At the age of just 24, Saoirse Ronan has earned a reputation as one of the most sought-after and well-respected actors in Hollywood.
Since arriving as a 14-year-old with an Oscar-nominated performance in Atonement, her talents have seen her recognised by fans, critics and her contemporaries alike — Ryan Gosling, who directed Ronan in Lost River, is just one fellow actor to publicly praise her, calling Ronan a “genius” and a “master” before comparing her to a young Meryl Streep.
Her latest film Mary Queen Of Scots is dividing audiences in cinemas — The Evening Standard's Matthew Norman gave the film just two stars despite recognising Ronan as "sensational talent", while The Guardian's Mark Kermode praised the film and awarded it four stars.
Whatever the verdict, its one of the major projects Ronan is attached to in 2019, with the upcoming Little Women remake also on the way. Take a look back at five roles that made Ronan a star.
1. Atonement (2007)
Despite powerful performances from James McAvoy and Keira Knightley in Joe Wright’s elegant adaptation of Ian McEwan’s Atonement, it was a 14-year-old Ronan who stole the limelight. She delivered a striking performance as head-strong Briony Tallis, who allows confused emotions to cloud a life-changing judgement, which haunts her and her family for decades. Ronan brought a fiery intensity to the role, mixing a naive vulnerability with a scathing vindictiveness. It marked her out as an incredible talent and earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
2. The Lovely Bones (2009)
Peter Jackson’s supernatural drama The Lovely Bones wasn’t without its flaws, and veered into the realms of over-sentimentality at times, but the central performance from Ronan showcased level of emotional maturity and dexterity beyond her years. The movie saw her play Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old who is murdered and oversees her family from the ‘inbetween’. Despite the film itself gaining a mixed critical reception, her performance was praised by many (The Telegraph were one publication to celebrate her turn in the film, saying she was “simultaneously playful and solemn, youthful yet old beyond her years”). It marked a big step up in profile for Ronan, with the actress headlining the movie, and it was pretty successful at the box office too, taking £93m worldwide.
3. Hanna (2011)
After winning over audiences with a series of promising roles, Ronan showed her versatility with a more physical performance in Hanna. The action movie, which was helmed by Atonement's Joe Wright, saw her play a young girl raised to be an assassin by her ex-CIA agent father. Ronan pulled off elaborate action sequences with real verve, showing she could do much more than just deliver compelling dialogue — something she'd proven with the more subdued dramas that came before. If fans were prepared to look past the slightly strange, clipped accent, it was a performance that proved her range and announced her as one of the most dynamic actors of her generation.
4. Brooklyn (2015)
John Crowley's beautiful film Brooklyn is the tale of a home-sick Irish woman who falls in love in New York, leaving her with a choice between making a life in the US or conforming to convention and returning home. Resembling an aching romance from a bygone era, the film is lighthearted and poignant in equal measure, with Ronan's towering central performance at its heart. The viewer sees Ronan’s conflicted Eilis discovering the world anew, while simultaneously struggling to shake off the trappings of her past life. Her performance earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars, with Ronan fully establishing herself as a Hollywood heavyweight.
5. Lady Bird (2018)
Greta Gerwig's beautiful coming-of-age drama Lady Bird sees Ronan plays an outsider, who struggles to express herself in the most stifling Sacramento surroundings. Her performance encapsulated the frustrations of growing up in US suburbia, while movingly portraying a strained, but loving relationship with her parents — Ronan’s character is simultaneously irritated by and reliant upon on her mother, and its this dynamic which forms the emotional heart of the film. It’s a quietly stunning performance from Ronan, which earned her another Oscar nominated and marked her most critically-lauded performance to date, with a string of five star reviews.
