From writer/director Francis Lee, the biographical drama Ammonite tells the story of palaeontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet), whose solitary work hunting and preserving fossils on the brutal Southern English coastline of Lyme Regis during the 1840s leads to a meeting with a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea. Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan), who is recovering from a personal tragedy that has left her feeling both lonely and disconnected from her husband, develops an intense relationship with Mary that makes them both feel less alone.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Saoirse Ronan talked about what it was like to learn about Mary Anning, how different it was to go from shooting Little Women to shooting Ammonite, what she enjoyed about playing her character, and how different it felt to get a say in her sex scenes with Kate Winslet. She also talked about reuniting with Wes Anderson on The French Dispatch and what makes him such a special filmmaker.

Collider: When you got this script, what was it about the story that most intrigued you? Had you ever heard of this woman, Mary Anning, before?

SAOIRSE RONAN: No, I hadn’t. It’s funny because there’s a ten-year-old boy that I know who’s obsessed with fossils and palaeontology. He’s very smart. Before I went off to make the film, I said to him, “I’m going to make a film about this woman called Mary Anning.” And he was like, “Oh, yeah, I know who Mary Anning is. She was a paleontologist and she’s from Lyme Regis.” He knew a lot about her but I did not. The more I discovered about her, the more I was excited to be a part of this film that was gonna honor her work and just that specific type of work, in some way.

I had seen God’s Own Country when it came out and really loved it. [Writer/director] Francis [Lee] had written a very beautiful, very simple script that really just takes place between two people in one place. I was in the middle of making Little Women, which was absolutely brilliant and so much fun but was the complete opposite. We had lots of different locations, lots of people involved, lots of talk, and I never wore a corset. I read this and I thought, “Oh, this is a really great thing to follow up Little Women with because it’s so different. Knowing that it was gonna be a two-hander between myself and another person, I couldn’t have chosen anyone better to do that with than Kate [Winslet], who I’d met, on and off, over the years. We always just naturally got on very, very well with one another, so I knew that was gonna be a lovely experience.

And as a character, Charlotte is in such a sort of low, dulled state when we meet her. She’s very empty and depressed. I hadn’t really played anyone who had, from the very beginning of the movie, had been working their way through a tragedy like that before, without being allowed to talk about it or communicate how they were feeling about it in any way. I knew that would be a challenge to keep a lid on how I was feeling, as the character, and it was. It was tough but it just meant that the pay off was even greater when Charlotte was allowed to express herself.

Especially as Charlotte started to come out of her shell, what did you grow to appreciate about who she was, especially in this time period?

RONAN: I don’t know if this is necessarily specific to the time period but an aspect of the character that I definitely really admire and love is her ability to step to one side and hold the person next to her under the spotlight in the way that a second in command, or an agent or publicist would with their clients. Their ego is put to one side, so that the other person can really shine. I think that’s Charlotte’s safe space, where she’s most comfortable, and where she can actually really flourish as a person. She’s very much someone who gets a lot of joy out of supporting great talent. I had just come off of playing Jo March, who is such a force of nature, so to play someone with that quiet power was lovely.

Both you and Kate Winslet had a say in how the sex scenes in this would play out and what they would be. How different does it feel on a set when you’re able to be in charge and in control of how those scenes are choreographed?

RONAN: It’s always better. For the most part, I’ve had really fine experiences when doing a sex scene. I’ve either been with an actor that I get on with and I trust, or the director has been really great about it. The majority of the time, it’s been decent experiences for me. But certainly, being able to take control of the choreography, in a way that I haven’t before, was fantastic. It allows you to feel much safer and probably more confidence in what you’re doing. Francis is really brilliant at taking a step back, in the way that Charlotte does, and allowing us to have this very open conversation about what it was that we wanted to do and what we wanted to see. It was very exciting to celebrate that type of intimacy that a woman experiences. I definitely think that the three of us being able to have a very open conversation and rehearsals, where it was literally just the three of us, was really helpful. It was also a real eye opener in terms of our understanding of who these women were. What we found was that, when we would do these intimate scenes, the characters' roles would almost switch, and Charlotte would become the more eager one and the one who took control a little bit more, and you’d see more of Mary’s vulnerability that you wouldn’t necessarily see in the rest of her life. It was a really a new experience for Kate and I, and for Francis, as well.

You got to work with Wes Anderson again on The French Dispatch. What excited you about that script? What do you think Wes Anderson fans will enjoy about that film?

RONAN: It’s everything you love about a Wes Anderson film. It’s gorgeous to look at, it’s funny, and the writing is brilliant, as it always is. There are so many different characters in it. It’s bigger than anything else he’s ever done. I just love being a part of anything he’s doing, really, because you always know it’s gonna be good. You’re not going, “I wonder if people will like this?” They always do. And it never really gets old. It’s a real event when people go see a Wes Anderson film. I did two days on it. I’m barely in the thing. But just to even be a part of it for a few minutes, it’s always very exciting.

What do you think it is about him, as a filmmaker, that makes him so special?

RONAN: His style and the formula that he uses to make his movies is very individual and very specific to him. He’s adjusted it with every single movie that he’s done and it’s a fine-tuned machine now at this stage. There’s nothing else like a Wes Anderson film. You’re able to completely indulge in whatever he’s offering off, and there aren’t many other movies that do that. It’s always very joyous watching a Wes Anderson film.

Ammonite is in theaters on November 13th, and available at Premium On-Demand on December 4th.