Being one of three actresses who play Briony in Atonement didn’t lessened Saoirse Ronan’s sense of ownership of the character. Even months after completing the film, Ronan is still just as emotionally attached to the character as she was while she was working on the film. “I get really annoyed when people say this, a lot of people say to me, ‘You know, she’s a b--ch and a brat.’ They say really horrible things about her and I get a bit defensive over Briony because she’s really close to me. She’s really special to me. And I think that, you know, she’s this child in the 1930s that would never have seen anything like this. They didn’t have television. She didn’t listen to the radio. Only grown-ups did that. Plus, the main thing is she’s a storyteller. And you see at the start of the movie her little toys are all lined up in order. And then it comes up to her and she’s writing this story. That basically sums up Briony’s personality because she sees all these things through the day and she’s completely confused. She tries to put some order to it in her head. It’s like she makes herself believe that this has to happen because it fits into her story in her mind.”
As for her career, Ronan’s well aware of how others her age (she’s a very mature 13) and slightly older have stumbled. Ronan’s hoping to avoid the pitfalls of fame and remain a positive role model for young people. “I think that when you’re an actress, you have to think about what kind of a role model you’re going to be. I hope that I’m a good role model for young girls. I’m not going to, if people still want me in their movies, I don’t want to be one of these girls who goes around partying every night and is in rehab. I don’t want to do that,” said Ronan.
“You have these young girls who are my age and who are younger – and some who are older as well – and they’re looking at you. You’re trying to set an example for them so you have to, you know? But I want to. It’s terrible how some girls are messed up – and boys now – but mostly girls. They’ve kind of lost their way a little bit. So I’m going to make sure, and my parents are going to make sure, that that doesn’t happen. And then also I’m just a normal kid who happens to be in films. I go to school whenever I’m home. I play with my friends. You know, that’s what you have to do I think.”
Ronan recently completed work on City of Ember and she’s currently in production on Peter Jackson’s film version of the enormously popular novel The Lovely Bones. She’ll also be seen later this year in I Could Never Be Your Woman, a comedy directed by Amy Heckerling (Clueless).
“I was 11 when I did that,” explained Ronan. “I play Izzie Grossman and she is this girl who is going through a change that all girls do when they’re that age. My mother is played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Basically, she’s this producer. She has this TV show and she auditions this guy one day for a new role in the TV show and she kind of falls in love with him and stuff, but he’s a lot younger than she is. Meanwhile, I’ve got a love interest in school that I think I’m madly in love with. I’m trying to figure out how I can go out on a date with him, and she’s trying to figure out how she’s going to impress this guy that’s younger than her. So we’re basically helping each other with our love lives. It’s really nice.”
Also set for release in 2008 is the dramatic film Death Defying Acts. Death Defying Acts tells the story of legendary magician Harry Houdini’s passionate affair with a psychic. “It was great. Again, it’s a really funny film,” said Ronan. “Benji and Mary McGarvie [played by Catherine Zeta-Jones] have a really hard life. They live in Scotland. They’re poor. They live in this little shack. They’re kind of fighting to survive, I suppose. But they have a psychic act. They kind of steal people’s information and then pretend that they’re psychic in the show. I’m the Dusky Disciple and I got to wear brown makeup and everything, and a turban. It wasn’t a very girlie look. I didn’t have many dresses or anything in that. [Laughing Not that that has anything to do with the story.”
