SHE’S a hot favourite to walk off with the Best Actress BAFTA this evening – but win or lose, Irish star Saoirse Ronan has never been happier.
As she takes to the red carpet tonight for the 78th EE British Academy Film Awards – AKA the BAFTAs – there are few who would argue that Saoirse Ronan doesn’t deserve her place there.
The low-key Irish star – who recently hit the headlines after clashing with male guests on The Graham Norton Show (more on that later) – has more nominations and awards to her name than any other actress her age, having worked continuously since childhood on a string of acclaimed movies.
Saoirse, now 30, made her film debut in Amy Heckerling’s romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman, released in 2007, but it was her portrayal of Briony Tallis in Atonement that same year that really got her noticed, earning her BAFTA and Oscar nominations at the tender age of 13.
She now has seven BAFTA nods and four Academy Award nominations, as well as one Golden Globe win for Best Actress In A Musical Or Comedy with Lady Bird, making her one of the standout actresses of her generation.
Yet Saoirse has always preferred to fly under the radar.
‘It was obvious to everyone that she was a star – even at the age of 10’
Born in The Bronx, New York City, in 1994 to Irish parents Monica and Paul Ronan, Saoirse moved back to Ireland aged three, with the family settling in rural village Ardattin in County Carlow.
As a child, she attended Ardattin National School for a time, but was largely homeschooled.
The fact she taught herself to act is probably no surprise, given that her father Paul is an actor who most famously starred in BBC1’s Ballykissangel, as well as had roles in movies The Devil’s Own with Brad Pitt and Veronica Guerin with Cate Blanchett.
Saoirse’s parents played an active role in her career from the start, with her mother accompanying her on set when she was a child.
She is incredibly close to her mum and dad, and previously said of her mother: “We’ve always been very, very close, but when I moved away to London, where I lived for a year and a half, I remember feeling so homesick.
“I always need to talk to her, but she really helped me through it and helped me to get the courage to keep going with it.”
She added that her mum is her “best friend”.
Meanwhile, dad Paul recalled on The Late Late Show in 2010 how he realised his daughter had talent at a young age.
“From the age of two, I spotted something in her.
“She was an amazing kid, very friendly and sociable.
“More so than any kid I have seen.
“Eventually, when she was seven or eight, I put her in a short film I was doing.
“They needed a kid and I said: ‘I’ve got one.’”
Just a few years later, she starred alongside her dad in RTÉ series The Clinic, and the following year bagged a role on mini-series Proof.
London-based Irish director Thaddeus O’Sullivan, who worked with Saoirse on Proof when she was just 10 years old, knew she was special even then.
“She struck me, the way she strikes me now, as very gentle, self-assured and highly intelligent,” he says.
“It was obvious to everyone really that she was a star, that she had something exceptional.”
Thaddeus found her easy to work with, as she instinctively knew what was being asked of her.
“The one thing you worry about when directing young people or children is whether or not they’ll get [the character].
“You can’t go into some great big character analysis, or break down dialogue, so you’re relying on something instinctive, and Saoirse had it.”
Part of the reason for her success, he believes, is her choice of roles.
“She’s quite careful about the parts she opts for and she takes them, not for their potential to win awards, but because she feels strongly about them and is invested in them creatively,” Thaddeus says.
Saoirse has starred in a string of high-profile movies, including The Lovely Bones (2009), Hanna (2011), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Mary Queen Of Scots (2018), Little Women (2019), Ammonite (2020), See How They Run (2022), The Outrun – for which she received her Best Actress In A Leading Role BAFTA nomination this year – and, most recently, Blitz (2024).
Most would agree that no matter what the role, Saoirse’s standard of acting is always incredible.
‘More often than not, Saoirse’s the most intelligent person in the room’
She’s also known for her ability to mimic accents.
“I think it’s a very Irish thing to do accents,” she said in a 2018 interview.
“When you’re telling a story, you just naturally go into the character’s accent.
“I had grown up with Mam and Dad doing that an awful lot.”
Despite all of her success, however, Saoirse remains grounded.
“I believe she hasn’t let fame go to her head. She seems very comfortable in that [film] environment,” adds Thaddeus.
It’s all the more impressive, given that she’s grown up in the public eye, which for others would be a daunting prospect.
Perhaps it’s because she has been acting for so long that her closest mates are all actors.
Her best friend is Irish actress Eileen O’Higgins, whom she met while filming Brooklyn in 2014.
In a 2019 interview, Eileen said: “It’s not that different to [other friendships].
“We are just best mates and we do everything the exact same as everybody else would.
“We order takeaways and go on adventures.
“It’s very ordinary and boring.
“I love working with Saoirse because she is one of the most talented people I have ever worked with.
“You can see that from her work ethic and how sensational she is.
“She has the most incredible instincts and she is incredibly generous as a performer.
“She makes other people better in response to her.
“You learn a lot.”
Saoirse and Timothée Chalamet also became close when working together on Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and again on Little Women, where they starred as best friends.
And Paul Mescal is another actor with whom she’s bonded.
The two knew each other in passing, but met properly while playing a young couple on the set of Foe, which was released in 2023.
They were pictured last summer at Glastonbury together.
“We have become very, very close since making the film. We’re genuine friends, we’re not Hollywood friends,” she’s said of their relationship.
She was also with the Gladiator II star when she inadvertently became something of feminist icon, during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show last October, alongside actors Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington.
Eddie had been discussing how he was trained to use his phone as a weapon for his role in The Day Of The Jackal, when Paul laughingly questioned how anyone would have time to think about getting their phone out if they were about to be attacked.
Quick as a whip, Saoirse interjected: “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?” – instantly silencing all four men.
Commenting on her remark afterwards, Paul said he wasn’t surprised at the reaction because it’s “massively important”, adding that Saoirse is “quite often, more often than not, the most intelligent person in the room.”
She’s also fiercely guarded about her private life and, despite her high profile, retains an air of mystery.
“Saoirse has always had an element of aloofness about her,” said an industry professional who has worked with the Irish film star in the past.
“It gives her an edge.
“She is also very much her own person and, with age, has become increasingly confident.
“The Saoirse we are seeing now is the grown-up version of the young actress she used to be.”
Perhaps because of this aloof quality, the most we have seen of her off-screen vulnerability is when talking about The Outrun, a film that chronicles the recovery of a young alcoholic.
Speaking about the part, Saoirse admitted to having close experience with alcoholism herself.
“One of the main reasons I wanted to do this was because I’d seen people I love be affected by [alcohol abuse].
“When you’re on the receiving end of it, there’s so much hurt and confusion and anger and pain, and all these things because you can’t kind of make sense about why someone would do this to themselves and to you.”
These days, the actress lives in London with her husband – Scottish actor Jack Lowden, 34 – who she met on the set of Mary Queen Of Scots in 2018.
The couple married in secret last July in Edinburgh, with only a handful of people in attendance.
‘I’d seen people I love be affected by alcohol abuse’
Commenting on her husband, who co-produced The Outrun with her, she made references to their deep trust, saying: “When you have a personal relationship with someone and you’re also in the same field, and you respect one another and you’ve got the same taste, and you expect the best from yourself, to have that other person there pushing you, but also believing in you, is great.”
They are often seen out walking in London with her beloved dog Fran, a mix of Westie terrier and golden retriever, and friends say she’s never been happier.
“I think Jack is really good for her,” said one.
“They’re similar in that they’re both passionate about what they do and clearly have a mutual respect for each other’s ability.
“But they also complement each other.
“It can’t have been easy growing up in the public eye, but I think Saoirse is in a really good place in her life right now, both professionally and romantically.
“She seems content and it’s lovely to see that.”
Despite her fame, Saoirse remains refreshingly proud of her working-class roots, and indeed the fact that she’s Irish.
She once said in answer to a question about her background: “I don’t know where I am from.
“I am just Irish.”
Even with all of her achievements, it’s clear she has much more to do.
Whether she wins a BAFTA tonight or not, it will surely not halt her dizzying trajectory.
- Watch the BAFTAs tonight, 7pm, BBC1.
