The RTÉ Guide's Michael Doherty talks to award-winning actress Saoirse Ronan, whose latest drama, Little Women, marks yet another triumph for the Irish star.
Ireland has produced its fair share of talented screen actors over the years but Saoirse Ronan is in a league of her own. At 25, the Irish star has already amassed a remarkably rich and diverse collection of roles, three of which have been rewarded with Oscar nominations. Her fourth nod is likely to come courtesy of her latest drama, Little Women, in which she takes on the role of Jo March in Louisa May Alcott's treasured tale.
The movie reunites the young star with her Lady Bird director, Greta Gerwig, and boasts a fine ensemble cast including Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet and Florence Pugh. '’Little Women really is an important novel for me,’’ says Saoirse.
‘’It was something that I grew up with and a story that was introduced to me in different forms by the different women in my life. My Mam sat down with me and watched one of the film adaptations when I was younger and that was my introduction to the world of Louisa May Alcott. Then when I got a little bit older, my auntie bought me the first book in the series, so it's definitely one of those stories that has become a rite of passage."
Some actors might have been daunted by the prospect of taking on Jo March, a much-beloved character that director Greta Gerwig describes as "her North Star", and who has previously been well represented on screen by the likes of Katharine Hepburn (1933), June Allyson (1949) and Winona Ryder (1994). Saoirse, however, took the challenge in her stride.
"I wasn’t daunted by it," she explains. "It was more a case of being excited. It helped that I was working with someone that I know so well. Greta and I are very much in sync on set, having gone through so much together on the rollercoaster that was Lady Bird; so we were stepping into very familiar territory in terms of how we work and what is expected from each of us. So it was more exciting than daunting."
As for working opposite Ms. Streep for the first time – surely a defining moment in the career of any actor – was there an ‘Oh my God, I’m doing a scene with Meryl’ moment? "There definitely was!" she laughs, "but I had it after I finished the scene! Because it was only one scene and it was Meryl and we didn’t have much time together, I kind of had to put my feelings aside and focus on what we were doing.
"It was a fun scene; not too emotional or anything like that. I had met Meryl a few times before, so it was nice knowing that she's quite a light-hearted person on set. But as soon as we finished, it suddenly hit me that I had done a scene with Meryl and I got really emotional!
"I was like, ‘Oh my God, thank you for doing a scene with me, Meryl!’ It was brilliant after meeting her for so many years to finally get to share a scene with her, especially in this film where her character is so important to the March girls."
Ah yes, the March girls. In every screen adaptation of the Alcott tale, Jo is the key sister of the piece but Gerwig has chosen an impressive cast to fill out the sibling roles, with Emma Watson playing Meg, Florence Pugh as Amy and Aussie newcomer Eliza Scanlen in the role of Beth. In terms of forming that sisterly connection so central to the story, the actors didn’t require boot-camp-style preparation; they immediately bonded over the prospect of working on such a time-honoured tale.
"We were really lucky that it kind of happened instantly and we all got on straight away," says Saoirse. "I had never met Eliza before but I had met Flo and Emma. There was a bit of familiarity there and we also bonded over the fact that we were all honoured to be a part of this project.
"We were raring to go from day one. We got into rehearsal straight away and drilled the dialogue together until it was in our bones. Flo actually joined us a bit later as she was filming Midsommar. As soon as she arrived, she was sort of the missing piece. I remember they had all gone for dinner at Emma's house that night. When I arrived, Eliza was sprawled out on Flo, Emma was beside them and I sat down on Eliza! There was a comfort between us straight away."
There are many remarkable aspects to Saoirse Ronan's career; one of which is the fact that she has already worked with such impressive directors as Peter Jackson, Neil Jordan, Wes Anderson, Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong and Greta Gerwig.
Another is that she has conspicuously avoided the formulaic roles of "the girlfriend’’ or "the schoolfriend’’ and instead concentrated on characters that have genuinely challenged or moved her. "I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been able to do that in my career," she admits.
"What really helps me is that I started out so young so I could do one role and it could be a great role, and I wouldn’t have that pressure of needing to have a job and pay for rent, etc. There was no pressure, so I could take my time waiting for good roles. But I’ve talked to you about this before, Michael: there were no interesting roles for me during my teenage years.
"Before Brooklyn, I was really lucky to be able to land small but interesting parts in movies such as The Grand Budapest Hotel. But in terms of leading a film with an interesting character, there was nothing out there, compared to the way it is now. It has really changed over the last few years. For me, it has always been a case of, do I want to keep working, regardless of the roles, or do I want to wait for the right thing? I’ve always tried to stick to that."
One role that was definitely "the right thing" for Saoirse was Briony Tallis in Atonement (2007). Though only 12 at the time, she delivered an astonishing performance, blowing her seasoned co-stars off-screen and gaining her first Oscar nomination. It was the perfect calling card for the actress in Hollywood, but it also confirmed to the youngster that she was on the right path.
"That really was the case," says Saoirse, "and it’s amazing to have a realisation like that when you are 12! It’s like with kids when they realise they want to play football and it’s not going to just be a hobby: this is what they want to do with their life. It was a combination of having so much fun and really loving the role of someone who was the polar opposite of me.
"It was also lovely being in the company of people who were so good at their jobs and were very lovely to me. I was surrounded on Atonement by people who were at the very top of their game and that was very inspiring for me, even as a kid. I just knew in my bones that this is what I wanted to do; this is the world I wanted to be a part of."
Following Atonement, many strong roles found their way to Saoirse. It has been thrilling to watch the youngster develop into a consummate screen actor who instinctively understands the role of the camera. "The one constant thing is the camera and that’s always been a safety net for me," she explains.
"For the most part, I’ve always felt comfortable in front of a camera. It’s such a great tool. If you can get to a place where you are confident enough to use it for your own gain and for the film’s gain, you can have so much fun."
Saoirse Ronan has used the camera for her (and our) gain since we first saw her as a little girl on The Clinic in 2003. The quality performances in movies such as The Lovely Bones, Brooklyn, Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Bird racked up, garnering plaudits, Oscar nominations and awards (including nine IFTAs) along the way.
And as Saoirse was flying the flag, a generation of rising Irish female talent, from Jordanne Jones to Seána Kerslake or Aisling Franciosi and Ann Skelly, was following in her wake. When I remind Saoirse how often she has been cited as an inspiration by young Irish talent I’ve interviewed over the years, she is genuinely moved.
"That makes me want to cry!" she says. "It really feels that Irish actors at the moment are unstoppable and doing brilliant work both here and abroad. It’s a very exciting time and a great time to be inspired."
So who are Saoirse Ronan’s role models? "In terms of people who inspired me," says the actress, "Meryl was certainly one. She started out at a time where there were even less interesting roles for women, yet she managed to do something brilliant with them. Cate Blanchett is another woman whom I’ve always loved watching. More recently, there is no-one I look up to more than Greta, in terms of the style of actor and film-maker that she is."
As an auteur who is likely to become only the first woman in history to be nominated twice for a Best Director Oscar, Greta Gerwig has been an inspiration for many who want to see more quality stories on the screen told through a female gaze. As both her muse and an actress who tends to attract only the smartest roles, Saoirse is well placed to gauge how the movie landscape is changing in that regard.
"I think they are definitely getting there," she says. "It’s really brilliant that there are so many interesting roles for female actors and you want there to be a balance between interesting roles for girls and for guys. Even in the last five years, I’ve seen a huge difference in the quality of the scripts that I’ve been reading. It has completely changed. I know younger actresses who are involved in projects that just weren’t around when I was a teenager, so there has definitely been a gear change in the last three years."
As for the year ahead, Saoirse will be back in costume again for Francis Lee’s Ammonite, a romantic drama about the relationship between an acclaimed fossil hunter, played by Kate Winslet, and a young married woman (Saoirse) she finds in her care. The strong supporting cast includes fellow award-winning Irish actress, Fiona Shaw.
"It was was really exciting to work on Ammonite with Kate and Fiona, who were both brilliant," says Saoirse. "We shot that at the start of the year in Dorset and it was just gorgeous. It’s set around the same time as Little Women, but it’s interesting; Little Women was big and busy with a massive cast and lots of overlapping dialogue. Ammonite was small and quiet and mainly an intimate two-hander with myself and Kate. It was definitely a gear change!"
And finally, back to Little Women. Why does the actress feel that a story first published in 1868 can still resonate for modern audiences? "It’s a story that will always be relevant," Saoirse concludes.
"I don’t think it’s an accident that this is a book or a film that has been passed on from one generation to another. It’s a timeless story and this is a time right now when women have the opportunity to make the choice about the road they take, and they have agency over that which they never had before. That’s what Little Women is all about."
