Biography
Date of Birth
12 December 1994, The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name
Saoirse Una Ronan
Nickname
Sersh
Height
5' 6" (1.68 m)
Mini Biography
Saoirse Una Ronan was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, to Irish parents, Monica Ronan (née Brennan) and Paul Ronan, an actor. When Saoirse was three, the family moved back to Dublin, Ireland. Saoirse grew up in Dublin and briefly in Co. Carlow before moving back to Dublin with her parents.
Saoirse made her first TV appearance with a small role in a few episodes of the TV series, The Clinic (2003). Her first film appearance was in the 2007 movie, I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007). Saoirse received international fame after appearing in the movie, Atonement (2007), which was directed by Joe Wright. The movie co-starred Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. The film was successful, both critically and commercially, and in 2008, Saoirse earned an Oscar nomination for her role. She became one of the youngest actresses to be nominated for an Oscar. She continued to earn success and fame. Between 2008 to 2011, she starred in a number of successful movies, including City of Ember (2008), which earned her a nomination for Irish Film & Television Award, The Lovely Bones (2009), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, and The Way Back (2010), for which she won Irish Film & Television Award for Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2016, Ronan was nominated for her second Oscar for Brooklyn (2015). She became the second youngest actress to receive two Oscar nominations at the age of 21. The youngest actress is Angela Lansbury.. In 2018, Ronan was nominated for her third Oscar for Lady Bird (2017). She's the second youngest actress (first being Jennifer Lawrence) to receive three Oscar nominations before the age of 24.
Saoirse Ronan resides in London, United Kingdom.
Trivia
Her first name Saoirse is Irish and means "Freedom". Her middle name Una is Irish and means "Unity". Her surname Ronan is also Irish and means "Little Seal".
Her father is actor Paul Ronan, known for films like The Devil's Own (1997) and Veronica Guerin (2003).
Her parents are Paul Ronan and Monica Ronan.
Had a border collie dog named Sassy.
In traditional Irish, the name Saoirse is pronounced "seer-sha", and that is the way she pronounces it when she's in Ireland. When she's talking to people from North America she pronounces it "sur-shuh". In England on The Graham Norton Show (Series/Season 24, Episode 14), she pronounced it "sair-sha".
Ronan was in New Zealand when it was announced that she was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Atonement (2007).
In 2008, she was ranked #23 on Entertainment Weekly's ''30 Under 30'' actress list.
Ronan was born in New York City, and raised in Ireland.
In 2008, at the age of 13, she became the seventh youngest actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Atonement (2007). The only actresses younger than her to be nominated are Tatum O'Neal, Mary Badham, Quinn Cummings, Abigail Breslin, Patty McCormack and Anna Paquin.
Moved from New York to Ireland when she was three and has lived there ever since.
Peter Jackson cast her with the intent of having an "unknown" play the lead role of Susie Salmon, but things changed when in the middle of filming The Lovely Bones (2009), Ronan was nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe for her performance in Atonement (2007).
Was cast in Ridley Scott's vision of Robin Hood (2010), but dropped out in order to do Peter Weir's film The Way Back (2010).
Peter Jackson cast her as the lead character in his film The Lovely Bones (2009) based on an audition tape she sent in from Ireland. They were so impressed by the tape that they did not even meet her prior to offering her the role.
TIME Magazine ranked her performance in The Lovely Bones (2009) as the 3rd greatest female performance of 2009 just behind Mo'Nique and Carey Mulligan, and ahead of Meryl Streep.
She was offered the role of Kitty in Anna Karenina (2012) but turned it down to star in Byzantium (2012) and The Host (2013). Her reasoning for turning down the film was its long production schedule which would have required her to turn down movie roles from Fall 2011 to late Spring 2012 to film what would have ended up as a supporting role. By the turning down the role, she was able to take the lead role in two films. She was replaced by Alicia Vikander.
Sported a green Alberta Ferretti dress on the occasion of the Academy Awards for her first Oscar nomination (at age 13) for Atonement (2007) (Kodak Theatre / 24 February 2008).
She is a huge fan of Breaking Bad (2008).
Fan of the following movies: Taxi Driver (1976), Eraserhead (1977) and Bridesmaids (2011).
Considered for the role of Luna Lovegood on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), but the role went to Evanna Lynch.
Holds dual citizenship for Ireland and the United States of America.
Skilled at martial arts and often utilizes them in action scenes.
Lived in NYC whilst starring in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, directed by Ivo van Hove.
Spent her several years of her childhood living in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx. This neighborhood is composed of predominately Irish and Irish-American community.
Yongest actress to win best actress at the NYFCC in 2015 for Brooklyn (2015).
Second youngest actress get a second Oscar nomination at the age of 21, behind only of Angela Lansbury who got her second nomination at the age of 20.
She appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue [2016] with Jane Fonda, Viola Davis, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Rachel Weisz, Lupita Nyong'o, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Helen Mirren, Diane Keaton and Charlotte Rampling. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
In January 2016, featured in two Forbes' ''30 Under 30'' lists.
In June 2016, Ronan featured on the front cover of TIME Magazine, and was named one of their ''Next Generation Leaders''.
In 2010, at the age of 16, Ronan was invited to join the AMPAS.
In 2017, Ronan starred in a film adaptation of Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach (2017), her second film adaptation of a McEwan novel/novella.
Is good friends with Aly Michalka, AJ Michalka and Margot Robbie.
The longest she has gone without an Oscar nomination is the 8 years between Atonement (2007) and Brooklyn (2015).
One of the youngest actresses to win two Best Actress awards at the New York Film Critics Circle.
As of 2018, Saoirse is the second youngest actress to receive three Oscar nominations before the age of 24.
Ronan briefly attended Ardattin National School before being home schooled.
Lives in Greystones, Co Wicklow, Ireland.
Ryan Gosling has often complemented Ronan stating: "She's a genius. She's a master. She made me a better actor, I think any actor she works with, there's an elevation in their abilities, upping their game." "I felt like I was working with a master," he said, "like someone from the Golden Age. Someone superior to my skills as an actor in every way. She's Meryl reborn." The pair almost starred together in 'The Lovely Bones' when Gosling was to play Ronan's dad before being fired by Peter Jackson. The pair worked together in 2013, when Gosling directed Ronan in Lost River (2014).
Featured in Maxim's ''Hot 100'' list (2018).
Is an ambassador for UNICEF for their World Barber Day campaign (2018).
Listed as one of the ''Best American Actors under 30'' by IndieWire (2018).
In a 2015 interview with Guillermo del Toro for Lost River (2014), Ryan Gosling said that he wrote the character Rat for Ronan because of the lengths he would go to to protect her ''She's the best, she's so special.'' ''You wanna look out for her, she's so special, she's such a little gem, she's precious.'' ''Your instinct is to protect her or to look out for her.'' ''So I knew if it was Saoirse, you could understand the lengths he (Bones) goes to to look out for her.''.
Has been in a relationship with her Mary Queen of Scots (2018) co-star Jack Lowden since 2017.
Was in a relationship with her How I Live Now (2013) co-star George MacKay.
Sang ''Tell Me'' for the Lost River (2014) soundtrack which was scored by Johnny Jewel. Jewel said Ronan had never sang publicly before so ''To melt the ice, I set up an 8 track on the floor of the kitchen next door. I unplugged all the phones from the wall, & put them inside the refrigerator. She came into the room, & the three of us piled up all of the furniture & suitcases in the corner to block the door. I wanted to make her feel as safe as possible, & I wanted her to sing as intimately as she could. Like she was the only person in the world. I promised her there was no way anyone was getting into that room until we were done. Ryan turned off the all lights, & all three of us sat on the floor in a circle in the dark. We recorded it in two takes with a single microphone and no headphones. There are no words to describe that moment.''.
Is a big fan of Saturday Night Live (1975), and made her guest hosting debut on 2 December 2017.
In 2018, Ronan will reunite with her Lady Bird (2017) co-star Timothée Chalamet & director Greta Gerwig for a second time, for the remake of Little Women (2019).
Is the face of Raf Simons first fragrance for Calvin Klein called 'Women' with Lupita Nyong'o.
Appeared on the August (2018) cover of Vogue US.
One of her idols is Kristen Wiig.
She was considered for the role of Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), but the role was given to Elizabeth Olsen.
Big fan of David Lynch.
Left her Byzantium (2013) director Neil Jordan ''speechless'' after she performed the difficult 'Piano Sonata Opus 2, No. 3' which she mastered in just 12 weeks.
Is a fan of MacGruber (2010).
Learned the French language for her role as Mary Stuart in Mary Queen of Scots (2018).
As of 2020, Ronan has starred in 5 Best Motion Picture Oscar nominated films: Atonement (2007), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) ,Brooklyn (2015), Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019).
Dyed her hair black for Ryan Gosling's Lost River and said in an interview with ELLE ''He just had this idea where he really wanted my character to have black hair. And when Ryan asks you to do something, you do it! ''
She auditioned for the role of Sue Storm in Fantastic Four (2015) before Kate Mara was cast.
In 2018, Ronan was included in Variety500, ''an index of the 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global $2 trillion entertainment industry.''.
For many years, Ronan has been an ambassador for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC).
Appeared on the 25th edition cover of Vanity Fair's 'Hollywood Issue 2019' with Chadwick Boseman and Timothée Chalamet, shot by three-time Academy Award winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.
Even though she was born in America, she only holds Irish citizenship.
She is the second youngest person to be nominated for multiple acting Oscars at 21 years old, only Angela Lansbury was younger achieving her second nomination when she was 20.
Her The Seagull (2018) co-star Brian Dennehy described her as the most talented actor he had ever worked with.
The only time she has acted out giving birth in a movie was in Mary Queen of Scots (2018).
Trademarks:
Has an uncanny ear for accents
Clear blue eyes
Quotes
He has a great way of getting the message across, like if I'm confused about doing a scene or a certain line or something, he explains it so well and so clearly. He's just fantastic (On Joe Wright, director of Atonement (2007)).
Briony Tallis is such an amazing character and I'm so lucky to play her.
It's unbelievable. Mom and I were in bed and dad was waiting up for the announcements again, because that's the way my daddy is. It's kind of a bit weird actually, in a good way, in a fantastic way. I never expected this in a million years to happen. I can't believe it. I'm really proud as well that two Irish paddies have been nominated for an Oscar for the same film. It's really great for Ireland, great. - On being nominated for an Oscar.
It's not work, it is more of a passion. It is so much fun and it is really makes you feel great at the end of the day. You feel like you are really after doing something good and you are after accomplishing something. Acting is one of these things that I can't really describe - it's just like, why do you love your mum and dad? You know, you just do.
I like books that are exciting and that make you think about things, as well. I like things that have a twist - like Atonement (2007), which I haven't read obviously, as I'm a bit young.
Be the person I'm playing. That's what acting is. You're pretending to be someone else.
It wasn't one of those things where you hear about it and you jump up and down and scream. We just sat there [on the couch in their living room] and we're trying to figure out what they just said. "Wait a minute, I've been cast in a Peter Jackson film. For a few days, it was weird. I was just trying to get my head around it - on how she reacted when she found out she'd been cast as "Susie Salmon" in The Lovely Bones (2009).
I know a lot of people must think that The Lovely Bones (2009) is a pretty dramatic film and it's going to be really deep and dark and everything, but I promise you it's not. It's really humorous and funny and bright and happy. Then this awful thing happens and it kind of makes everyone really sad, obviously, but they have to get on with things. It's like the journey that Susie takes to learn to let go and realize that she can't be with her family anymore, and the same for her family. They have to let go and they know that they can't be with Susie. But it's a really funny, lighthearted thing. There's some really dramatic scenes in it as well, which is great with The Lovely Bones (2009) because you kind of get the best of both worlds. You get to do funny scenes and dramatic scenes. You get to cry, you get to laugh, so it's great - talking about The Lovely Bones (2009).
[on developing a voice pattern for the character Wanda in 'The Host'] We looked at people like Jane Fonda in the '70s, just intonations in their speech and how well-spoken they all were. Jane Fonda doesn't sound like an alien, but she was very, very well-spoken, she still is. She has a quite beautiful way of speaking. We don't really have that today with young women.
[on her rumored participation in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)]: There was talks about me playing the wood elf Itaril but I had to turn it down. I was really disappointed but there were other projects I had to consider and to spend a year doing 'The Hobbit' wouldn't have left me time for anything else.
The older I get, the more in touch I am with what activists are doing - and the more I want to help them.
When you're young, there's a trace (of inspiration) that comes out of what you respond to naturally or what you're drawn to.
I've always found, with most of the roles that I've taken on, that physicality has just naturally played a massive part in who that person was. Even if they aren't very energetic, there's a certain movement in their voice that I need to find in order to unlock them.
One of the things I like about acting is the relationships you can form when you're working, especially between actors. You could meet someone on the Monday and by Wednesday you'll have kissed them, you'll have hugged them, you'll have danced with them, they'll have seen you in a corset or an underdress or a pair of boxer shorts. Any insecurities you had just go out the window because they have to.
I still like it when people end up together, I think that's great. That's why Richard Curtis will always be adored. We need a bit of both. But I think that people are terrified to put that in films now.
