Saoirse Ronan Rewatches Little Women, Lady Bird, Atonement & More

You're telling me that you want

to see somebody knifed right in front of you?

He barely saw that! He barely saw that!

I wanna go where culture is, like New York.

How in the world did I raise such a snob?

Or at least Connecticut or New Hampshire...

Where writers live in the woods.

It's so good!

Hi, I'm Saoirse Ronan,

and today I'm going to be watching scenes from my career.

So, here we go.

[upbeat retro music plays]

[somber music plays]

[men chatter indistinctly]

What a dopey face.

I'll pause it there,

because what I want to do is talk about

the dress that I'm wearing in this.

I had two dresses, a total of two dresses for Atonement,

because I'm only in one section of the movie,

which takes place over...

I think it's a day or three days.

I think it's a day.

And obviously everyone else was older

and they got to wear these beautiful gowns

and they were so gorgeous,

and I had my very plain white kind of linen dress.

And then this was my fancier dress

and I felt so good about myself

when I got to put my party dress on.

It was designed by Jacqueline Durran,

who is just the greatest costume designer in the world.

This was our first project that we did together,

and we've continued to work together throughout the years

on, like, at least three of the movies that are here.

So, yeah, just wanted to comment on the dress.

Oh, boy.

She knows something's up.

That was the first time I found my light.

This is some of Seamus McGarvey's handiwork,

who was our cinematographer.

And he taught me a lot about using light to my advantage.

Just how to find the light

and how to sort of tell a story with it.

[Saoirse snickers]

Acting, acting.

Oh no!

[laughs] Why am I laughing?

Oh my God!

Just like, honestly the most awkward thing ever!

And I don't even, like, I knew what was going on,

but it just doesn't fully sink in when you're that age.

Also, I will say kudos to Joe Wright.

He was very, very protective over me

throughout the whole experience on Atonement

because it was such an adult subject matter

and there was language that I definitely

couldn't have been exposed to.

And he was really wonderful with me

and I remember that we shot all of my reaction

before I ever saw anything.

And then I think Keira and James just came in

for that one really awkward bit,

and they found it really funny.

I can't remember what I was looking at.

I feel like a lot of the directors that I was working with

really early on, because it was either make-believe

or we were working with green screen

or it was something that was very sort of mature

and explicit that I couldn't be exposed to at that age.

Directors talked to me a lot

and they described what I was supposed to be saying.

So I think that actually really formed

the way in which I work

and my sort of relationship to storytelling in film.

Like, so much of it is just going on in my head.

And I think it really comes from that time,

those first few years where it was very much me

and the director and them sort of creating this image

for me, just through what they were saying.

The experience of watching something when you're an adult

is completely different,

because the movies that I made when I was growing up,

they were mature.

They were not children's films at all.

I think I made one, two kids movies,

and the rest were incredibly mature.

So, even with something like The Lovely Bones,

I think the sort of gravity of that

really didn't hit me at the time.

And I actually watched a sequence from it recently

and I found it incredibly disturbing

and I didn't want to watch it again.

With Atonement, I haven't watched it in years,

but I would love to,

and I think any footage that I've seen of that movie

since becoming a little bit older and more

kind of appreciative of how a film is actually made,

it does make me realize how special that film was.

[upbeat retro music plays]

[Audiobook] The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

[both sniffle]

Our college trip took 21 hours and five minutes.

[Marion laughs]

Laurie Metcalf is the best actor in the world.

If Laurie Metcalf was walking down the street,

or you interacted with her in public,

and you didn't know she is who she is,

you just wouldn't think she's an actor.

She just has this realness to her

that I appreciated so much.

I was, like, so, so terrified doing Lady Bird.

I was so convinced that I was just gonna screw this up.

And that's not false modesty.

It was very real.

And so, to be with older actors like Laurie and Tracy Letts

was just this, like, incredible anchor for me

during that time when I just felt so in my head.

So, yeah, I love her.

Oh, so now you're mad.

No, it's just...

Because I wanted to listen to music?

I'm sorry I'm not perfect.

No one's asking you to be perfect,

just considerate would do.

I don't even want to go to school in this state, anyway.

I hate California.

The car scene was one of my favorite scenes to shoot

because we actually shot this near the end of filming.

So, the fear wasn't quite as strong anymore. [laughs]

I'd sort of, like, numbed myself somehow

throughout the whole process.

And it was a scene that I could really make sense out of.

I could relate to it so much as I feel like

so many people can, we've all had conversations like this

with our parents or people close to us.

Your father's company is laying off people right and left.

Did you even know that?

No, of course you don't,

because you don't think about anybody but yourself.

[Saoirse chuckles]

And Immaculate Heart is already...

Immaculate Fart. Immaculate Fart.

You wanted that, not me.

Miguel saw someone knifed in front of him at Sac High.

Is that what you want?

So, you're telling me that you want

to see somebody knifed right in front of you?

He barely saw that! He barely saw that!

I wanna go where culture is, like New York.

How in the world did I raise such a snob?

Or at least Connecticut or New Hampshire...

Where writers live in the woods.

It's so good!

Mom!

You can't even pass your driver's test.

Because you wouldn't let me practice enough!

The way that you work, or the way that you don't work,

you're not even worth state tuition, Christine.

[Lady Bird] My name is Lady Bird.

Well actually, it's not and it's ridiculous.

[Lady Bird] Call me Lady Bird like you said you would!

Just, you should just go to City College,

you know, with your work ethic.

Just go to City College and then to jail

and then back to City College

and then maybe you'd learn to pull yourself up

and not expect everybody to do everything.

Not the way to deal with that.

It was not the way to deal with that situation.

I love that scene so much.

I've always really, really loved doing car scenes

because nobody can get to you.

Like, once you're on the road, usually you'll go out

and you'll shoot for, like, an hour, a couple of hours.

So, nobody's doing checks on you,

like hair and makeup checks.

The director can speak to you

but only via walkie talkie, which is fun.

You get to slate before a take,

which is also just really fun.

And I still love doing that.

There's, like, no one that's had a bigger impact on me

than Greta.

But I was desperate to impress her

and for her to love me.

And I think Lady Bird was like,

a really incredible experience for both of us.

But it was, like, intense, I think,

for the two of us in a way that it probably wasn't

for anyone else on that job.

It was her first movie on her own.

It was her directorial debut.

It was my first time,

in my opinion, doing comedy as, like, a young adult,

which is just a genre that I rate so highly.

And I really wanted to do a good job at that.

And I think I got really in my head about it for a while.

I loved her and I was such a huge fan of hers

from before we actually worked together.

So, you know, we loved each other so much,

but I don't think it was until Little Women

that we, like...

It was like we needed to...

Not get Lady Bird out of the way,

but we needed to, like, go through

all those growing pains on Lady Bird

so then we could just be like,

Oh great, we kind of know what we're doing now

a little bit more, do you not think?

But yeah, I just wanted her to love me

the whole way through, which is exhausting, actually.

[upbeat retro music plays]

[Narrator] On our third formal rendezvous,

I had asked for her hand in marriage and she had agreed.

Will you marry me? Yes.

Oh, yeah.

That was the most aggressive kiss I've ever had on screen.

It kind of hurt.

Tony, like, went...

Tony who plays the lead character, went like...

He went for my face.

It sort of... It felt like...

Did it feel like tonsil tennis

or like, a battle of the mouths?

That's kind of what it felt like.

It was very full on.

We'll have done it a lot because Wes does a lot of takes.

So, I can't remember how many.

I actually forgot about this scene.

But yeah, we'll have done it quite a few times.

[Narrator] No one knew, of course,

But then, who would've cared?

We were each completely on our own in the world.

And we were deeply in love.

My birthmark is in the shape of Mexico.

Here.

It was so cold that day and I was sick, I'm pretty sure.

And on that job, you would sometimes spend like a week

not doing anything, but you couldn't really leave,

so you were really desperate to get back to work

and very grateful when you got to do a scene.

And where we shot this was in a place called Görlitz,

which is in Germany,

but it's right on the Polish/German border.

So, we would be there, we'd be there for like,

I don't know, I was there for a couple of months,

but you could spend, like, a week just not doing anything.

So yeah, Görlitz became very small very quickly.

I see.

Romantic Poetry, Volume One.

Monsieur Gustav recommended it.

I have a copy on my own as well.

I ruined the surprise, I suppose.

I'll go ahead and open it, anyway.

I'm pretty sure the way Tony opened the book

was discussed quite a bit.

Me flipping the book over and him then opening it,

the timing of that was planned out.

But, I mean, everything was planned out.

Everything was very much considered ahead of time.

For my dearest, darling, treasured, cherished Agatha

whom I worship, with respect, adoration, admiration, kisses,

gratitude, best wishes, and love, from Z two A.

This was the first time that I ever used

my Irish accent in a movie,

and I think the great thing about making a Wes Anderson film

is that he's not kind of bogged down by, like, social norms

or anything because it's, you know, hyper-real.

You don't really have to follow the same rules.

So, when I met him for the first time,

it may have even been this scene,

'cause I don't have a lot of dialogue scenes in this,

and myself and Wes read it with one another

and he got me to try it in American first.

He was like, Hm, okay. Try it in English.

Then I'd try it in English.

Hm, okay. Do do your own accent.

And then I did my own accent

and he seemed to think that that was a good fit.

So we with Irish,

and I wasn't actually at a point yet

where I loved using my own accent.

That came later.

But yes, this was the first time I was Irish in a movie.

I think the more confident I became as an actor,

the more...

The less I felt I needed to completely distance myself

from the character that I was playing.

I think that was really helpful when I was starting out.

And a lot of people feel this way,

that, you know, you sort of think

Well, acting is you playing someone

completely different to yourself, and that's not untrue.

But the older you get

and I think the more, just, life experience you have,

the more you want to incorporate

some of that into your character.

So, I'm definitely more

enthusiastic about using my own accent now,

'cause there's just a freedom that you get from it

that you don't get with doing another accent.

[upbeat retro music plays]

It's okay. [Hanna cries]

[Man Over Speaker] You want me to give her something?

I think that might be necessary.

Michelle Dockery.

During Downton Abbey as well.

Abort. [alarm blares]

I repeat, agent, abort!

So cool.

Oh my god.

Hanna...

I loved doing this.

I don't know what that says about me, but I loved it.

[gun fires] [alarm blares]

I remember with that shot that just went by,

they built the camera into the wall.

So you see where all of those little lenses are,

they took that out in that little shot

and they put the camera in there instead

and it did a complete 360 around the whole room,

which was just incredibly cool.

Again, that's what I've really learned from working

with Joe Wright, because he uses cinematography

and camera work in quite a, like, choreographed way.

My relationship with the camera

and the sort of dance between me and it

really developed from working with him.

[intense music plays]

[men shout]

It was great, it was really good fun.

I had this stunt coordinator called Jeff Imada

who I trained with for months.

I got to learn how to use a Luger pistol,

which is really hard to use.

Very old.

And I learned that professionals don't ever go around

with their gun like this.

They always keep it down,

because then if anyone comes around the corner

and they start to raise it up,

then you're always gonna hit a bit of them.

Not that I'm encouraging anyone to use guns,

but I'm just saying, if you're in a movie like this,

it's helpful to know that kind of stuff.

[upbeat retro music plays]

[sentimental music plays]

Oh no, don't. No, no.

It's no use, Jo.

Laurie, don't.

Jo, we gotta have it out. No.

I have loved you ever since I've known you, Jo.

I couldn't help it.

And I tried to show and you wouldn't let me, which is fine.

But I must make you hear now and give me an answer

because I cannot go on like this any longer.

Teddy, please don't. I gave up billiards.

He gave up billiards for you, Jo!

I'm happy I did.

It's fine, and I waited and I never complained because I...

I figured you'd love me, Jo.

I'm always gonna be so influenced by Greta,

especially when we're working together, even when we're not,

some of that starts to come out.

Those same mannerisms

that I think I've found from working with her.

Let's be happy together, Jo.

I can't say yes truly, so I'm not going to say it at all.

And you'll see that I'm right eventually,

and you'll thank me for it.

When we did the camera tests before we started filming,

it was completely in costume

and we had a full set behind us and we shot on location

and it all just felt quite real.

And there was, like, a movement

or there was, like, an energy, this sort of, like,

this restlessness that seemed to come out that day

that both Greta and I really responded to.

I think I had so much energy on that job.

I don't think I'd done anything else that year.

So, I was so desperate to get back on set

and was so excited about getting the chance

to play Jo March.

It was just, like, a dream come true.

Listen, you'll find some lovely, accomplished girl

who will love you and adore you,

and she's gonna make a fine mistress for your fine house,

but I wouldn't!

I never ran out of this energy.

And that seemed to come out in every scene.

And it really started to tie into her

kind of story overall, which is that, like,

she's destined for something else.

She needs to get out.

She's constantly thinking and buzzing and inspired,

and, yeah, I think when you marry all these ideas together

and you really get in touch with your physicality,

you can really tell a story there.

So, with this scene in particular, as you can see,

it's on, like, quite a severe slant on the hill,

and we had a massive crane that day,

which we didn't get every day, but we had it that day.

We had probably, like, an hour and a half

to shoot the whole scene

because we were kind of going into magic hour,

so the sun was kind of slowly starting to set

and we were losing light literally by the minute.

So, we were really up against the clock,

and I think that just gave us this feeling of, like,

it's now or never, you know?

So we were both incredibly focused

and clear on what we had to do.

And, yeah, anyway, the crane would sort of move

up and down the hill, kind of running parallel with us,

and we would weave in and out of each other,

and we choreographed that a little bit

so we knew roughly which points we we were gonna hit

and when we were gonna come back together

and when we were gonna part again.

To have that kind of clarity,

for me at least, was really helpful.

[upbeat retro music plays]

I want to stay with you.

Yeah, I know.

It's only until all this is over.

And then the schools will open again

and life will get back to normal, I promise.

Please, mum, don't send me away.

You know what the tricky thing is about playing someone

in this situation is

I know what happens because we all know how it ended up.

But to play someone who really doesn't know,

who's having to turn to her child as if she does,

you're sort of having to, like,

juggle all of these realities at once,

which was really interesting.

Here.

Your dad would want you to have it.

How do you know?

I know because that's the kind of man he was.

Because you're his son, and it belongs to you now.

And it's gonna keep you safe, alright?

Yeah?

Elliott and I had definitely established

our relationship at this stage.

We were very close.

We'd done quite a bit.

I can't remember whereabouts this was in the schedule.

I think maybe, like, halfway through.

But also with the way they shot it,

like, Elliot was in every single day, pretty much.

But I would come in for, like, a couple of days at a time

and then I'd be off for a week.

And we'd really miss each other,

and then by the time I'd come back on set,

it would be to do a scene like this where it's the two of us

sort of coming together and really having

to kind of, like, work a scene out together.

I think the great thing about working with a kid, as well,

is that, especially when they've never done it before,

there's never an ulterior motive with a kid.

It's just about staying as present as possible

and whatever kind of comes out instinctively for them

is usually the way to go.

So, it was a really great reminder in how to work

and how to make a scene as effective as possible.

I really wanted to work with Steve.

I'm such a huge fan of his and...

And you know, even though I was technically in a film

that was set during the second World War before,

my character had no part in that,

or my version of the character

wasn't involved in that at all.

Whereas, now to be playing someone who's all too aware

of the destruction that comes with war

and the sort of sacrifice that needs to be made.

Again, for me as a person, it's been incredibly educational,

very interesting.

And also I think to play someone working class, as well,

after only having that experience on Atonement before,

that was really nice too, to just kind of have

a new perspective on the same time period.

[upbeat retro music plays]

Thank you for watching some of my scenes

from the past with me.

It's been très emosh.

It's been really, really lovely to watch them all again.

So, thank you for giving me the opportunity to do that.

Goodbye.

[upbeat retro music concludes]