Saoirse Ronan has opened up about how finding fame as a child star has made her feel like she missed out on important parts of growing up, but she insists it was worth it as she landed her dream job.
Ronan's television debut came at the age of nine playing the role of Rhiannon Geraghty in RTÉ television drama The Clinic.
Just four years later, the Carlow-raised actress got her first ever Oscar nomination at the tender age of 13, when she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her role as Briony Tallis in Atonement.
Speaking on The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1, the now 28-year-old actress said being catapulted to fame at such an early age naturally made her miss out on 'normal' childhood events, but she reckons it was all worth it.
She explained: "I do feel like there are things I have missed out on but to be honest you're always going to feel like you have missed out on something. Especially, when I was a teenager that I wish I could have been part of more socially because it's such a formative and independent time.
"I think being part of younger people's social circles, I wasn't really around that as much," she said.
However, Ronan admits she was still in good company and says she "really learned a lot" from older people on set.
"But, event though I wasn't necessarily around a bunch of people my own age - from say 15-18 - I was working with people who were older, who were free in their expression.
"I really learned a lot from them. It wasn't like I was training to be a doctor... I was in a playgroup essentially.
"There's always going to be things that you feel you've missed out on but whatever price you have to pay for doing something that you really love, and you really feel free doing, then I ultimately think that it's worth it," she said.
Ronan, is currently starring in mystery comedy film See How They Run, which is the feature directorial debut of BAFTA-winning director Tom George (This Country) and is written by Mark Chappell (Flaked).
The film, which is released in cinemas from today, is set in the West End of 1950s London, "as plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after the film's Hollywood director is murdered.
When world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and eager rookie Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) take on the case, the two find themselves thrown into a puzzling whodunit within the glamorously sordid theatre underground, investigating the mysterious homicide at their own peril."
See How They Run is in cinemas now. You can read our four-star review here.
