Saoirse Ronan has told Jimmy Kimmel Live! on US television that missing out on the role of the Harry Potter character Luna Lovegood has been "the one that stayed with me over the years".
The role in the franchise went to Ronan's fellow Irish actor Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011).
Variety reports that during her interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, four-time Oscar nominee Ronan said of the role: "There's things that you'll pass on and then they come out, and you think, 'Oh God, that was a misstep on my part', but I think the one that stayed with me over the years - I didn't say no to it, I just didn't get the part. I lost, again. It's a running theme for me.
"I had gone up for Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter years ago, because it was, like, the Irish character, so they got everyone Irish in - like, half of Ireland to come and audition - and I knew I wasn't going to get it because I was too young, but I got to read out a scene that was going to be in Harry Potter and it was the coolest thing ever."
Ronan can currently be seen on screens in the Oscar-tipped recovery drama The Outrun.
Her other new film, the Oscar-tipped wartime drama Blitz, receives its world premiere as the opening night gala of the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday.
