Saoirse Ronan: Drama Queen

Everyone wants a piece of down-to-earth Saoirse Ronan, the media darling of the moment. It’s akin to the attention once sought from Mary Queen of Scots – her latest historic portrayal

The more I got to know about her, the more I became fascinated by the pressure that was put on her, and how she was able to defy all odds

It’s normal to hear an actor talk of being ‘committed’ to a role, immersing themselves into the idiosyncrasies of their character. For star-on-the-rise Saoirse Ronan, regarding her upcoming role in Mary Queen of Scots, the phrase is quite literal.

“I signed up the project when I was 18 years old, so I’ve been attached to this for six years,” she reveals. “As I was leaving my teens and coming into myself, Mary has always been in the back of my mind. She’s always been someone who’s stayed with me. While we waited to see when we would actually make the film, I was always contemplating when we were going to do it, how we were going to do it and eventually it all came together.” What initially drew Ronan to playing a role that is full of Oscar material was, “Initially, I loved the idea of playing a Scottish queen. I love Scottish history. There’s this constant struggle for power and culture. At the same time, there have been things that I could really relate to with her. Then, the more I got to know about her, the more I became fascinated by the pressure that was put on her, and how she was able to defy all odds.” Based on her Irish accent you’d think Saoirse (pronounced Ser-sha) was born there, but she actually hails from The Bronx in New York; her parents were both from Dublin, and she resides full time in County Wicklow. She adeptly masks the lilt, though – most notably with a Californian accent in her award-nominated turn as as Lady Bird McPherson in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. “The Sacramento accent honestly was so much harder, because the Scottish accent is different than the Irish accent, but they’re very melodic and very muscular. Whereas a Sacramento accent is – sorry – sort of lazy, whereas we’re so used to making everything sound like a song, and it’s much flatter. Beautiful, but flat,” she laughs. From more niche roles, playing flame-haired high school senior McPherson and a young Florence Ponting in On Chesil Beach, Ronan’s current phase is to sink her teeth into more renowned characters – her role after Mary Queen of Scots will be as Jo March in Little Women, next year. She is recognised as ‘Lady Bird’, but expects audiences to see a ‘different side to Saoirse’ after this period drama. “I hope they don’t see any Saoirse in my movies. I hope they just see Mary. I think it’s really important to be as different as I can in everything that I do. “ This is something her current co-star Margot Robbie can relate to. Robbie is Queen Elizabeth I in the upcoming, Josie Rourkedirected film, has played DC Comics’ psychotic siren Harley Quinn, and her portrayal of figure skater Tonya Harding continues to resonate. Both Ronan and Robbie were nominated for the same Best Actress Oscar (for Lady Bird and I, Tonya, respectively, that was won by Frances McDormand) and the two were already working together back when the awards season descended. “We probably spent more time together when we were doing the awards circle than we did when we were actually shooting together,” Ronan confesses.

“It was very important for me, when we were shooting, to not see Margot at all. So there were a few days where I would have to go in and do a few bits and parts while she was doing hers, and I really didn’t want to see her until we actually acted together because the history said they [Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I] probably never met. They had this really intelligent relationship. There was rivalry in it, but there was also this sisterhood and there was this need to be close to one another, because there was nobody else who was in the same position as they were. For both of them, I think they really desperately wanted to connect. “

Robbie did her part of the film shoot first, “Then I did mine. And we both said to each other that we were always in the back of each other’s minds. You’re always aware of this ghost of this person.” So a period of time without Ronan and Robbie texting one another on the phone? “Right? Can you imagine? I know Margot read it. There’s a read receipt, so she definitely read it. But yes, it means that there’s this incredibly intense relationship that’s built up between them without actually meeting. It was a fantastic thing to play for her and I,” Ronan says. Away from character, the two did share a kinship. “There’s an incredible support that we both have for each other because we made this film together. It was new territory for both of us, and something that made us feel quite vulnerable in a great way. We were really being challenged by the story, Josie, and all the other actors that we had, the take on these two very fierce women, and then just getting to do all of the crazy things that made history.” Ronan defines the upcoming movie as “a sort of thriller, a lot of love, a lot of rivalry, a lot of people coming together and then separating. Basically, a lot of human relationships clashing and then seeing them fall apart, making a country stronger.” Does she think the modern female audience could relate to that story today? “That is the reason why I believe it’s such a relatable story,” Ronan mulls. “I think women are finding a voice and coming together when they weren’t encouraged to as much before. So, it’s always nice to see someone who is strong on screen, but we’re also watching someone who is vulnerable as well and who really has a heart and who is trying to balance that and that humanity with this great responsibility. That’s something everyone has come across in some stage in their life.” The movie packs a historic punch, and Ronan totally committed to veracity. Of Robbie’s Elizabeth, for example, she speaks of the English queen’s mindset at the time as “Terrified because she knew how great Mary was when it came to people, and she knew how she was when connecting with one human to the next, and that wasn’t really an ability that she had. I think that terrified her, about someone she never met.” Channelling that real world tension “was great to just have that motivation all the way through,” she admits. “I mean, there is so much going on with Mary in this, Elizabeth is a massive priority there, also. So, producing an heir, being the right ruler for the country, stepping into these shoes when she was never really supposed to. She was never supposed to be the ruler of Scotland or of France, so there was a lot resting on her shoulders from a very early age. You’re watching someone who is holding on to their humanity, and her identity results from trying to become this ruler everyone seems to want her to be.”

It was really important for me to digest all of that information from history that was given to me, to put all of that together in a movie

It may be set in the 1500s, but within the narrative’s layers Ronan believes audiences can find points to relate to: “They’re watching Mary and Elizabeth in these two impossible positions, where they had so much responsibility, yet at the same time, were ruling two countries in a man’s world and were being advised in a way that didn’t necessarily serve them or the country that they were ruling. They really needed to have a good head on their shoulders and rely on the people closest to them. It is about who they can trust – and that’s a universal story; something that will never go out of fashion.” The film also contains a scene that Ronan calls, to shoot, “one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had on set.” She elaborates, “We do see the two women come together in this film – it’s something that I hope the audience, certainly, all of the characters in it are very aware of the history. This is a meeting a lot of people tried to prevent, and Mary in particular. I think Elizabeth wanted it, but Mary in particular desperately wanted to meet for a very long time because one of her greatest strengths was connection and being able to connect with another person and understand them and communicate with them. That was something that was quite terrifying for the English court, so they kept them private for a very long time.”

When preparing, she chose not to view other theatrical depictions of Mary, “Because I didn’t want to be influenced by anything else. Yes, there’s been a lot of telling of Mary that hasn’t been really true to who she actually was, her character. What we’re trying to show is that she was a well-rounded quirky person who had a great deal for humanity and was also a great ruler. She was also under a lot of pressure and was able to perform under that pressure incredibly well for a long period of time. She was somebody who genuinely wanted to just bring peace to her land and watch someone also try to hold on to that feeling as long as possible while also trying to define the people who are in it for themselves.”

Ronan burrowed to the root of her character, to the point where she would like to change truths that people believe about Mary. Such as, “The truth that doesn’t paint her like someone who just follows her heart, who’s a bit airy fairy. She wasn’t. She’s intelligent, astute. And it was really important for me to digest all of that information from history that was given to me, to put all of that together in a movie. It’s a story that not an awful lot of people know about, especially from Mary’s point of view.” It forces you “to stand up right”, says Ronan, of seeing herself as a Queen for the first time. And does Ronan believe she would make a good queen? “I think I’d be a good queen. Yeah, I think I’d be very fair.”