Saoirse Ronan first entered our consciousness as Briony Tallis, the precocious but misguided young teen whose little white lie set in motion devastating events in 2007′s “Atonement.” The role earned her an Oscar nomination and instantly put her star on the map – similar to Jennifer Lawrence and Hailee Steinfeld this past year.
The Ronan we meet in “Hanna” couldn’t be any more different. Trained in the arctic wilderness by her father (Eric Bana) to be a merciless killing machine for (no spoiler alert) an uncertain future, her title character may go down as one of the fiercest female action heroes ever.
We grilled the 16-year-old Irish teen on kicking ass, missing out on “The Hunger Games” lead and (possibly) reuniting with “Lovely Bones” director Peter Jackson for a little movie called “The Hobbit.”
Did all that butt-kicking come naturally to you?
Yeah I think it did, to a certain extent. Of course I had to train and strengthen and things like that, but I’ve always been quite an athletic person and my dad really did karate when he was younger and he was an All-Ireland champion and stuff. I’ve always seen him do things like that… so I kind of got the movements and the energy easily enough.
Are you feeling a little tougher these days? Like you could take someone on in a dark alley if you needed to?
I certainly did when I was making the film. I’ve still got muscles from the thing. [Flexes her arm] I’ve still got a bit of tricep, which freaks me out a little bit. I think if I went back and I trained I could probably give someone a run for their money.
“Hanna” has drawn early comparisons to other movies like “Kick-Ass” and “The Professional,” where young females are drawn into the action. Do you think those are warranted?
Not really. I mean, they’re completely different. With “Kick-Ass,” yes there is a young girl in it but it’s more like a cartoon-type character. I like [Hit-Girl, played by Chloe Moretz] because she is quite tough and cool and she swears a lot. But the interesting thing about “Hanna” is that we’ve never seen an action heroine like this before, someone who is very innocent and naïve and very elegant in a ferocious type of way when she fights.
Seeing you in the wilderness with the bow and arrow made it easy to picture you as the lead character, Katniss, in the “The Hunger Games” series. I know that you were in talks for that at some point. Did those go very far?
I think every girl was going out for Katniss. I read the script and stuff. Jennifer Lawrence is doing it now so clearly they were looking for someone a bit older. I think it’s a great character for her to play, and if I had done it, it could have been too similar to “Hanna” because she is so forest-smart. She’s very comfortable in the woods and around nature… But I think Jennifer Lawrence is going to do a great job, she is a good actress. And I hope they do the book justice.
Speaking of Lawrence, how did earning an Oscar nomination change your life or your career?
It changed my career a little bit, but it didn’t change my life really at all. I met some cool people that night, I guess. It affected my career more because people were more aware of who I was, that’s certainly something an Oscar nomination is going to give you. I’ve been offered some fantastic roles since then.
It seems like there are so many good Irish actors in Hollywood but so few Irish actresses. Any insight as to why that is?
I really don’t know because we’ve got very talented actresses at home and we don’t have many Irish actresses [in Hollywood]… We need more than just me and Sara [Bolger] and I think it would be great for us to export a little bit more. I really don’t know why it is. I mean, we have Maureen O’Hara for God’s sake!
There are conflicting reports as to whether or not you’ve been cast in “The Hobbit,” are you allowed to say anything?
Not really, no. I wish I was but nothing has been confirmed yet, even though IMDb says it… I know they have introduced a few new characters into the film. And if they want me to go back to New Zealand to do “The Hobbit” then I will jump at the chance. I really love working with [Peter Jackson and crew] and just to be a part of that film, which has so much excitement built up around it. And there are so many great actors in it as well, I know ["Hanna" co-star] Cate [Blanchett] is going back. Ian McKellan is doing it, and Martin Freeman. So it’d be fun, yeah.
You made “City of Ember” with NextMovie favorite Bill Murray. Any crazy Bill Murray stories?
He had this fake stomach gut thing, because he’s supposed to be this really greedy mayor… He’s nuts, have you met him? He’s mad. He’d go around – he did it to my mom as well — he’d go around with his stomach in between takes [standing up and stretching her stomach out] and just bump into people all the time. And he really liked golf buggies, I think there’s a story of him stealing a golf buggy or something.
And getting back to “Hanna,” you worked closely with Eric Bana on this movie, was there any sort of father-daughter dynamic developed off-screen as well?
Someone told me that Eric has described our relationship as a brother-sister-type relationship and I think he’s actually right. I know that’s weird because he’s a lot older than me… well, he’s only 22, not that much older [laughs]. But yeah we got along really well and we had a lot of fun together. Eric used to be a stand-up comedian and was on a sketch show and everything in Australia, which is brilliant… he always kept me laughing.
Music is an important component of “Hanna,” with a pulsating score by The Chemical Brothers. Is that the kind of music you’re into?
I listen to everything. I love The Chemical Brothers. I got into them when we did “Hanna” because Joe used to play “Push The Button” in particular all the time. I like electro music, and I have to listen to more of it, but JUSTICE is another great band. There’s another band that’s kind of indie rock electro called Cut Copy, they’re pretty cool as well. But I listen to all sorts. I listen to rock and a little bit of pop as well.
Byzantium
Violet & Daisy
Hanna 
The Way Back
