Saoirse Una Ronan was born on 12 April 1994 inthe Bronx borough of New York City,[5] the only child of Irish parents Monica[6] (née Brennan) andPaul Ronan, both from Dublin.[7] Her father worked in construction and in bars before training as an actor in New York,[8][9] and her mother worked as a nanny and had acted as a child.[9][10] Her parents were undocumented immigrants who had left Ireland due to the recession of the 1980s, and struggled economically during their time in New York.[7] The family moved back to Dublin when Ronan was three years old.[11] She was raised inArdattin, County Carlow, where she attended ArdattinNational School.[11] Her parents later had her tutored privately at home.[9] In her early teens, Ronan was living again in Dublin with her parents, who settled in the seaside village ofHowth.[5][11] She was raised Catholic, but has stated that she questioned her faith as a child.[12]
Career
Early work and breakthrough (2003–2009)
Ronan made her screen debut on Irish national broadcasterRTÉ, in the 2003 prime time medical dramaThe Clinic and appeared in the mini-serialProof.[13] During the same time, Ronan auditioned for the part ofLuna Lovegood in the fantasy filmHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), a role she lost out to fellow Irish actressEvanna Lynch.[14][15] Ronan's first film wasAmy Heckerling's romantic comedyI Could Never Be Your Woman, which was filmed in 2005. It was theatrically released in a few international markets in 2007 and given adirect-to-video release in the US in 2008, after it struggled to attract financing and several deals disintegrated during its post-production.[16] In the film, Ronan portrayed the daughter ofMichelle Pfeiffer's character andPaul Rudd co-starred as Pfeiffer's love interest.Joe Leydon ofVariety labelled the film "desperately unfunny" but considered the interplay between Ronan and Pfeiffer's characters to be among the film's highlights.[17]
Ronan in 2008
At the age of 12, Ronan attended acasting call forJoe Wright's 2007film adaptation ofIan McEwan's novelAtonement. She auditioned for and won the part of Briony Tallis, a 13-year-old aspiring novelist, who affects several lives by accusing her sister's lover of a crime he did not commit. She acted alongsideKeira Knightley andJames McAvoy. Budgeted at US$30 million, the film earned over US$129 million worldwide.[18]Ty Burr ofThe Boston Globe called her "remarkable [and] eccentric",[19] andChristopher Orr ofThe Atlantic wrote that she is "a marvel, elegantly capturing the narcissism and self-doubt that adhere to precocity".[20] Ronan was nominated for aBAFTA Award, aGolden Globe Award and anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the seventhyoungest nominee in that category.[21]
Ronan played the daughter of an impoverished psychic (played byCatherine Zeta-Jones) in the supernatural thrillerDeath Defying Acts (2007) and starred as Lina Mayfleet, a heroic teenager who must save the inhabitants of an underground city named Ember in the fantasy filmCity of Ember (2008). Both films received a mixed critical reception and failed at the box office.[22] In a review for the latter, the criticStephen Holden took note of how Ronan's talents were wasted in it.[23]
In 2009, Ronan starred alongsideRachel Weisz,Mark Wahlberg,Susan Sarandon andStanley Tucci inPeter Jackson's supernatural dramaThe Lovely Bones, an adaptation of thebook of the same name byAlice Sebold. Ronan played 14-year-old Susie Salmon, who, after being raped and murdered, watches from the after-life as her family struggles to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her quest for vengeance.[24] Ronan and her family were originally hesitant for Ronan to accept the role due to its subject matter, but agreed after Jackson assured them that the film would not feature gratuitous scenes of rape and murder.[25][26] Several sequences in the film relied on extensive special effects and much of Ronan's scenes were filmed in front of a blue screen.[26] Reviewers were critical of the film's story and message,[27] butRichard Corliss ofTime believed that Ronan had successfully invested the gruesome tale with "immense gravity and grace".[28] He later considered it to be the third best performance of the year.[29] Sukhdev Sandhu ofThe Daily Telegraph considered Ronan to be the sole positive aspect of the production, writing that she "is simultaneously playful and solemn, youthful yet old beyond her years".[30] The film was a box office disappointment. It earned Ronan aBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination.[31]
Rise to prominence (2010–2014)
InPeter Weir's war dramaThe Way Back (2010), Ronan played the supporting part of Irena, a Polish orphan duringWorld War II, who joins escaped Siberian convicts in a 4,000-mile (6,400 km) trek to India. It co-starredJim Sturgess,Colin Farrell andEd Harris, and was filmed on location in Bulgaria, India and Morocco.[32] The following year, Ronan reunited with Joe Wright to play the title character in the action filmHanna, about a 15-year-old girl raised in theArctic wilderness to be an assassin. The film co-starredEric Bana andCate Blanchett as Hanna's father and a villainous CIA agent, respectively. Ronan performed her own stunts and in preparation, she spent several months training in martial arts, stick fighting and knife fighting.[33] Ronan's performance and the film's action sequences were praised by critics.[34] In his review forRolling Stone,Peter Travers termed the film "a surreal fable of blood and regret" and labelled Ronan an "acting sorceress".[35]Hanna was a moderate commercial success.[36] She voiced the lead role in the dubbed English version ofStudio Ghibli's anime filmArrietty.[37] At the age of 16, Ronan was invited to join theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[38]
In 2011, Ronan took part in a promotion for theIrish Film Institute's Archive Preservation Fund, in which she was digitally edited into popular Irish films of the past, as well as documentary footage.[39] Ronan andAlexis Bledel played the titular assassins inGeoffrey S. Fletcher's action filmViolet & Daisy (2011). Eric Goldman ofIGN compared the film unfavourably to the work ofQuentin Tarantino and commented that Ronan's abilities had surpassed the material.[40] Peter Jackson approached Ronan to play an elf inThe Hobbit film series, but she withdrew from the project due to scheduling conflicts.[41] She was instead drawn toNeil Jordan's horror filmByzantium (2012), as the "dark, gothic and twisted" project provided her an opportunity to play a more complex and mature character. The film starredGemma Arterton and her as mother-and-daughter vampires.[42] Writing forRadio Times, the critic Alan Jones found the film to be an "evocative fairy tale that uses vampires as a prism to comment on humanity" and considered both Arterton and Ronan to be "radiant" in it.[43]
In a 2013film adaptation ofStephenie Meyer's novelThe Host, Ronan played the dual role of Melanie Stryder, a human rebel, and Wanderer, a parasitic alien. Critics disliked the film;[44]Manohla Dargis termed it "a brazen combination of unoriginal science-fiction themes [and] young-adult pandering", but took note of an "otherworldly aspect to [Ronan's] screen presence, partly due to her stillness and her own translucent eyes, which can suggest grave intensity or utter detachment".[45] InKevin Macdonald's dramaHow I Live Now, an adaptation of the novel of thesame name byMeg Rosoff, Ronan played an American teenager sent to a remote farm in the United Kingdom during the outbreak of a fictionalWorld War III. Olly Richards ofEmpire found Ronan to be in "typically watchable form" in it, but the film earned little at the box office.[46] In her final film release of the year, Ronan voiced a barmaid named Talia in the critically panned animated filmJustin and the Knights of Valour.[47]
Ronan had two film releases in 2014 with widely diverse critical receptions—the acclaimed comedy filmThe Grand Budapest Hotel from the directorWes Anderson andRyan Gosling's panned directorial debutLost River.[48] In the former, an ensemble film headed byRalph Fiennes andTony Revolori, Ronan played the supporting part of the love interest to Revolori's character. It was the first project that she filmed without her parents accompanying her on set.[42] The film earned over $174 million on a $25 million budget and was ranked by theBBC as one of the greatest films of the century.[49] In the surrealistic fantasy filmLost River, Ronan played a mysterious young girl named Rat who owns a pet rat; Geoffrey Macnab ofThe Independent termed the film a "wildly self-indulgent affair" but praised Ronan's "tough but vulnerable" portrayal.[50]
In 2016, Ronan moved to New York City to begin rehearsals for her debut appearance onBroadway, in a revival ofArthur Miller's playThe Crucible.[58] She took the role ofAbigail Williams, a manipulative maid responsible for the death of 20 people accused of witchcraft.[59] Based on theSalem witch trials, the play was directed byIvo van Hove and ran for 125 performances.[60] In preparation, she readStacy Schiff's bookThe Witches: Salem, 1692, and collaborated closely with van Hove to empathise with her villainous character.[61] Instead of relying on previous portrayals of Williams, Ronan played her as "more victim than victimizer".[62] Writing forThe Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney considered Ronan to be "icy and commanding" and Linda Winer ofNewsday commented that she had played the part "with the duplicity of a malevolent surfer-girl".[63]
Ronan next voiced Marguerite Gachet in the biographical animated dramaLoving Vincent (2017), and starred alongsideBilly Howle as troubled newlyweds on their honeymoon in afilm adaptation ofIan McEwan's novelOn Chesil Beach. In a mixed review of the latter film, Kate Erbland ofIndieWire thought Ronan was underutilised in it and that her performance had been overshadowed by that of Howle.[64] She starred inGreta Gerwig's coming-of-age filmLady Bird, in which she played the titular role of Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson, a high school senior who shares a tumultuous relationship with her mother (played byLaurie Metcalf). It ranks among the best-reviewed films of all time on the review-aggregator siteRotten Tomatoes.[65] Deeming Ronan's performance one of the best of the year,A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times wrote, "Ronan navigates each swerve inLady Bird's story with an uncanny combination of self-confidence and discovery. She is as spontaneous and unpredictable as an actual 17-year-old ... which suggests an altogether stupefying level of craft."[66] She won theGolden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical; and received Academy Award, BAFTA andSAG nominations for Best Actress.[67]
Ronan promotingLady Bird in 2018, for which she received her thirdAcademy Award nomination
In 2017, Ronan hosted an episode of theNBC sketch comedySaturday Night Live, in which one of her sketches was criticised for its stereotypical portrayal of Irish people,[68] and featured in the music video forEd Sheeran's song "Galway Girl".[69] The following year, she starred in anadaptation ofAnton Chekhov's playThe Seagull, in which she played Nina, an aspiring actress.[70] In a mixed review of the film, Michael O'Sullivan ofThe Washington Post praised Ronan's performance, writing that she "makes for an incandescent Nina, especially in her loopy final-act speech".[71] She starred asMary Stuart in the period dramaMary Queen of Scots, co-starringMargot Robbie asElizabeth I of England.[72] To maintain the distance between their characters, Ronan and Robbie did not interact with one another until filming their climactic encounter.[73] CriticTodd McCarthy praised both actresses' performances and credited Ronan for "carr[ying] the film with fiercely individualistic spirit".[74]
After becoming aware of a forthcoming film adaptation ofLouisa May Alcott's novelLittle Women, written and directed by Greta Gerwig, Ronan campaigned to play the lead role ofJo March, an aspiring author in theAmerican Civil War era.[75] In preparation, she readMarmee & Louisa, a biography about Alcott and her mother; the cast rehearsed the script for two weeks, and filming took place on location inConcord, Massachusetts.[76]Little Women was released in 2019 to widespread critical acclaim.[77]Richard Lawson ofVanity Fair took note of how well Ronan had portrayed her character "in all her conflicted loyalty, the struggle between her familial contentment and her yearning for something more".[78] The film grossed over $218 million to emerge as her highest-grossing release.[79] Once again, she received Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress.[80] This made Ronan—at 25 years and six months of age—the second youngest person to accrue four Oscar nominations, behindJennifer Lawrence.[81]
In 2020, Ronan portrayed the geologistCharlotte Murchison oppositeKate Winslet'sMary Anning inFrancis Lee'sAmmonite, a drama about a romantic relationship between the two women in the 1840s. The two actresses collaborated closely on the project, and they choreographed their own sex scenes.[82] Steve Pond ofTheWrap considered it to be "the most mature performance of [Ronan's] remarkable career".[83] In the next year, Ronan had a small part in Wes Anderson's ensemble filmThe French Dispatch, about American journalists in France.[84] She made herWest End theatre debut at London'sAlmeida Theatre, performing asLady Macbeth in a revival ofThe Tragedy of Macbeth, oppositeJames McArdle. Ronan was intimidated by the experience of performing Shakespeare for the first time in her career, and drew inspiration fromKanye West andKim Kardashian's marriage for portraying the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.[85] Alexandra Pollard ofThe Independent took note of Ronan's "rare skill to make Shakespeare’s beautiful but weighty words easy to understand".[86]
Professional expansion (2022–present)
Ronan in 2024
Ronan andSam Rockwell played cops solving a murder in 1950s London in the comedy mystery filmSee How They Run (2022).[87]Far Out's Calum Russell was pleased with her against-type "exercise in comedy acting".[88] She then starred oppositePaul Mescal in a 2023film adaptation of the science fiction novelFoe byIain Reid, directed byGarth Davis.[89] Receiving dire critical reviews, it emerged as her most poorly received film in many years.[90][91]
Ronan, actorJack Lowden, and producer Dominic Norris formed the production company Arcade Pictures.[92] Under it, they producedThe Outrun (2024), an adaptation ofAmy Liptrot'smemoir of the same name, directed byNora Fingscheidt.[93] Ronan also starred in the film as Rona (based on Liptrot); she found playing her character's struggle with alcoholism to be "very upsetting" as she had personally experienced the effects of addiction from those close to her.[94][95] She also wrote several of her character's dialogues as Fingscheidt's script did not include specific ones.[96]The Guardian's Adrian Horton found her performance "at once titanic and quiet, and utterly convincing even in the very difficult art of acting drunk".[97] Lowden and Ronan stepped down from Arcade Pictures soon after the film's premiere at the2024 Sundance Film Festival.[98] Ronan next starred as a distraught mother searching for her missing son amidstthe Blitz inSteve McQueen's drama filmBlitz. Initially not keen to work in a war film, she was drawn to the project due to its focus on the mother-son relationship.[96] She also sang a few songs forits soundtrack.[99] ForThe Outrun, Ronan received BAFTA nominations for Best Actress andOutstanding British Film (as producer).[100]
Ronan will next lead the comic thrillerBad Apples, playing a primary school teacher disrupted by an unruly student.[101]
Born in the U.S. to Irish parents and raised in Ireland, Ronan holds dual Irish and American citizenship. She has said of her identity, "I don't know where I am from. I'm just Irish."[102] She also identifies as a New Yorker.[61][103] She is close with her parents, and lived with them until age 19.[104] She has credited her mother, who accompanied her on film sets as a teenager, for protecting her from uncomfortable situations.[105][104] In 2018, she purchased a home inGreystones,[106] which she sold in 2019.[107] In 2020, she purchased a home inWest Cork.[108] Since 2018, she has been in a relationship with Scottish actorJack Lowden, her co-star inMary Queen of Scots. They divide their time betweenDublin,London,northern England, and Scotland.[109][110] AnInstagram post by Lowden in July 2023 sparked speculation about their engagement,[111] and theIrish Independent reported in July 2024 that they had married in a secret ceremony inEdinburgh.[112]
Known for guarding her private life, Ronan avoidssocial media as she finds it "too stressful".[113] She joinedTwitter in late 2009 due to being a fan of English comedianStephen Fry, whose prolific usage of the platformhas been well documented, but soon deleted her account.[114] She said in February 2018, "I get why musicians [use social media] and journalists or people in the public eye. But acting is a different thing, because you're not yourself when you're working. I'm not me in anything that anyone sees me in [...] and self-promotion has always made me feel really uncomfortable."[114]
Erica Wagner ofHarper's Bazaar has described Ronan's off-screen persona as "lively, funny, warm", while Vanessa Thorpe ofThe Guardian found her "unpretentious".[104][120] Several publications have described Ronan as one of the finest actors of her generation.[121][122][123][124] Alissa Wilkinson ofThe New York Times said she often plays complex female characters in carefully selected projects.[124] While reviewingLady Bird in 2017,The New York Times criticA. O. Scott called Ronan "one of the most formidable actors in movies today".[125] In 2020, the newspaper ranked her tenth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century.[126] In the same year, she was placed sixth onThe Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors of all time.[127]Variety's Clayton Davis reported that Ronan's career and accolades are comparable to those of actressesKate Winslet andCate Blanchett.[128]
^Sandhu, Sukhdev (17 February 2010)."The Lovely Bones, review".The Daily Telegraph.Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved15 December 2017.
^Richards, Olly (25 September 2013)."How I Live Now Review".Empire.Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved15 December 2017."How I Live Now". Box Office Mojo.Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved4 April 2014.
^Scott, A. O.; Morris, Wesley (7 December 2017)."The 10 Best Actors of the Year".The New York Times.Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved8 December 2017.
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