“It’s there. It’s in the air”: Saoirse Ronan is Still Haunted To This Day By Her $129 Million Film With a Marvel Icon

Saoirse Ronan is one of the Irish stars on the rise in Hollywood. She has starred in multiple great movies throughout her career, and made her breakthrough as an actress very early on. In fact, she was just 12-year-old when she got her first Academy Award nomination for her performance in Atonement, in which she starred alongside James Mc Avoy.

Over the years, she has played many nuanced and strong characters. She has never been the one to play characters that are easy or simple, and yet she has always served. What is even more surprising is that she began doing such roles when she was just 12. However, she has recently admitted that Atonement still affects how her mental health and how she works.

Saoirse Ronan on How Atonement Has Impacted Her

Known for her work in period dramas, Saoirse Ronan made her screen debut when she was only eight years old with the 2003 prime time medical drama The Clinic. Joe Wright’s film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement marked her film debut.

Released in 2007, the romantic war drama followed the story of a precocious teenager Briony Tallis whose false accusation alters the lives of her sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and her lover Robbie (James McAvoy). It premiered at the Vancouver Film Festival and was highly praised by the critics.

The movie earned Ronan an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. It was a great achievement, but at the time, the actress was not very aware of the heavy topic that the film was dealing with.

In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Lady Bird actress reflected on how the topic of r*pe in the movie has affected her in the long run. She said:

I just think that, like, even if you don’t fully understand what pedophilia is, or rape, or, you know—sorry, this may be a little too intense—but, like, it’s there, sure. It’s in the air because it had to be. I think a lot of young women, it’s something—it’s a fear that we carry every second of the day.

Ronan further explained that it affects how she approaches her movies to this day because she takes one scene at a time and does not really think about what is the bigger picture that the scene is going to contribute to. She also insisted that she was well “protected” during the movie’s filming because director Wright made sure of it.

Saoirse Ronan Finds It Difficult to Accept That She Did Not Land One Particular Role

Ronan has not become the part of a big-budget film franchise so far in her career, but she once almost did it. Although the actress has expressed her disinterest in starring in an MCU movie, she revealed that it’s been impossible to let go of losing out on a role in the Harry Potter film franchise.

During recent interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live where she was promoting her upcoming movie The Outrun, she said she had auditioned for the role of Luna Lovegood.

I had gone up for Luna Lovegood in ‘Harry Potter’ years ago, because it was like the Irish character, so they got everyone Irish in – like half of Ireland to come and audition – and I knew I wasn’t going to get it because I was too young, but I got to read out a scene that was gonna be in ‘Harry Potter’ and it was the coolest thing ever.

Ronan said that there are some roles that actors pass on an later regret it, but she had not rejected this one. Instead, she was the one who was rejected. Perhaps, she is right about her age being the ruling out factor because she was only 12 at the time. She did Atonement instead so it is still a win of sorts.

Atonement is available for renting and buying on Apple TV.