Saoirse and director Joe Wright speak to BBC Breakfast about Hanna. Click the link to view the interview.

Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones, Atonement, Hanna) came into the GLAMOUR.com offices to answer your questions live on Twitter. Find out what the Irish actress had to say about training in -30 degrees wilderness for her role as a teen assassin in Hanna, why she loves Lady Gaga so much and what’s going on with her rumoured roles in The Hobbit and The Host.

Question: In The Lovely Bones was it difficult to play someone who meets such a tragic end? (by @missmelinki)
Saoirse: The atmosphere on set was always light, that was down to the people involved. I only needed to go to that place some of the time.

Q: Who’s your style icon? (by @Rebecca_Cox)
S: I like Sienna Miller and Kate Moss because they know what works for them and stick to it.

Q: Who do you not want to miss out at the Oxegen fest? (by @kmaa)
S: Jesse J, The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys.

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Q: Did you do many of your own stunts in the film [Hanna]?
S: I did all of ‘em. I trained before hand in the gym and in martial arts.

Q: What do you think of playing Melanie & Wanderer from The Host?! (by @TwilightMOMS)
S: I’d love to be involved. Let’s hope.

Q: How was the Met Ball? Do you ever get nervous? (by @leisabarnett)
S: Butterflies! It was a very glamorous night.

Q: Hey Saoirse, I love your name, it’s so unique. What does it mean? (by @JustMeLenii)
S: Thank you. It’s Irish for Freedom and/or Liberty.

Q: Will you be working with Peter Jackson again in The Hobbit?
S: Unfortunately I won’t be able to do it. It breaks my heart. I love Bilbo and New Zealand.

Q: What attracted you most to Hanna. Are you similar? (by @KrisVamp)
S: Not really but it’s more fun to play a character who’s different.

Q: What advice do you have for teens to get into acting? (by @Rhonda_Anaconda)
S: Try to get involved in a drama group, and watch good movies.

Q: What did the cast do to get into the mindset of living rough in Hanna? (by Samantha Jane Cropper)
S: We trained in the wilderness in -30. That was rough enough!

Q: Would you be up for a sequel to Hanna? Joe Wright said he’d do one if you would…
S: Absolutely. I love the character. It’ll give me an incentive to get back in the gym.

Q: Sersh, any news on Emma Thompson’s Effie? (by @CorkConan)
S: I’m hoping and waiting for some news myself as I’d love to play her.

Q: What are your favourite countries? (by @ShenekaShirly)
S: My favourite countries are Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.

Q: What are your hobbies? (by @ShenekaShirly)
S: Swimming, surfing and being awesome! Nah, the last one’s a lie.

Q: What do you like about roles that are physical? (by @TwilightLexicon)
S: It makes me feel better about not exercising between roles.

Q: You’re a huge Lady Gaga fan. What is it about her that you love so much?
S: She’s a true artist who works her arse off for her little monsters. Everyone watch the Judas music video tomorrow!

Q: What causes are you passionate about? (by@gabriellamer)
S: I’m an ambassador of the ISPCC that works to prevent cruelty to children.

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In this interview Saoirse stated that she’s still in talks for The Host, nothing is confirmed yet.

SAOIRSE Ronan talks about suggesting Joe Wright to direct Hanna and why she liked the opportunity to play a character who mixes genuine innocence with kick-ass ability.

She also talks about getting to grips with the physical aspects of the role and why she fancies working behind the camera one day in the future…

Q. What was it about Joe Wright that made you think he was right to direct Hanna?
Saoirse Ronan: Well, it certainly wasn’t his past action movies [Atonement/Pride & Prejudice] [laughs]! I don’t know why he came into my head. I think it must have been because I worked with him before and I really enjoyed the experience that I had with him on Atonement. Also, I knew he’d bring something different to this film. It was always a really well written script by Seth Lochhead but I knew visually Joe could bring something very special.

Q. And what did you like about Hanna? Was it that mix of innocence and physicality… her ability to be gentle and violent within seconds of each other?
Saoirse Ronan: Yeah, I mean we’ve seen a few young girls now who have kicked ass but we haven’t seen one quite like Hanna who doesn’t really know how to handle society and technology and human behaviour because she’s never really been a part of that world. She’s an alien really. And it’s nice to see someone who, in some ways, is very capable… physically she is but emotionally she’s not really.

Q. Did your work on The Way Back prepare you for the extremes of temperature you went through in this?
Saoirse Ronan: Morocco did because we actually shot in exactly the same place in The Way Back as we did for Hanna, which seems to be the Hollywood of Morocco. Before going back there, however, we had been in Finland and we were in Germany as well… Morocco was the last place we were going to, so everyone who hadn’t been there was so excited about being in the sun. But I was like: “Oh no… it’s really hot! They’re going to have to put umbrellas over you all the time!” But it’s great there, though, the people are lovely and it’s so beautiful.

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Q. How did you take to the hand-to-hand combat? It was two months of training, wasn’t it?
Saoirse Ronan: Yeah, it was a couple of months. I wouldn’t say it was easy but I was pushed. I was always pushed to the limit, which was great and so satisfying. We had such a brilliant stunt team around us, who were so brilliant that they always made me feel very safe. If there was something I wasn’t comfortable with, they’d re-jig everything and make it more suitable to me.

Q. Did you always fancy trying your hand at action, or were you more of a ‘girly-girl’?
Saoirse Ronan: I wasn’t ever a girly-girl really. I’ve never been into the pink dresses and stuff like that. But I wouldn’t say I was a tom-boy either… somewhere in-between. I’ve thought about doing action for a while, though, so when this film came along it was perfect. It was something that I thought would be fun to do and the character was really interesting as well.

Q. How much of a kick do you get from working alongside a possible idol like Cate Blanchett?
Saoirse Ronan: It was great to work with Cate. As we all know, she’s a really, really brilliant actress. I didn’t share a lot of very traditional dialogue scenes with her, it was more cat-and-mouse, but at the same time getting to know her and observing how she works on-set and just who she is as a person was nice.

Q. Was she an inspiration for you growing up?
Saoirse Ronan: Yeah, I’d say so. I mean, everyone does their own thing and for me acting is a very personal, natural thing. But the work that I’ve seen her do in the pasty has been so wonderful and so believable.

Q. You said at The Lovely Bones junket that you plan to go into filmmaking and perhaps direct. So, how much did you enjoy liaising with Joe again, who I’d imagine you were very collaborative with, and how much did you get from working with Peter Weir on The Way Back? Did he give you any tips in that regard?
Saoirse Ronan: With Joe, it was great to work with him again and it really did, as you said, feel like a real collaboration between the two of us. I felt like I could really suggest things and have an input creatively and things like that. So, that was wonderful.

As for Peter, I remember I asked him one day… we were in a forest in Bulgaria somewhere and we had a few minutes to spare and I was thinking… you know every now and again you think to yourself: “What am I going to do?” And so I thought I’d like to direct and said that to Peter and asked him how he got started and how he got inspiration and things like that. He told me he just picked up a camcorder and just started shooting and that was it for him. But that’s something that is kind of inspiring because it means that if someone does have a real imagination that’s all you really need. All you really need is a camera and a mind.

Q. Congratulations on landing The Host, the film version of the Stephenie Meyer novel…
Saoirse Ronan: Well, we’re in talks with the people from The Host. Nothing is actually for definite yet. So, we’ll see.

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Thanks to Caro for the heads up.

Oscar-nominated at just 13 for Atonement, Saoirse Ronan is playing a trained assassin in her latest film, Hanna. She’s already tackled death and betrayal on screen, but remains charmingly girlish – and says that being a child is an asset in the make-believe world of movies
Saoirse Ronan is looking forward to her first ever music festival. She’s already booked her ticket for Oxegen in County Kildare and is very excited about a line-up that features some of her favourite bands (Arctic Monkeys, Black Eyed Peas) and the chance to sleep in a caravan with three of her best friends. ‘That will be so cool,’ she giggles. ‘I wouldn’t even mind a tent in the mud, I so want to go!’

Like most 17-year-olds she’s music-mad, and is all set for an adventure that has become a rite of passage for teenagers across Europe. That is, if work doesn’t get in the way.

Because while her mates will be fretting about exam results and part-time jobs this summer, Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha) will be on the other side of the world from her native Ireland making a blockbuster movie. With a CV that’s the envy of many twice her age (including an Academy Award nomination for Atonement), she’s on course to make the tricky transition from child success to genuine grown-up star, like, say, Jodie Foster, the Oscar-winning actress she is often compared to.

‘The people I’ve worked with have been lovely. Keira was sweet. And Cate was great – she’s like a wicked witch in Hanna!’

Her latest film, the thriller Hanna (directed by Joe Wright, who also cast her in Atonement), sees her holding her own alongside Hollywood big hitters such as Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana. She plays the title role, a young girl who has grown up in the wilds of Finland and been trained by her father (a former CIA agent played by Eric) to avenge her mother’s death by killing her murderer (Cate).

‘I love Cate! She’s like a wicked witch in Hanna and she’s great,’ says Saoirse. ‘She brought her little baby Iggy [Ignatius] on to the set and he was just adorable. She’s really lovely – and she’s professional and focused, and I like to be that way, too.’

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Ms Blanchett doubtless recognises a kindred spirit. Saoirse has been constantly in demand ever since she appeared as an eight-year-old in an Irish TV hospital soap called The Clinic, and acting is all she’s ever wanted to do.

‘I’ve always liked being in front of the camera. My dad always had the camcorder out.’ The only child of character actor Paul Ronan (from Ballykissangel, as well as films including The Boxer and Veronica Guerin) and Monica, a former nanny, Saoirse has been on film sets all her life. ‘When I was a baby my dad took me on set when he was in The Devil’s Own with Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford, although, to be honest, I don’t remember that.’

She’s about to play Itaril the Elf in Peter Jackson’s film based on Tolkien’s The Hobbit, which has begun shooting in New Zealand. Peter also chose her for the highly coveted role of Susie Salmon in his 2009 movie The Lovely Bones (for which she got a Bafta nomination), so he’s clearly a fan. But of course it would mean missing Oxegen. ‘I know! It’s crazy, but I’m going to see if I can fly back for it – that’s how much I want to go!’ Saoirse may have been flown around the world first class several times – and rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in Hollywood – but she’s polite and endearingly straightforward, despite inhabiting a vastly different world from most of her friends.

‘I don’t feel I’ve had to grow up faster because of my job,’ she explains. ‘In a way, it helps to be a child, because children always act – it’s natural to pretend. Being around adults and involved in in-depth stories and thinking about characters has certainly helped me to mature. But I’ve always been kind of mature anyway, without forgetting that I’m still young.’

Saoirse has already tackled some serious issues – playing a young girl who is murdered in The Lovely Bones, and exploring the repercussions of deceit in Atonement, as the young Briony, a 13-year-old who accuses a man of a crime he didn’t commit, with devastating consequences.

She doesn’t get fazed by the stars she works with: she has already appeared alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Catherine Zeta Jones, Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell. And the stellar cast of Atonement included Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

‘I love my job but it’s just what I do and I don’t think it has changed me’

‘The people I’ve worked with have been lovely to me. I remember Keira as very sweet to be around. She didn’t seem to think of herself as a movie star, and that’s always good in my book.’

Atonement was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 2007, including best supporting actress for a 13-year-old Saoirse, although she lost out to Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton. The night itself, with Saoirse dolled up in her finest designer frock, went by in a bit of a blur.

‘I wore a green Alberta Ferretti dress, which was very nice but kept getting caught in everything,’ she laughs. ‘I wanted to wear a green dress just to say, “Hey, I’m at the Oscars and I’m Irish!” But everybody thought I wore it because Keira had a green dress in Atonement.’

Off duty she’s at home in high-street fashion – today she is curled up in Levi’s and a striped top – but is developing a taste for high-end: ‘With stores like Topshop and H&M you can find really great stuff, but I do like designer things as well, and I’m lucky because they approach me to wear their stuff. I really love Miu Miu.’

Alabaster pale with cornflower blue eyes, Saoirse is willowy and strikingly pretty. She’s also aware of the body-image pressures that young actresses face. ‘But I think it’s changing. I mean, look at Helena Bonham Carter. She’s beautiful but she often plays against how she looks and I really respect that. I like to look good but you have to be individual too.’

Born in New York, while her father was working there, Saoirse returned to the County Carlow countryside when she was three years old, and the family still lives there now. Today, Mum and Dad are pottering about nearby, keeping a watchful eye on proceedings. ‘They travel with me and it’s great to have them by my side because it makes me feel safe. We’re very close.’

There’s no serious boyfriend on the scene yet. ‘I mean, I have boys who are friends, but not a boyfriend as such,’ she giggles. That’s for the future
– in the meantime, she wants to hang out with her mates and see bands in Dublin.
Her close friends are proud of her achievements, but not – she stresses – overawed by her life as an actress. ‘I would hate it if the people that I know from school or my village treated me differently. I don’t take my friends to see my films.

I like to watch it once – just out of curiosity to see how it turned out – but after that I’m kind of done with it.’

For the past three years she has been home-schooled – having one-to-one tuition when she’s on a film set and taking lessons ith her tutors in Ireland. But she’s doing her best to stay ‘normal’.

‘When I’m away I keep in touch with my friends by text, emails, Skype and phone calls. I love my job, but it’s just what I do and I don’t think it has changed me. Mostly, I can leave a role behind when I go home at the end of a day’s filming, although sometimes, when you’re dealing with death or rape or betrayal, it does affect you. It makes you think about things. Especially when I was playing Susie Salmon [in The Lovely Bones]. I would think about all the girls who have been murdered, and I would get upset because I was so close to Susie and I had connected with her.’

Playing the title role in Hanna was challenging in a different way. ‘Physically, it was tough,’ she says. ‘I had a lot of fight scenes to do and I did everything myself.’ Her fitness and martial-arts sessions started three months before filming, and there were times when her aching muscles were screaming for a rest. ‘I kind of felt like, “Can I just stay in bed today?”’ she laughs. ‘But I am a very motivated person. And I knew it had to be done, so I did it.’

The film has a surreal beauty, shot in remote locations in Finland, where it frequently dropped to minus 29C, and in Morocco, where the heat soared above 38C.
It’s a thriller but also a contemporary fairy tale – a girl raised in isolation to be the perfect survivor goes out into the big bad world, where she meets ruthless CIA operative Marissa (played with relish by Cate Blanchett), an agent who
will stop at nothing to cover up a mission that went wrong and resulted in the murder of Hanna’s mother.

Hanna is physically equipped to deal with the dangers that lie ahead, but totally unprepared for the modern world. She’s both an innocent abroad, and a stone-cold killer.

‘Obviously her situation is extreme – she’s been trained to kill and nothing’s going to stop her. But, in a way, she’s going through the same thing that every teenager goes through, stepping out into the world thinking everything is going to be perfect and everyone is going to be good, and it’s not like that.

‘Hanna feels isolated – she doesn’t know anyone and doesn’t understand anyone – and there are plenty of young people who feel that way. So I was able to relate to her and that helped.’

Saoirse looks particularly striking with her hair and eyebrows bleached out for the film. ‘I was very conscious that I didn’t have any eyebrows. It was about a season before bleached eyebrows came into fashion, and later all those gorgeous models had the look, so I felt like a trendsetter!

‘Do you know what I’d like to do? I might get my hair cut a bit shorter. I’ve seen posters in Topshop where the girls have little blue and pink bits in their hair – Lady Gaga has done that and it looks really cool – so I might try it.’

In many ways, Saoirse is just like thousands of other teenage girls – bright, funny, engaging and fashion crazy, with a healthy hint of rebellion. Except, in her case, that means there’s a good chance of her making an appearance at the next Oscars with blue and pink streaks in her strawberry-blonde hair.

BOOKS The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy — stick with it and it’s very romantic. And I’ve just finished The Story of Film by Mark Cousins.
MUSIC Lady Gaga, the Strokes, Florence and the Machine and the Smiths. I’ve been listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan too, and obviously the Beatles are amazing. On Hanna, me and Jessica Barden used to do our Lady Gaga routine in hair and make-up.

CLOTHES I’m into grunge boots. And I’ve got this cool pair of multicoloured Nikes. For me, clothes are about individuality. When I wear things that are different and it works, it makes me feel good. One of my favourite things at the moment is a Calvin Klein bomber jacket with a wool collar and lots of zips.

ACCESSORIES I have a couple of pairs of sunglasses that I adore — eggshell-blue Ray-Bans and black Tom Fords. I also love bags. My favourite is a gorgeous burnt-orange Miu Miu. It’s the perfect size — I can put my phone in there, make-up, a bottle of water, sunglasses, and away I go.

MAKE-UP I don’t wear a lot when I’m doing my own thing, but I’ve always got a concealer palette for when I’ve got spots or I’m looking tired. And I’ll use a bit of glitter now and then.

STYLE ICON Sienna Miller is a great dresser — she always looks so cool. Alexa Chung wears some amazing things. And Lady Gaga is a complete style icon — she writes her own music, she’s a fantastic singer and she has created a world for herself and her fans. She loves her fans and we love her.

SAVING UP FOR An amplifier. My uncle Joe got me a record player recently and I haven’t got an amp for it yet. I’ve got the Beatles’ White Album and David Bowie’s Space Oddity on vinyl already, but I’d like some more records. You’ve got to love it when you see shelves stacked with vinyl.

DRINK Well, I’m only 17! I drink a lot of water, but that’s boring, so maybe I should say something like fizzy lizard juice with glitter mixed in. That sounds cool!

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Thanks to M for the heads up.

Thanks to Caro for pointing out,

“[Director Joe Wright and I have] talked about it a little bit because journalists keep bringing it up,” she said with a laugh. “You’re like the tenth one or something, at least!”

“But it’s great that people have that kind of reaction to it,” she quickly added, affirming that, yes, she would love to pursue a “Hanna” sequel.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” she said. “Obviously it depends on how the movie does and things like that, but it’d be something I’d be up for.”

With the solid box-office numbers in place, maybe it’s just a matter of finding the right story at this point. Luckily, Ronan has some ideas.

“We were trying to come up with a sequel story the other day,” she said. “Maybe she would go to New York City or something like that, or become a celebrity. Maybe she’ll go to space!”

Err, space? Maybe not. But Ronan is open for suggestions — in fact, she’d like to hear from you! — and, even better, is wide open to the idea of more “Hanna.”

“It’d be good to do,” she said. “If the story was as well developed as the first one and it wasn’t just for the sake of doing a sequel, it’d be great fun.”

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The Lady Miz Diva: When we first met you spoke about Jeff Imada a little bit and since then he and I have spoken and he’s your fan club. Tell us about training with him and meeting with the martial arts legend Dan Inosanto?
Saoirse Ronan: Well, I only met Dan Inosanto once but he was a lovely, lovely man. I actually began training at the Inosanto Academy in LA, so it was a great place to start cos that’s where Jeff is based. He basically designed a very individual fighting style for Hanna. When I went back to Ireland that was what we worked on. There were different fight moves that I learned, but it was put together in a very fluid way and that’s something that Jeff does very well, he’s very, very talented. I worked out in the gym for about 2 hours every day. I got muscle definition and that was something I wasn’t used to at all. I was suddenly stronger, you know? I was starting to hold myself differently and walk in a different way. It’s a very empowering feeling when you’ve stepped out of the gym and you’ve had a really intense training session.

LMD: What was your favourite style of martial arts?
SR: I like the push kick, actually. Isn’t it awesome? And I like using the bamboo sticks, as well.

LMD: As Hanna seems like a rare action film for girls …
SR: For ladies!

LMD: For ladies, I wondered what you hoped ladies would take away from Hanna?
SR: Strength, I guess. I don’t wanna sound too cheesy or anything … I can sound a little bit cheesy. When I walked away from that film — I’ve only seen it once, but I was very excited. I don’t think the character of Hanna necessarily changed, which I kind of like. I don’t know about anyone else, but it’s not like she really has an arc. She goes through these experiences and she’s sent on a mission to get rid of a particular problem, which is Marissa Wiegler, and once she does that that’s kind of it. She’s a blank canvas and I think people can kind sort of paint whatever they want on to her and I like that about her. I like that she stays they way she is. She stays different and kind of weird and she stays a freak.

LMD: Were there any films that you watched to get you into Hanna’s head?
SR: Joe got me to watch Being There, with Peter Sellers. That was more of a character study, I guess. He’s this man who hasn’t really been involved in society ever and now suddenly he’s the center of attention and has to deal with people a lot. It was a good thing to watch. I didn’t really watch any action films, just Being There.

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Thanks again to M for the heads up.

In just a few short years, Saoirse Ronan has made a name for herself. After winning over many critics as a petulant pre-teen in “Atonement,” Ronan appeared in the family adventure, “City of Ember,” and then took the lead role in Peter Jackson’s production of Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones.” Ronan’s role as the title character in “Hanna” gives her a literal opportunity to flex her muscles, as she plays a pint-sized assassin who squares off against Cate Blanchett. Speakeasy sat down with Ronan in Los Angeles, where the 16-year-old actress offered a few insights about her artistic process, as well as her professional ambitions.

Speakeasy: “Hanna” director Joe Wright has mentioned that you were attached to this even before him. What position are you in now to be having to audition or pursue roles as opposed to being offered them because people like what you’ve already done?
More of the latter, which is amazing. I mean, there are a few projects that I have to audition and sometimes persuade people I can do it, but luckily most of the time people come to me with these scripts and just want me to do it straightaway, I guess because they’ve seen what I’ve done in the past and it’s sort of like a show reel that they’ve all been given – which is wonderful. It’s fantastic, you know, especially if it’s a project you’re interested in; the whole audition process is kind of awkward – you’re never really fully comfortable when you do them.

Are you being primarily offered these more unique or unusual projects, or are you just choosing them from a broader selection that includes more conventional material? And how interested are you in pursuing more conventional material?
I would like to do both. I mean, the characters that I’ve played are really interesting and different and weird – and very different to me. But it’s just kind of turned out that way; I would like to play more of a normal girl, of course, but the character would still need to be interesting and not boring, and the scripts would need to be clever. And I have read a few of those that are floating around right now, and it’s great that people want to introduce proper American teen comedies again, like “Juno,” and the films in the ‘80s like “Ferris Bueller” and “The Breakfast Club,” that are clever and they kind of fight for teenage-hood, instead of making it all pretty or glamorous. Or do it the other way, the other extreme, which is that we’re all miserable and we want to slit our wrists and stuff. So I would like to find a character who is just a normal girl, but the story is very cleverly written.

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How few and far between are those kinds of scripts?
I’ve found a few, and I’m so glad I have. My agent just knows not to send me the other crappy things, because I just don’t like that. And it’s fine for some people – I mean, they’re very popular – but I’m just not into those kind of films, even as an audience member. I don’t think I’d like to, not right now, anyway, do something like that. So luckily my agent knows what kind of things I’m looking for, and he’s looking for, and he sends me really interesting things and we all talk about it and it’s a real group decision between me and my parents and my agents.

Eric Bana described your relationship as more of a brother and sisterly one. Do you find that you get along more easily with older performers, or do you prefer kids your own age?
I’m pretty comfortable around everyone. I mean, I’m around adults so much it’s nice to spend time with people my own age as well, and I think when you find the right ones, kids my own age are quite interesting. Because we’re forming our own opinions and we feel very strongly about certain things and so it’s great to be around people like that as well.

How do you make sure that as you take on these new projects, the art that you create does mean something?
Just be truthful, I think, and the only person I can do that for is myself. If I’m doing a scene and it doesn’t feel right, I just have to stop – I say wait, can I start again. Because if you don’t feel like you’re telling the truth, there’s not much point, and sometimes people won’t even read it that way; sometimes a director will think it’s amazing, but you don’t really feel it in your heart.

I understand that one of the things you’re doing next is “Snow White.”
That’s what they say!

Is that not true?
No, not really. It’s one of the projects that’s out there at the moment, but we’re luckily very busy, and there’s a few projects that are floating around.

Do you know what’s immediately next for you?
No, I don’t – I wish I did! I wish I could have something to confirm that yes, I’m doing that. But I don’t. But I did a film called “Violet & Daisy” last year, and Alexis Bledel is in that, and James Gandolfini, and that should be out sometime this year.

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Thanks to M for the heads up.

“I’m sorry, my voice might be a little hoarse,” Saoirse Ronan cautions when she gets on the phone from Los Angeles, where she is doing press for “Hanna.”

The night before, the star of the hard-driving, surprisingly emotional action flick attended the Lady Gaga concert at the Staples Center. This morning, her Irish accent has an even more loamy quality.

“It was amazing. It was absolutely fantastic,” says Ronan.

The concert tickets were a birthday gift from her parents. In a little less than a week, the actress with eight films and one Academy Award nomination to her credit will turn all of 17.

Most actors who come to the big screen as children migrate to adult careers with varying degrees of success. Got it: Anne Hathaway. Figuring it out: Zac Efron. Flailing miserably: Lindsay Lohan.

From the start, Ronan eluded the box. Even at 12, she never seemed to be a “child actor,” just a gifted performer guided by intriguing choices.

“We have seen kids who are great when they’re young, but when they get into their teens, they aren’t that impressive anymore,” she says. “Because it’s a hard thing to do, convince people that you’ve developed and grown up. Because maybe they always want to see you as an 8-year- old. I’ve never considered myself a child actor.”

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Born in the Bronx, N.Y., and raised in Ireland, Ronan is the only child of actor Paul Ronan and a one-time nanny, Monica Ronan. She appeared in a couple of Irish television series. But her great promise came to luminous light when she portrayed Briony Tallis in the 2007 adaptation of Ian McEwan’s wartime novel “Atonement.”

She was 13 and became one of the youngest actors to receive an Oscar nomination, for her turn as the young girl who allows a lie to tragically derail the lives of those near to her — sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and Cecilia’s love, Robbie (James McAvoy).

Briony might have been played as a bad seed, a cold catalyst of disaster. Instead, Ronan captured a youngster who was powerfully observant but not (contrary to her own assessment) wise beyond her years.

Ronan has an almost preternatural trust in the camera to locate meaning and emotions in her blue eyes, her pale, beautiful — not easily pretty — face. And the roles she’s chosen to play — an envious little sister, a victim of a hideous crime in “The Lovely Bones,” a Russian girl on an impossible trek in “The Way Back” — speak to a career already driven by rich characters.

“Hanna” reunites Ronan with “Atonement” director Joe Wright for a ride as contemporary as the elegant romance was bound to its World War II time period.

A trained animal

“Hanna” is a kinetic, volatile fairy tale about a wicked witch (Cate Blanchett) hunting down an innocent if lethal girl. Eric Bana portrays the father and one-time CIA asset who’s done much to prepare his daughter physically for a showdown but little to aid her unschooled soul.

“She seems, to me, to have a very simple outlook on life. She’s been trained her whole life and been through very strict regimen. And she’s very disciplined. But she’s kind of like an animal who’s been trained, like a dog or something,” says Ronan.

“When she steps out into the world, everything, absolutely everything, is new to her. She’s never experienced any of it before. As an actor that’s so brilliant to play with, to basically have the mind of a young child, so fresh and naive and fascinated by everything.”

Watching Hanna’s curiosity unfold is just as satisfying as watching her take on her red-haired nemesis.

And we’d like to say that Ronan continues to make a name for herself. Only, that first name is, she admits, “the thing the press has gotten wrong most.”

It’s pronounced “SIR-shuh.” Practice. Memorize. We’ll be saying it for years to come.

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