saoirse-ronan-brooklyn-stockholm-pennsylvania-slice

Over the past seven years, Saoirse Ronan has shown her fantastic range as an actor. From her work with directors Joe Wright (Hanna, Atonement), Neil Jordon (Byzantium), Peter Jackson (The Lovely Bones), Peter Weir (The Way Back), and Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Ronan has demonstrated again and again that she's a real star of the screen and someone that always brings and honest and real performance to the characters she creates.

At this year's Sundance, Ronan had two films playing: the first was writer/director Nikole Beckwith Stockholm, Pennsylvania and the other was director John Crowley's Brooklyn. While the two roles couldn't have been further apart, Ronan was fantastic in both films.

saoirse-ronan-stockholm-pennsylvania

In Beckwith's Stockholm, Pennsylvania, Ronan plays a young woman raised by a kidnapper (Jason Isaacs) who now struggles to acclimate to her actual parents 20 years after first being separated.

In Crowley's Brooklyn, Ronan plays a young woman that moves to Brooklyn from Ireland and has to choose between two men (Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen) and two countries, between duty and true love.

Shortly after seeing Stockholm, Pennsylvania (and before I saw Brooklyn), I sat down with Saoirse Ronan for an extended video interview. She talked about how she got involved with Stockholm, Pennsylvania and what the film is about, having two films at Sundance, The Grand Budapest Hotel and the remarkable awards attention it’s been getting, future plans, what she might do for her 21st birthday, the questions people ask her most when they meet her, and a lot more.

As usual, I’ve time indexed the interview to provide an overview of the conversation.

Saoirse Ronan Time Index:

  • 0:24 - On how she got involved with Stockholm, Pennsylvania and what the film is about.
  • 1:58 - Ronan discusses the factors that played into her decision to take the part.
  • 2:56 - What is it like having two films at Sundance (the other one being Brooklyn)?
  • 4:40 - Talks a bit about writer/director Nikole Beckwith’s script for Stockholm.
  • 6:29 - On the questions people ask her most when they meet her.
  • 7:31 - Discusses Grand Budapest Hotel and the remarkable awards attention it’s been getting.
  • 8:38 - What are her future plans?
  • 9:11 - On her plans for turning 21.

brooklyn-saoirse-ronan-image
Image via Fox Searchlight