Saoirse and Peter Jackson photographed for the March issue of Vanity Fair. Outtakes and behind the scenes photos have been added to the gallery.

The Sprites
Peter Jackson with Saoirse Ronan
One film together: The Lovely Bones (2009).

A 15-year-old student in County Carlow, Ireland, Ronan lives far from the TMZ glare. She played a wised-up child of L.A. in Amy Heckerling’s underrated romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman before taking on a crucial role in Atonement, for which she was nominated for a best-supporting-actress Academy Award at the age of 13. Now she is being justly celebrated for her successful handling of the difficult lead role in The Lovely Bones. Jackson was lucky to have her, just as he was fortunate when he was able to rely on Kate Winslet as the foundation for his 1994 breakthrough hit, Heavenly Creatures. This time around, he needed an actress who could give life to a character who is at once a pitiful victim of a serial killer and a detective, of sorts, working from beyond the grave. This is dark stuff, but Ronan, with her game screen presence, brings a light touch and even some humor to the film.