Line #29 Creator/SaoirseRonan


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saoirseronan.jpg]]
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3	Saoirse Una Ronan (born April 12, 1994 in the Bronx, New York City) is an Irish-American film actress.[[note]]"Saoirse" is the Irish Gaelic word for "freedom". While the name is most commonly pronounced "seer-sha", Ronan herself pronounces it "sur-sha", to rhyme with "inertia"; this is one of several regional variations in how the name is pronounced, and for Irish people is an immediate indication of Ronan's upper-middle class Dublin background.[[/note]]
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5	She debuted in a short arc on ''Series/TheClinic'' but it was her role as an apologetic younger sister who commits a misguided act with tragic consequences in ''Film/{{Atonement}}'' that marked her as a star to watch; it netted her an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination at the age of thirteen. She's well-known for her leading roles in ''Film/TheLovelyBones'', ''Film/{{Hanna}}'', ''Film/{{Brooklyn}}'', ''Film/LadyBird'', and ''Film/{{Little Women\|2019}}''. She received UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations for the last three.
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7	She's been known in recent years for her portrayal of mature characters who come of age. [[FakeNationality They are seldom Irish]].
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9	!!Roles:
10	* ''Film/{{Atonement}}'' (2007) as Briony Tallis (young)
11	* ''Film/ICouldNeverBeYourWoman'' (2007) as Izzie Hanson
12	* ''Film/CityOfEmber'' (2008) as Lina Mayfleet
13	* ''Film/TheLovelyBones'' (2009) as Susie Salmon
14	* ''Film/TheWayBack2010'' as Irena
15	* ''Anime/{{Arrietty}}'' (2010) as Arrietty (UK dub)
16	* ''Film/{{Hanna}}'' (2011) as Hanna Heller
17	* ''Film/VioletAndDaisy'' (2011) as Daisy
18	* ''Film/{{Byzantium}}'' (2012) as Eleanor
19	* ''Literature/{{The Host\|2008}}'' (2013) as Melanie Stryder
20	* ''Film/HowILiveNow'' (2013) as Daisy
21	* ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'' (2014) as Agatha
22	* ''Film/{{Brooklyn}}'' (2015) as Eilis Lacey
23	* ''Film/OnChesilBeach'' (2017) as Florence Ponting
24	* ''Film/LadyBird'' (2017) as Christine "Lady Bird" [=McPherson=]
25	* ''[[Film/MaryQueenOfScots2018 Mary, Queen of Scots]]'' (2018) as UsefulNotes/MaryOfScotland
26	* ''Film/{{Little Women\|2019}}'' (2019) as Josephine "Jo" March
27	* ''Film/{{Ammonite}}'' (2021) as Charlotte Murchison
28	* ''Film/TheFrenchDispatch'' (2021) as the Principal Showgirl
29	* ''Film/SeeHowTheyRun'' (2022) as Constable Stalker
30	* ''Foe'' (2023) as Henrietta
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32	!!Tropes applying to her works and roles include:
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34	* ActorSharedBackground: Eilis Lacey from ''Film/{{Brooklyn}}'' and Stalker from ''Film/SeeHowTheyRun'' share her Irish background.[[note]]She spoke with her natural Irish accent as Agatha in ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'', [[UnexplainedAccent despite her character presumably being from a Central European country.]][[/note]]
35	* BeautyInversion: Downplayed but she opted not to hide her acne in ''Film/LadyBird'' at the request of director Greta Gerwig.
36	* ContractualPurity: Her parents would only allow her to play Susie in ''Film/TheLovelyBones'' if the book's graphic rape scene wasn't included in the film (they had a point, as she was only 13 during filming). Besides that, she has never had much of a family-friendly image, shockingly enough. Films like ''Film/ICouldNeverBeYourWoman'', ''{{Literature/Atonement}}'', ''Film/TheWayBack2010'' and ''{{Film/Hanna}}'' helped avoid this. The only remotely family-friendly project she did as a child star was ''Film/CityOfEmber''.
37	* DyeingForYourArt: She's a redhead in ''{{Film/Byzantium}}'', ''Film/TheHost2013'' and ''Film/MaryQueenOfScots2018'', and light blonde in ''How I Live Now''.
38	* FakeNationality: Her specialty. Saoirse has played English, Scottish, Polish and Finnish characters. Her role as Agatha in ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' is the first time she's used her real accent in a film (although her character is actually a citizen of a fictional Central European country). She finally got to play an Irish character in ''Brooklyn'' - but still using a different accent to her natural one. ''See How They Run'' is the first movie to feature her playing an Irish character ''and'' using her natural accent.
39	* FakeAmerican: Most of her roles. Technically she actually ''is'' an American, as she was born in New York City (and lived there until she was three years old) and holds American citizenship, but she has an Irish accent as a result of spending most of her life in Dublin, Ireland. She could do an American accent flawlessly in her first film at age twelve - ''Film/ICouldNeverBeYourWoman''.
40	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold:
41	** Susie Salmon from ''The Lovely Bones'' is a pure and innocent soul whose life gets tragically cut short by a SerialKiller.
42	** Agatha from ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' is as lovely and lovable as she is helpful.
43	* InnocentBlueEyes: As Susie Salmon and Agatha, again.
44	* PlayingAgainstType:
45	** ''Film/{{Hanna}}'' is easily her most physical role.
46	** Retroactively with ''Atonement''. She carved a career playing heroic Woobies, making the spoiled BrattyHalfPint like Briony quite different.
47	** ''See How They Run'' let her show off a bit of her comedic chops as an {{Adorkable}} [[NaiveNewcomer newbie]] policewoman.
48	* ProductionPosse:
49	** Creator/JoeWright directed her in ''Atonement'' and ''Hanna''.
50	** Creator/WesAnderson, in ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' and ''The French Dispatch''.
51	** Creator/GretaGerwig directed Ronan in ''Lady Bird'' and ''Little Women''. She discussed this in an interview:
52	--->"I could tell that Wes was not 100 percent thrilled that I was working with her. He loves her. I remember I asked Wes about Saoirse. He read the script and was like, 'Saoirse can do anything. She can do absolutely anything.' I may be projecting, but I think he might’ve been a little jealous because he’s trying to take her back. (Laughter.) We're in a round robin with Joe Wright."
53	* StarMakingRole: Briony Tallis in ''Literature/{{Atonement}}'' launched her to mainstream success.
54	* ThoseTwoActors: With Creator/TimotheeChalamet, who was her love interest in ''Film/LadyBird'' and ''Film/LittleWomen2019'' (both Creator/GretaGerwig productions) and whom she appears in alongside an ensemble cast in ''Film/TheFrenchDispatch''.
55	* ThrowItIn: ''Film/LadyBird'' saw her and Beanie Feldstein wearing the same nail polish by coincidence one day. So the filmmakers decided they would wear matching nail polish for the rest of the film.
56	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
57	** She could've become a blockbuster star, but didn't get a number of roles when auditioning, or simply turned them down. In particular, she's flirted with joining a franchise many times but has yet to pull the trigger.
58	** Auditioned for the role of Luna Lovegood in ''Film/HarryPotter'', which went to Creator/EvannaLynch. She was also considered to play Queenie Goldstein in the prequel ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' series before it went to Creator/AlisonSudol.
59	** Turned down the role of Lyra in ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' because she didn't want such a long-term commitment to a project. Her fears turned out to be unfounded anyway, as the film [[StillbornFranchise wasn't successful enough to warrant a full trilogy]].
60	** Auditioned for the part of Katniss Everdeen in ''Film/TheHungerGames'', which went to Creator/JenniferLawrence.
61	** She had to turn down the part of Tauriel in ''Film/TheHobbit'' because of other commitments; the role went to Creator/EvangelineLilly eventually. She was also in talks to play Itaril but when she backed out, the character was ultimately cut from the film.
62	** She was very nearly reunited with Creator/KeiraKnightley for ''Literature/AnnaKarenina'' but couldn't do it.
63	** She auditioned for Rey in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', which went to Creator/DaisyRidley.
64	** It's rumored she was up for the role of ComicBook/ScarletWitch in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, which ended up going to Creator/ElizabethOlsen.
65	** She ended up on the shortlist for Yelena Belova in ''Film/BlackWidow2021'', alongside her ''Little Women'' co-stars Creator/EmmaWatson and Creator/FlorencePugh. The latter ended up winning the role.
66	** She also auditioned for Lara Croft in ''Film/TombRaider2018'' before it went to Creator/AliciaVikander.
67	** She was always the first actor in mind for Eilis in ''Film/{{Brooklyn}}'' but was thought to be too young when the project was first greenlit - and Creator/RooneyMara was the original choice for Eilis. By the time the film actually got made, Saoirse was now old enough to play her.

Context Creator / SaoirseRonan