Saoirse attended the Irish premiere for “Tin Tin” which she also presented. We added the first released photos of her attending in our gallery. You can watch an interview with Saoirse during the event over here.

Gallery Link:
Public Appearances from 2011 > 10.23.11: Irish Tin Tin Premiere

She first appeared on our screens playing upper-class English girl Briony Tallis in wartime drama Atonement.

But actress Saoirse Ronan will sound more like Bill Cullen in her new movie, a working- class drama set in Dublin’s Sheriff Street, by director Jim Sheridan.

The Diary can exclusively reveal that the My Left Foot director has signed up the 16-year-old to play local girl Frances in the autobiographical tale on which he is currently working.

“Saoirse has the Sheriff Street accent off to a tee. It’s like listening to Bill Cullen; the way she sounds, she could have been selling penny apples in Moore Street with Bill back in the day,” said an insider who heard the Carlow girl reading her part this week.

Sheridan has been at his best when telling his own story in films like In America, the semi-autobiographical tale of Irish immigrants trying to make it in New York; or My Left Foot, which tells writer Christy Brown’s struggle to be accepted in poverty-stricken 1930s Dublin.

But, in recent times, the 61-year-old has had mixed results making studio films, including the poorly received supernatural thriller Dream House, starring Daniel Craig.

Now Jim wants to play to his strengths by returning to his home patch of Dublin’s Sherriff Street.

So autobiographical is his new drama, the main family featured are called the Sheridans.

“It’s centred all around this one working-class family living in early ’60s Dublin, before the visit of the Beatles or JFK.

“Not only is it completely authentic for Sheriff Street, it’s also extremely funny, with much of the comedy taking place in the family’s front room, similar to Caroline Ahern’s sitcom The Royle Family, an insider told The Diary this week.

High comedy comes to the house with the arrival of television.

“There’s one really funny scene when the family are trying to fix a TV aerial on the roof but they can’t get any reception because the steeple on the local church is blocking the signal, which is a kind of metaphor for the church interfering in people’s lives,” added the source.

Insiders revealed to me that Saoirse Ronan plays Frances in the film, the teenage girlfriend of Sheridan’s own character, Shamie.

“Frances is very Dublin girl but at the same time a romantic. Jim has created the perfect part for Saoirse and this could be a big role for her,” said the source.

It seems that hooking up with Sheridan has paid off for The Lovely Bones star, who revealed to me earlier this year how she wanted to work with the much loved Dublin director.

“Jim has made the most fantastic Irish films of our time but, more than that, every single actor I have spoken to about Jim said he is everything you want in a director, being both honest and warm.

“That’s why I want to work with him,” said Saoirse.

Filming on the as-yet-untitled Sheriff Street film is expected to begin later this year.

Source

HOLLYWOOD actor Saoirse Ronan joined a galaxy of stars last night to celebrate the opening of Ireland’s answer to the famous Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

The Lir, Ireland’s National Academy of Dramatic Art, which was built to provide a centre to train Ireland’s aspiring young actors and theatre makers, was officially opened in Dublin’s Docklands. It will train young actors, designers, directors, playwrights, stage managers and theatre technicians to the highest international standards.

“I think it is fantastic that The Lir has finally come to fruition,” said Saoirse, who will soon begin filming Neil Jordan’s latest offering ‘Byzantium’ in Dublin.

“I have met a lot of young people in Ireland who are trying to get into acting, directing and theatre and don’t quite know how to go about it,” she said.

“Now we have somewhere where they can go to learn the craft and be with other creative people.”

Faces from across the worlds of theatre, TV, film, and radio, including author Sebastian Barry, actors Alan Stanford, Conor McPherson, Kirsten Sheridan and Charlene McKenna turned out last night to lend their support.

The academy, which is attached to Trinity College Dublin, was the brainchild of actress Danielle Ryan, daughter of the late businessman and philanthropist Cathal Ryan.

Its building and development was funded by the Cathal Ryan Trust, which bequeathed a sizeable amount of money to the arts in Ireland.

Source

Saoirse Ronan has been hailed as “one of the best talents we have” by the director of the forthcoming Stephanie Meyer adaptation.

In Time director Andrew Niccol has revealed he can’t wait to get down to work with Saoirse on the movie adaptation of The Host.

The Irish teen is set to play both Melanie Stryder and Wanderer, an extraterrestrial “soul” who takes over her mind, in the film.

“It’s very early in the process, but she’s one of the best talents we have, so I’m really looking forward to working with her,” Niccol said.

Niccol was also full of praise for Meyer, who penned the best-selling Twilight novels

“She’s a genius,” he said. “She made vampire stories for people who don’t like vampires, and now she’s making sci-fi for people who don’t like sci-fi movies.

17-year-old Ronan first attracted attention for her role in 2007′s Atonement, and has since starred alongside Colin Farrell in The Way Back and Cate Blanchett in Hanna.

Source

Thanks to M for the heads up.

Impact: Played the titular teen assassin in “Hanna”; trekked across India as a Polish orphan in Peter Weir’s “The Way Back.”
Next: Prepping to play a vampire in Neil Jordan’s “Byzantium.”
Causes: Ambassador for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; supports animal welfare group, Irish Blue Cross.

At age 17, Saoirse Ronan has already worked with Peter Jackson, Peter Weir and Joe Wright. For her pivotal role as the younger sister in the celebrated period epic “Atonement,” Ronan found herself an Oscar and Golden Globe nominee — and you get the feeling that it’s all just a warm-up act for this young Irish actress.

“It’s been a little bit of luck that these projects have come along and great directors have been attached to them,” Ronan says. “If you’re a fan of their work, you can have confidence that you might be part of something special.”

The logline for Ronan’s latest movie, “Violet & Daisy,” may sound an awful lot like “Hanna,” and yet this dark comedy, which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival, takes a very different approach to the concept of an underage assassin. Next, Ronan will join the teen vampire phenomenon, playing a bloodsucker in Neil Jordan’s horror story “Byzantium.” “There’s a bit of romance, but it’s definitely not ‘Twilight,’” she says.

Not that Ronan has anything against “Twilight” or its creator, Stephenie Meyer. In fact, after finishing “Byzantium,” she’ll segue straight to “The Host,” also written by “Twilight’s” Meyer, playing a strong-willed Earth girl in the sci-fi romance. Andrew Niccol will direct, adding to Ronan’s list of celebrated collaborators.

For career advice, Ronan looks to her actor father, Paul, a man with a keen eye for good material.

“It’s handy to have him, that’s for sure,” Ronan says. “If I don’t feel passionate about something, then obviously I won’t do it. But I treasure his opinion.”

Source

Saoirse Ronan is set to present the Irish premiere of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s latest production – The Adventures Of Tin Tin at the Savoy cinema in Dublin.

The Irish actress who worked with filmmaker Jackson on the production of The Lovely Bones, is set to welcome audience members to the premiere of the critically acclaimed 3D movie on Sunday.

The Adventures of Tin Tin, stars Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, and Daniel Craig, and is based on the iconic Tin Tin comics which have been consistently successful globally for decades.

The plot is based around the discovery of an elegant model of the ship the Unicorn at a market. Tintin (Bell) and his loyal dog Snowy are intrigued as to why so many desire it, and comment on the secrets it holds.

Arrivals commence at 5pm, screening commences at 5.30pm, Sunday October 23.
Source

Our favourite Carlow girl Saoirse Ronan will be soon be seen as a time traveller.

She’ll be pictured amid the fighting during the War Of Independence, watching JFK during his visit to Ireland in 1963 and caught up in countless home movies.

But when the 17-year-old went on set in Ardmore Studios last week, it wasn’t as the new Doctor Who, but to front a new appeal.

All of the above material is included in the Irish Film Archive which preserve Ireland’s film heritage for future generations.

But with its vaults in Dublin’s Temple Bar now full, the Irish film community is mobilising to raise funds for an additional storage facility.

Among those approached to help was musician and filmmaker Nick Kelly, who with zero budget, was given the task of creating a cinema ad.

“We were thrilled to find out that Saoirse wanted to help but all we had to work with was hundreds of old Irish newsreels and films going as far back as 1897,” Nick told The Diary.

But before you could say ‘Tardis’, the award-winning filmmaker had come up with a clever way of planting Saoirse into the archive footage of Irish life over the past 114 years using blue screen technology.

“Myself and Richard Chaney, of production house, Piranha Bar, jointly directed the piece and many other people gave up their time for free,” he said.

The writer and co-director couldn’t praise Saoirse enough for her contribution to the 50-second short film.

“Not only was Saoirse stepping through time, she had to simultaneously deliver a script which explained the work of the Irish Film Archives’ work.

“She was such a professional as well as giving up her time for free,” he added.

The Irish Film Archive’s Appeal is due to be launched in mid-October with the new cinema ad running in the IFI before films.

Source

Thanks to M for the heads up!

Arterton had weather on her mind. “I’m glad it’s not too hot today — can you imagine, we’d melt in this plastic tent,” she said. “Everyone is wearing leather and tweed, so I’m grateful the good old English weather came through.” The bubbly Arterton is headed to Dublin next week to begin filming “Byzantium,” directed by Neil Jordan. “I’m playing Saoirse Ronan’s mum, would you believe? That makes me feel old.”

Source

Additional photos from the recent events have been added to the gallery. Thanks to Access Saoirse for those from Rodarte fashion show.

Following his Oscar-winning script for “Precious,” Geoffrey Fletcher’s directorial debut manages to be precious in a whole different way, sadly far-removed from the approach he took adapting the novel “Push” by Sapphire. Last and least in a run of pics that fancy teen girls as cold-blooded killers, “Violet & Daisy” offers a questionably sentimental spin on the Hit Girl gimmick seen in “Kick-Ass,” casting the armed-and-dangerous stars of “Sin City” (Alexis Bledel) and “Hanna” (Saoirse Ronan) as a pair of implausible assassins. This cutesy dark comedy seems destined for cult status, but could also connect with less Puritanical overseas auds. [...]

Variety

Violet & Daisy is a meditation on love, friendship and death told in a surreal fable ostensibly about a pair of teenage girl assassins. The film’s writer-director, Geoffrey Fletcher, came to everyone’s attention when he penned the screenplay for Precious. So when you win an Oscar, you get to do a pet project such as Violet & Daisy. Fletcher is not at the stage as a film artist to be able to pull off a venture this ambitious, but the film contains a number of fine moments when the actors, director and screenplay really spark to life, when you can see the movie Fletcher wants to make but can’t quite reach. [...]

The Hollywood Reporter