Thanks to M for sending me the link of this interview.

While it’s been nearly four years since they last worked together on ‘Atonement,’ which was her breakout role that led to an Oscar nomination, Saoirse Ronan developed a good chemistry with director Joe Wright that they are back together in a film that a departure from what they did previously.

With ‘City of Ember,’ ‘The Lovely Bones,’ and most recently ‘The Way Back,’ Ronan has grown as an actress and with her latest project, Wright’s arthouse assassion flick, ‘Hanna,’ she put in more work physically that she expected.

Co-starring Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett,, Jason Flemyng, Tom Hollander, and Olivia Williams, Hanna (played by Ronan) is a teenage girl. Uniquely, she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a soldier; these come from being raised by her father (played by Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland. Living a life unlike any other teenager, her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (played by Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

While promoting the film in Los Angeles for its April 8 release date, Ronan spoke to Blackfilm.com about working on the film, the training she went through, and possibly doing ‘Snow White.’

When you were approached for this film, how much training did you go into it afterwards?
Saoirse Ronan: Well, I trained for a couple of months before we started shooting. And I did a little bit over in LA. I did a couple of weeks just to get started and so the head stunt coordinator whose name is Jeff Imada and he’s brilliant, would know what my energy is like, my strength. What I was capable of, things like that. And then a member of his team and I went back to Ireland and we would train in the gym for about two hours a day, which I did have to get used to. And we trained in martial arts and stick fighting and weapons training and things like that. Yeah. So I learned quite a few skills. More skills than I’ve ever learned on a film. I don’t necessarily remember them all but still.

You and Joe have both had interesting paths since you last worked together.
Saoirse Ronan: Yeah.

Show ▼

Did you notice a big difference in your relationship now as director and actor?
Saoirse Ronan: You know, not really, which is fantastic. We had a great relationship on ‘Atonement’. I mean I was younger. I was about twelve when I did that. But I don’t think there was difference this time because Joe never really treated me like I was a kid. And he used to go- he was a bit freaked out with me. So he never really treated me like a kid. And then when we did ‘Hanna’ together and that relationship just developed even further. And I guess we’ve gotten closer; and it really felt like a collaboration on this film, you know. It felt like, as you said, we were both going in this new direction. And it kind of did feel like a journey. And we were taking a risk by doing it. But the fact that we were doing it together was exciting.

Did you notice his growth as a director? Did he change? Because that’s a very different film from anything he’s done.
Saoirse Ronan: I think he took more risks on this film. I know I’ve said that already. But I mean when it came to cinematography and even the music he took more risks. I mean just being involved in this film he introduced new layers to the story and brought a fairy tale element to it, as well. Which we never really see with action films. So he’s made this into a sort of mutant film. A collaboration.

Were you in the hotel room one night and you just decided to bleach your eyebrows and everybody went with that? Or did you contribute to the look of your character?
Saoirse Ronan: That’s not how it works at all. I like my dark eyebrows. And it was Joe’s idea. And Ivana Primorac’s who is hair and makeup, to basically bleach me out and almost disguise me as an animal in a forest. So I think it’s quite interesting that I don’t really leap out when you see me in the forest. I blend in. and we were going for the physicalities similar to a wolf, really. A white wolf. I think it came off pretty well. But, no, I didn’t have the fantastic idea to bleach my eyebrows. But they did. Lovely. And they did bleach them. And they bleached the tips of my eyelashes as well. So it was simply just my eyes, my blue eyes, that popped through. Yeah.

You’re young. You’re a teenager. What is it about your intense roles? I can’t see my sixteen year old going, ‘Hey, I want to play this.’ So what appeals to you? You don’t seem to take light roles? They’re quite serious.
Saoirse Ronan: Well, I haven’t done so far just because these are the ones that have really interested me. And it’s sort of- it’s a bit impulsive when I read a script and decide that I would like to play this character. I mean, of course, the director has to want you to be involved, as well, and whatever else. But I like characters that interest me that I’m thinking about for ages and ages after I finish the script. And usually ones that are different from me in some way or maybe something that I’m not or wish I was. Or maybe a piece of me that I haven’t brought out yet and I want to explore a little bit.

Did Joe actually approach you on this? Or did you read the script and then- was he involved in the process with that?
Saoirse Ronan: He wasn’t involved when I got involved. They didn’t have a director when they sent me the script. And I really liked it and I really responded to it. And I went to meet (Sounds Like: John Lines) from Focus. And he was saying that he didn’t have a director yet. And the first person that popped into my head was Joe. So I wasn’t actually confirmed to play the part yet. We were just kind of talking about it. We were in the no man’s land. And so I couldn’t just go, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to do this movie. It’s going to be wonderful.’ Because they hadn’t actually offered it to me yet. And so we were talking about it. And he said, ‘Well, we don’t have a director.’ And I said, ‘Well, why don’t you send it to Joe Wright? I’m sure he’d be interested in it.’ and they said, ‘Yeah, we were thinking of that.’ and then I said, ‘Well, just tell him I’m doing it.’ I had never been so cheeky before. It just kind of came out. And then after that I thought, ‘Oh, God. I’m not going to get the part now that I said that.’ but Joe rang me a few days later and told me to get my butt in the gym and get training.

Can you talk about filming in Finland?
Saoirse Ronan: It was cold. It was cold. It was cold. It was cold. One day it was minus thirty degrees. Fantastic. So you think you’re bad here with the rain. No it was very, very cold. And everyone had their puffer jackets on and their snow boots and their hats and their gloves. And Eric and I, for the whole week or two that we were there, we were wrapped in a bit of deer fur. And we had cloth around our hands but they were fingerless. So we could feel the cold. And we had to fight in this. And I mean I don’t know what it was like for him, but for me it was tough. It was cold and my muscles wouldn’t work properly or anything. I mean we fought on a frozen lake on the third day. But it’s beautiful there and one of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever been to. And I don’t know if any of you guys have ever been there but it’s like a winter wonderland. It’s so enchanting. And just beautiful. It really is.

In one of the scenes, I’m assuming you didn’t really have your arm inside a dead reindeer?
Saoirse Ronan: Oh, I did. Yeah. That was me.

Oh, no. So how did that all happen?
Saoirse Ronan: I think it was a real deer. I don’t know whether I should tell you guys that. But I think it was a real deer. It wasn’t killed for the film or anything as far as I know. Don’t put that in. but anyway it was a real deer. And they put fake intestines and guts and stuff into it. And put fake blood over it. And they had this machine. Like the camera’s there and then there was the deer. And then they had a machine right here that would let out steam so it looked like the deer was dying. It was very interesting to see. But my hands were in goo the whole time and it was cold on my fingers and then we went straight into a fight.

After training for the film, how do you think you would do in a real fight?
Saoirse Ronan: I think with my friend Christopher who I’ve grown up with my whole life. Well, obviously, and I think I could perform quite well. But in an actual fight? I don’t think so. No. I think maybe eight months ago I would have been all right. But I haven’t done it in awhile. I think once I got back into it and I trained and maybe I could perform in a proper fight but not at the moment.

Can you tell me a little bit about working with Jessica Barden, because you guys have a great chemistry? That friendship seems very real.
Saoirse Ronan: Yeah, it was actually. Jess and I got on really well. And from the off really. I mean she’s a very easy person to get on with. She’s absolutely mad. And talks like that all the time. She never shuts up. But I really liked her. And she’s not quite as bad as Sophie but she’s quite similar to Sophie. So it was an absolute joy just to observe the way this girl is. There’s no pretense or anything, you know, she’s just real. And we bonded over Gaga and stuff. I mean if I’m working with an actor that likes Gaga we’ve bonded straight away.

Without giving away any spoilers, what do you think happens to Hanna at the end of all this?
Saoirse Ronan: That’s a question I keep asking myself actually. Hmm. I don’t know. I really, really don’t know. I mean the most realistic thing is that she went back to the forest. She probably killed everyone that came into the forest anyways so no one would know she was there. But I’m not sure. I mean a few journalists have said, ‘Oh, well, what about a sequel?’ and I don’t know what they’d do in a sequel. I don’t know what they’d do with her character. But I’m not sure she’d go back to the family, though. I think, because we’re not sure what happens to the family. We’re not really sure what happens to anyone.

Did you take what you learned from here to your next film ‘Violet & Daisy’?
Saoirse Ronan: The handling of a gun, yes. But I didn’t actually fight in ‘Violet & Daisy.’ And everyone thinks it’s going to be quite similar to ‘Hanna’ but it’s not at all. So that’s good. And I learned how to use a gun. And that was probably the only thing I took from ‘Hanna’. I also felt like on ‘Hanna’, I felt more comfortable and had a bit more confidence to suggest things more and share ideas that I had. Whereas I hadn’t really done that up to that point. And so I certainly carried that onto ‘Violet & Daisy’ as well. And I’m glad I did. Because you get more out of it, I think. And it’s more satisfactory then.

Are people listening to you?
Saoirse Ronan: Yeah. They actually were. Yeah.

You mentioned fairy tales earlier and I just read recently that you’re in talks to do ‘The Brothers Grimm: Snow White‘. After two assassin films, what would be the appeal?
Saoirse Ronan: It’s ‘Snow White’. I mean I’m not confirmed to do it or anything but I’d imagine if people were going to get involved in a film like that like they have been with fairy tales, it’s because it’s an exciting thing to do; especially if the director’s going to do something different with it, as well. The director who is attached is very talented. There are a lot of things that I have to consider before I would make a decision.

Source