Saoirse Ronan
Birthdate: Apr 12, 1994
Saoirse Ronan (birthname: Saoirse Una Ronan) is perhaps the most brilliant female actor of her generation, as measured by the fact alone that she has already been Oscar-nominated four times before she turns 30. Known for her acute and sensitive portrayals of young women in period dramas, Ronan has also displayed her touch for more modern tales, as in her Oscar-nominated Best Actress role in Greta Gerwig’s autobiographical, Lady Bird (2017), as well as comedy in See How They Run (2022), with Sam Rockwell, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, and David Oyelowo.
The breakthrough role for Saoirse Ronan came in only her third feature when she was 13, in Joe Wright’s Atonement (2007), with James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Vanessa Redgrave, earning her raves as an acting prodigy and her first Oscar (supporting) nomination. The same year, Ronan solidified her rapidly growing reputation as a brilliant young actor in Gillian Armstrong’s period drama, Death Defying Acts, with Guy Pearce (as Harry Houdini) and Catherine Zeta-Jones. By the time she was a mere 14, Ronan gained her first starring role, in 20th Century Fox’s sci-fi adventure, City of Ember (2008), with Harry Treadway, Mary Kay Place, Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, and Toby Jones.
Ronan joined the ensemble (Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci) of Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones (2009), one of Jackson’s few box office disappointments, earning less than $100 million globally. Saoirse Ronan joined writer-director Peter Weir for the Soviet-era adventure, The Way Back (2010), with Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, and Colin Farrell. Ronan reunited with director Wright for the thriller, Hanna (2011), earning her praise in a more action-heavy role, with Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, and Vicky Krieps. Ronan went from the kick-ass Hanna to a teen assassin in Geoffrey Fletcher’s comedy-drama, Violet & Daisy (2011), with Alexis Bledel, James Gandolfini, Danny Trejo, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
Saoirse Ronan’s taste for darker material and her reputation as the most ambitious and talented teenage actor of her era continued with Neil Jordan’s vampire drama, Byzantium (2012), with Gemma Arterton and Sam Riley. Ronan further explored genre material in writer-director Andrew Niccol’s sci-fi thriller, The Host (2013), with Jake Abel, Max Irons, Frances Fisher, and William Hurt. Ronan played an American teenager in Kevin Macdonald’s speculative drama, How I Live Now (2013), with George Mackay and Tom Holland, followed by the first of her appearances in a Wes Anderson film, The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), with a vast cast led by Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe and Tilda Swinton.
After the oddity of joining the cast of Ryan Gosling’s debut as writer-director, Lost River (2014), Saoirse Ronan made a major impact in the Oscar-nominated Best Actress role (paralleling her own parents’ immigration from Ireland to New York) in Nick Hornby’s period drama, Brooklyn (2015), with Domhnail Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters. Having voiced in a few minor animated films, Ronan voiced in the more sophisticated animated work, Loving Vincent (2017), by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, including cast members Chris O’Dowd and Helen McCrory.
Embodying the lively semi-autobiographical title character of Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird (2017) marked a major development for Saoirse Ronan, establishing herself as a fully adult actor in what turned out to be a triumph on every level, from box office to Oscars, with five nominations (including another Best Actress nod for Ronan). Though overlooked in all the attention devoted to Lady Bird, Ronan delivered a lovely turn in Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach (2017), with Emily Watson and Billy Howie. Co-starring with Annette Bening, Corey Stoll, Elisabeth Moss, Howie, and Brian Dennehy, Ronan shone in director Michael Mayer’s adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull (2018), released by Sony Pictures Classics after a Tribeca festival premiere.
Ronan further dove into period drama as the star of Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots (2018), with Margo Robbie, Jack Lowden, David Tennant, and Guy Pearce. Ronan’s exquisite, Oscar-nominated lead performance distinguished her reunion with Gerwig for Little Women (2019), with Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern, and Meryl Streep. Staying in the 19th century, Ronan played opposite Kate Winslet in writer-director Francis Lee’s British romance, Ammonite (2020), with Gemma Jones and Fiona Shaw.
Ronan joined up again with Wes Anderson for a minor role in the massive ensemble of The French Dispatch (2021), and then reappeared in the movies as a constable helping Sam Rockwell in the Tom George/Mark Chappell sleuth comedy, See How They Run (2022). Garth Davis’ intimate sci-fi thriller, Foe (date to be announced) was Ronan’s next project, opposite Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre, and distributed by Amazon Studios. Ronan followed this with The Outrun (date to be announced), set in the Orkneys, with supporting actors Paapa Essiedu and Stephen Dillane under Nora Fingscheidt’s direction, marking Ronan’s first project as a producer.
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Personal Details
Born in The Bronx in New York City, Saoirse Ronan was raised by father Paul and mother Monica Ronan, both natives of Dublin, Ireland, and working in New York as undocumented immigrants at first. After some economic difficulties, Ronan’s family moved back to Ireland, where Ronan was raised in Ardattin, County Carlow. When she wasn’t being home-tutored (her professional acting career began when she was nine years old), Ronan attended Ardattin National School. Ronan lived for a time with her parents in the seaside town of Howth, near Dublin. She has been in a relationship with actor Jack Lowden since 2017. She has no children. Ronan’s height is 5’ 6”.
Filmography
actor
Previous (12)
- 2024 |
- 2024 | The OutrunasRona
The Outrun
After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. Hoping to heal, she returns to the wild beauty of Scotland's Orkney Islands where she grew up.
- 2022 | See How They RunasConstable Stalker
See How They Run
In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered.
- 2020 |
- 2018 | Mary Queen of ScotsasMary Stuart
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Stuart's (Saoirse Ronan's) attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution.
- 2018 | Little WomenasJo March
Little Women
A modern retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel, we follow the lives of four sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March - detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood. Despite harsh times, they cling to optimism, and as...
- 2018 | On Chesil BeachasFlorence Ponting
On Chesil Beach
In 1962 England, a young couple find their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night.
- 2018 | The SeagullasNina
The Seagull
In the early twentieth century, an aging actress and her lover visit the estate of her elderly brother.
- 2017 |
- 2017 | Loving VincentasMarguerite Gachet
Loving Vincent
In a story depicted in oil painted animation, a young man comes to the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.
- 2013 |
- 2007 |
Some Facts About Saoirse Ronan
Joint Citizen: Saoirse Ronan is a joint citizen of Ireland and the U.S.
What’s in a Name?: In Irish, Saoirse translates as “Freedom.” Ronan’s middle name, Una, is Irish for “Unity.”
Oscar Baby: Ronan was 13 when she received her first Oscar nomination, for Atonement, and was the seventh youngest actress nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Skills: Saoirse Ronan’s many skills include martial arts, which she has performed on screen.
Time Cover: In 2016 at age 22, Ronan made the cover of Time magazine as the face of “Next Generation Leaders.”
Peer Praise: The late Brian Dennehy, Saoirse Ronan’s veteran co-star in the cast of The Seagull, called her the most talented actor he had ever worked with.
Branding: Ronan has been an ambassador for the Gucci brand.
