Saoirse Ronan has revealed she will not be playing woodland elf Itaril in The Hobbit.

The Hanna star had been in talks to star in The Lord Of The Rings prequel, directed by Peter Jackson, who she worked with on The Lovely Bones, but has now signed up to star in The Host.

Saoirse revealed: “It’s probably not going to work out with The Hobbit unfortunately.

“Because I would have been working for about a year on it and there were other projects that I was very interested in, but Pete and [his producer wife] Fran have been very good about it and very understanding.

“I’ll have to just go back down to New Zealand for a holiday and hang out with the hobbits.”

Saoirse stars alongside Eric Banna, Cate Blanchett and Tom Hollander in Joe Wright’s new action film Hanna, about a teenage girl who has been raised as a trained assassin and escapes to track down the woman who killed her mother.

Despite growing up on film sets, the 17-year-old actress said she didn’t relate to Hanna’s isolated life, but her journey of self-discovery.

Saoirse said: “I don’t feel isolated on a film set. In a way you do because you don’t really mix with the outside world you’re just sort of working non-stop for a few months but you’ve got so many people around you.

“But one thing that I did find I identified with was the journey that she goes through. It’s very similar to what a teenager would go through around my age. I turned 16 when I made the film and I feel like her journey is very much about growing up and finally breaking away from home.”

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Thanks to Caro for the heads up.

SAOIRSE Ronan has found a movie career comes with some seriously cool benefits.

For a start, there’s going to the Oscars when you’re 13. There’s mingling with Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono at a ball in Manhattan. Best of all, there’s getting your much missed collie back.

The dog, Sassie, went AWOL in Dublin in 2007 when Ronan (whose new film, the action thriller Hanna, is out today) was filming in the US. Fortunately, she had been picked up and was being cared for by the Irish Blue Cross animal charity while they searched for her owner. Mentioning the missing Sassie during a radio interview while in the States helped to get the story out and the two were reunited. To say thanks, Ronan helped raise money for the charity. “It was great to give something back to them.”

Ronan’s latest screen incarnation is not, it’s fair to say, the shaggy dog-loving, charity-fundraising type. A teenage assassin trained by her ex-secret agent father, the unworldly Hanna is a cross between Jason Bourne and Little House on the Prairie’s Laura Ingalls. To convince as a teen who can kill with her bare hands or any implement to hand, Ronan went through intensive training. Months before shooting began she was in the gym every day building up strength and fitness. Then it was out to LA for six weeks to train with Jeff Imada, the fight choreographer who had also worked on two Bourne films.

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Eric Bana, who plays Hanna’s father, soon realised how successful the training regime had been. “I had to be careful in our fight-training scenes together because those fists come at a great rate and with real force. I had to be very cautious not to hurt her – and not get knocked out by her. I’ve worked with a lot of guys who are not as tough as Saoirse.”

Sitting cross-legged on a couch in a London hotel, Ronan looks about as threatening as one of the nearby cushions. With bright green nail varnish, red skinny jeans and a new, shorter hairstyle – “It was a little bit too long, a little bit too young” – she’s acquitting herself well in the part of an ordinary 17-year-old, albeit one with a movie career that’s proceeding very nicely.

Born in New York, where her actor father was working at the time, her career began after the family returned to Ireland and she appeared, aged nine, in a hospital drama on TV. After a false start to her film career with the straight-to-video I Could Never Be Your Woman, in which she appeared opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, Ronan announced her presence in the business in Academy Award-nominated style in Atonement. Starring alongside Scotland’s James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, Ronan played the girl whose rush to judgement has calamitous effects.

The director of Atonement was Joe Wright, who also helmed Hanna. He noticed big changes in her between the two gigs. “She was 12 when we made Atonement, she turned 16 during the shooting of Hanna. She’s evolved as an actress, is a lot more in control of her craft, and obviously has a much broader understanding of the world and a greater interest in it. But fundamentally, her talent comes from the same place – her extraordinary imagination.”

That ability to convince as anything from a scheming English girl in Atonement to an exotic assassin in Hanna, means many roles are open to her, says Wright. Asked to speculate where her career is heading, he says she has the ability to be as good as Meryl Streep. “She can really do anything.” (She has a Streepian flair for accents. In Atonement she was English, in Hanna she’s German. In person, her own accent is as Irish as soda bread.)

For now, the next Meryl Streep lists her favourite things as watching Coronation Street with her mum, walking Sassie in the countryside near her home in County Carlow – and Lady Gaga. “I can’t wait for her video to come out. She’s a true artist.” Her musical education, Lady Gaga apart, has been steered by her parents and her uncle Joe. “He’s got brilliant taste in music. He’s a bit of a hippy.” Her latest discovery is Bob Dylan, whose Highway 61 Revisited she visited on a flight to New Zealand.

Though her own singing is confined to the shower – “My shampoo thinks I’m wonderful” – being in a band appeals. “I don’t know whether I’d be good enough to sing but I’ve always liked the idea of being in a band. In a way [singing] is like performing a very emotional scene. You get all the frustration, anger, anything you have inside you, you can just let it out for a few minutes.”

She had a chance to mingle with music A-listers recently at the Met Ball in New York. Besides McCartney and Ono there was Mick Jagger, Madonna, Beyonce and enough models, actors and assorted others to keep magazine picture editors in a state of delirium from now until Christmas. “I went to the Oscars when I was younger, but I’ve never seen so many famous people in one place from so many different parts of showbusiness. It was amazing. The red carpet was mad.”

Besides her dream of being in a band, she’s pondering university, to study history of art, film or philosophy. She’s not worried that she’d stand out from the student crowd. “I’m not as famous as Emma Watson,” she says, referring to the Harry Potter star who went to university in the US. “She’s one of the most famous people in the world and to do something like that, she obviously really cares about her education. But I think I’d be fine. If it was somewhere like the States I’d imagine I wouldn’t be recognised as much. Everyone I’ve talked to about it says it’s such a good experience, not something you should miss out on if you get the opportunity.”

Ronan has been home schooled by a tutor since leaving primary school. When she travels, tutors go too. Talk of university and blending into the crowd leads me to wonder if she feels she has missed out anything, yearns for a more boring life. A daft question to ask a teenager who has just been to the Met Ball and has travelled to more countries than Thomas Cook, but someone has to do it.

“Not really,” she says. “I go home to Ireland when I’ve finished working. The same people are there, I live in the same place. People change, the situation has changed, but I’m going back to normality. It’s all normal, it’s my life.”

When we speak she’s still to sign up for The Hobbit, which would find her working again with The Lord of the Rings’ Peter Jackson, who directed her in The Lovely Bones. If they’re quick, the casting directors of Ronan’s favourite soap might land a coup.

“A cameo in Coronation Street!” she laughs when it’s suggested. “That would be amazing.” But then, remembering her age, adds: “Everyone always goes to the pub, so maybe I’d go somewhere different.”

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Here’s an interview of Saoirse with Sky News, screencaps of the video have been added to the gallery.

Thanks to Guest for the heads up, the scans of the Irish magazine Prudence May/June issue have been added to the gallery.

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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I’ve finally added over 480 HD screen captures of Saoirse as Irena in The Way Back to the gallery. Hold off from viewing them if you don’t want to be spoiled.