RTE One did an interview with Saoirse and Neil Jordan on the set of their new film Byzantium. Thanks to ragetti for the heads up.

ACTRESS Saoirse Ronan plans to keep her love life under wraps.

The Carlow teenager says that while she doesn’t mind dealing with fame, she plans to keep her love life private once she begins dating.

Talented Saoirse is no stranger to the media spotlight thanks to the success of her movies Atonement, Hanna, and The Lovely Bones, but although she admits she likes posing with fans for pictures and speaking to the media, Saoirse says her personal life will always be kept separate to her life as a famous actress.

Speaking to the Herald, the Hollywood star said she will be keeping family issues and personal romances behind closed doors.

“My personal life is private and the thing for me is that people know me for the films that I’m in, more so than who I am. But at the same time, I’m not going to completely put up a barrier. I get that people are interested in who I am and I think it’s nice to know who a person is, I can understand it.

“But I certainly wouldn’t be giving away my family secrets or anything. The love life seems to be such a fascination for the media now, too. If someone has done enough interesting things then you shouldn’t need to know about that. And I don’t think it’s that interesting, to be honest,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Saoirse (17) is currently working on her next movie, a vampire flick called Byzantium, which is currently being filmed in Ireland and directed by Neil Jordan. The talented star says she is happy to be at home for Christmas after a hectic few years travelling around the world.

And the actress says she loves going shopping in Dublin because she doesn’t get followed around by paparazzi. “I don’t get loads of attention. People will recognise me but they will just be like, ‘ah yeah’.”

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Thanks to Mon for the heads up.

Saoirse was a guest at The Late Late Show with Danielle Ryan and Charlene McKenna last week to talk about the LIR Academy. The episode aired October 21st. Be sure to watch the interview below. Thanks Bryce for the tip.

EDIT: Screencaps have been added to the gallery.

JoBlo.com just released their interview with Saoirse talking about “Hanna”. Don’t forget: “Hanna” will be on DVD/Blu-Ray September 6.

We sit down with star Saoirse Ronan as she talks about her new thriller “Hanna”.

Thanks to James from Don’t Panic for letting us know about the following interview of Saoirse did with them.

We caught up with actress Saoirse Ronan, who voices Arrietty in the English version.

What did you know about Arrietty when you signed up? Were you a Studio Ghibli fan?
Well I knew that it was based on The Borrowers. I used to read different versions of it growing up so I knew it was a story I loved and it was kind of ‘different’ and quirky. Probably the most exciting thing though was the fact that it was a Japanese animation, not simply a cartoon but one from the East. I’ve grown up with different [Japanese] animated shows over the years so to actually be involved in something like that was great. I had seen Spirited Away and My Neighbour Tororo as well. Spirited Away in particular I found amazing. The Japanese style is so different from ours and it’s quite innocent as well. They’re magical and otherworldly.

Ghibli films like to have a nice message. Arrietty has quite a strong ecological one. What is the film about for you?
For me it is actually about the relationship between her and the boy. It’s special because they live in two separate worlds. For a different being who is superior to her, and ultimately more powerful, to help her and her family survive is actually quite a strong message, I think. You could tie up the situation they’re in, which is her people struggling to survive, striving all the time to have a better life, with so many different situations today all over the world.

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Thanks to Caro for the link of this new interview.

She’s the Oscar-nominated star of Atonement, whom director Peter Jackson calls “amazing on screen”. But when we meet, I’m given an early reminder that Saoirse Ronan (it’s pronounced “Sir-sha”, by the way) is still only 17. I’ve just told her that I’ve seen the final Harry Potter film. “I can’t believe it’s the last one,” she squeals, flushed with excitement, her blue eyes widening. “I’ve basically grown up with Harry Potter, as so many kids my age have. It’s kind of a part of my life. I’ll go see it no matter what.”

Five years ago, she auditioned for the role of Harry’s fellow Hogwarts pupil Luna Lovegood (eventually won by fellow Irish actress Evanna Lynch). “I was too young – but at the time I thought, ‘I’d love to be in Harry Potter.’ When I was younger, I used to think they had the best job in the world.” But now it’s different. Potter is over – and it’s Ronan who is in the enviable position. With directors clamouring to work with her, she also doesn’t have to deal with hordes of screaming fans like her Potter peers.

Rather than mania, Ronan seems to inspire loyalty wherever she lands. “Saoirse is the most focused and dedicated actor I’ve ever met in my life,” says Joe Wright, who directed her in his film of Ian McEwan’s Atonement and in this year’s teenage assassin tale Hanna. “She drives herself harder than anyone else ever could or would.”

Stanley Tucci, her co-star in Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, in which she played the murdered teen Susie Salmon, notes, “She handles herself as well as any seasoned actor. I wouldn’t even be able to finish a sentence at her age. She’s a real actress. Bottom line.”

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The seventeen-year-old actress and star of Lovely Bones, Hanna and the new animation Arrietty explains why Quentin Tarantino is like no one else in the film business.

There’s no one out there like Quentin Tarantino. His films have a signature look, and they never just stick to the same kind of story.

In Inglourious Basterds, and really in all of his films, the scenes go on for a long time and you don’t get that on film a lot anymore. You don’t notice the length though because the dialogue has been written so well it feels like a conversation.

I haven’t worked with him but I’d love to. I’ve talked to people who have and they all say he’s mad and that it’s fantastic fun working with him. They worked on Inglourious Basterds for months and months – I can imagine working with Tarantino is like nothing else.

Music is really important in all of his movies and he puts so much time and effort into picking out what music he wants – it can go from ‘Jungle Boogie’ to Chinese music in the same moment. There are so many things that are so strong in his films – the editing, the music, the dialogue, the bizarre acting style. He completely understands what he wants and he knows his characters extremely well. He tends to work with the same actors every now and again, so they can read each other. There’s always such an ensemble feeling in his films too. In Kill Bill for example, of course Uma Thurman is the star but it really feels like it’s a group effort. He’s often in his own films, which I think is great: he’s so different looking he’s got an amazing face.

Pulp Fiction was the first film of his that I saw and it really blew my mind. It’s a long movie, and quite complicated; it jumps back and forth like a lot of his films do and so much happens in it. It feels like you’re watching a comic book on screen. Each of his films are a collection of styles – which I think is great.

Even now he’s a big inspiration to so many people, and he will be in years to come.

Arrietty is out in cinemas from July 29

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Filmbase are celebrating their 25th anniversary this week with festivities taking place on Friday June 24th and Saturday June 25th. Events include a public interview with Oscar nominated actress Saoirse Ronan which will take place on June 25th. Saoirse is one of Ireland’s most successful actresses having played starring roles in Joe Wright’s ‘Hanna’, ‘Atonement’ and Peter Weir’s ‘The Way Back’.

Celebrations kick off at Filmbase’s Temple Bar location on Friday 24th June at 7pm with a special ‘Road to the Oscars’ panel session. The panel including Juanita Wilson (The Door, As If I Am Not There), Steph Green (New Boy) and Nicky Phelan (Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty). The panel will discuss how they got to the Oscars with their work following a screening of the Oscar-nominated short films.

Other events at the Filmbase 25th celebration include a Birthday Party, sponsored by Jameson, at Filmbase from 6pm-8pm on June 25th and screenings of short films, filmmakers speaking in the café in Filmbase, animation demos and top tricks and demo for the DSLR camera throughout the Saturday.

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