they look after each other.”
Ronan plays the young Briony in Atonement, with Romola Garai playing the same character in her 20s. Vanessa Redgrave finishes up the film as the elderly Briony. While Ronan did take into consideration that how she played the role would affect the other actresses who came after her, she was more concerned with just thinking about how she was going to handle the role. “The way Joe [Wright] and I talked about it is kind of like, you know, she kind of changes through her life obviously because she realizes what’s happened and what she’s done. And she didn’t when she a child, when she was 13. So there is a difference between them all. I was just kind of focusing on my bit. That probably sounds really selfish but you know, it was kind of like a different part to play. Even though it was the same person, because she changes we all kind of had a different idea of what was going to happen to her over her life.”
Ronan set up how Briony would walk and talk, and Garai and Redgrave paid close attention. “We did rehearsals with me, Romola and Vanessa and Joe - and the choreographer as well - to figure out what way we were going to tackle the way she moves and stuff. And actually, Romola and Vanessa looked at me and what I did. At one stage I sat down on a chair and they said, ‘Just do whatever you think. What way do you think Briony would sit?’ So I sat down and I twisted my legs around each other, which is what I think Briony would do because she’s kind of this little skinny thing. She was a storyteller and she’s very in on herself, I suppose. She doesn’t reveal too much. She wouldn’t hug somebody, which I do. I hug all the time. But she doesn’t really do that. So Vanessa and Romola looked at me and then they copied me. We walked around and I walked what way I think Briony should.”
In essence, Ronan taught the other actresses how to be Briony. “Yeah, kind of, I suppose,” laughed Ronan. “I mean, I don’t know whether I taught Vanessa Redgrave. I don’t want to say that. But yeah, I suppose I kind of set Briony up and then they followed me.”
Ronan has nothing but compliments for Garai and Redgrave. “I think they got it perfectly. I thought Romola was amazing. There was actually a bit in it that from playing Briony I really understood. When she wrote the letter to Cecelia and she was washing her hands in this bathroom. She was scrubbing her hands and it’s like she’s trying to clean the guilt off of her hands. The things that she’s damaged she’s trying to wash away and she can’t. I just think everything that Romola did was fantastic. And then Vanessa at the end, she just made the movie. When she comes up on screen, you just look into her eyes and she’s so real and genuine.”
Page 2: On Role Models and Her Other Films
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