During her freshman year at Syracuse University, Alice Sebold was raped in Thornden Park. In 2002 the SU alumnus published the novel, “The Lovely Bones” is a story that follows a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches her family and friends from heaven as they continue on with their lives and tries to piece together her death. A movie adaptation of the novel opened last weekend in theaters nationally. Saoirse Ronan, the actress who plays the victim in the movie, talks about her experiences working on the film.
On what it’s like to play a character in a book adaptation and whether conflicts with the director arise when it comes to interpreting a role
Well, I would focus more on the character and the screenplay instead of the book because it’s a different version of telling the story. It’s the film version, so yeah, I’m going to focus on that a little bit more. But still it’s (handy) to be, you know, making movies that were based on books as well. No, I haven’t had any conflicts really with the directors that I’ve worked with, so I’ve been very lucky. We’ve been on the same page. We’ve gotten on really well, so no, we’ve understood each other. I’m good.
On the similarities she has with Susie SalmonYeah, there’s a few. I mean, Susie’s a typical teenage girl, so I think that hopefully when girls go and see this movie, they’re going to connect with her in some way. But, yeah, I mean, you know, she’s interested in photography and fashion and things like that, and boys of course, so I’m interested in all those things.
On how her roles in “Atonement” and “The Lovely Bones” influenced her outlook on life
With “Atonement” it wasn’t that influential because it, you know, it was a bitter girl who’s very in on herself. And I mean, I suppose that it would make you think more before you speak if anything, but “The Lovely Bones” in particular just made me appreciate what I have. You know, that I’m lucky to be here, I’m lucky to have the amazing family that I have. It’s also made me more aware of things that go on in the world, these awful crimes that are committed every day. So, yeah, so it’s boosted my awareness.
On whether playing Susie Salmon was challenging and how she prepared for the role
Yeah, it was challenging, it – as you said – it’s a very serious subject matter and it was always going to be a challenge for me because I hadn’t done anything quite that deep before. But it’s also very light and, you know, it’s full of hope, and so in that way, it was easy. But when we dealt with very, you know, emotional scenes, intense scenes, there would be a lot of discussion between me and Pete (Jackson) and Fran (Walsh) and Philippa (Boyens) who are the writers as well. So, yeah, we just talked a lot about it and just made sure that we were going in the same direction and we were on the same page.
On starring in films with dark themes
You know, I find sometimes it’s quite easy to be the opposite to how you are in real life for me. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just because it’s not somewhere that I go very often. The door is always open for me to go there. So, yeah, I mean, it’s just – it just take a lot of thinking and, you know, I really understood Susie and Peter, who’s obviously involved. We were on the same page and we have the same outlook on what she was going to be like and everything. So, yeah, it just took a lot of thinking.
On being nominated for an Academy Award at a young age
It was – oh, it was crazy. I was working. I was actually on “Lovely Bones” at the time, so I was very busy with that. And then, suddenly this thing happened and it was exciting, and it was kind of nerve-wrecking and, but you know, it was great and it was a great honor for me to be nominated so young and it was a film that I really enjoyed doing. So, yeah, I was really, really happy.
On awards season buzz for “The Lovely Bones”
To be honest, I try not to think about award season at all, especially when it concerns a movie that I’ve made. I think, you know, nobody, none of the press, have actually seen the movie yet, so it’s not fair to say, but it’s great that they’re putting it at such a high level already. Hopefully it does well. I just really hope that everyone enjoys it – that they connect to it as much as they did with the book. So if awards come as well, then that’s brilliant.
On whether any characters or performances influenced her preparation for the role of Susie Salmon
No, not really. I mean, she’s a typical teenage girl, so she’s very similar to myself and my friends, and you know, girls I’ve seen on the TV, so yeah, it was very easy to – in a way – become a sort of friend of hers, you know? She’s a very happy person, so it was easy to go there.
On filming the heaven scenes
It was kind of a little bit surreal at first because it was all blue screen and I hadn’t worked with that much blue screen before, only a little bit. And most of heaven was going to be put in afterward. So, it was sometimes difficult to try and imagine what it was going to be like, what it was going to look like. We obviously had an idea in our head of what the basic picture of it was going to be. But it, you know, it was great and I saw the movie a few days ago and it was a lovely surprise to finally see heaven.
On whether she suggested any of her own beliefs about the afterlife to the directors during filming
No, not really. I think that their plans for heaven seemed to work really well and I didn’t really want to play around with that at all, you know, its elements. It’s Susie’s life on Earth that have created her in between things that she was connected to in some way, and I think it was a very logical thing to do. It made sense. So yeah, so I think they knew what they were doing, so I just left them to it.
On what viewers should take away from the film
Well, I think that the message of this movie, although it may not seem like it to people who haven’t seen it yet, is ultimately hope and how you get there. You know, when Susie arrives in the in-between, she doesn’t want to go forward, which would mean accepting her death. She wants to be back on Earth with her family, and she knows she can’t do that. And to get there, you know, it’s about her love for her family and not the hate and vengeance that she has for her murder. So yeah, so it’s hope.
On working with Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson
I absolutely loved working with them. They’re brilliant. They’re partners, so they’re together all the time pretty much. And Fran is one of the kindest, sweetest women I have ever met. I love her. She’s funny. She’s creative. She’s just wonderful. And Pete and her are like a rock. They’re just great together, and of course I love working with Pete as well, as director and as a friend.
On how Peter Jackson works with actors
He’s pretty involved. I mean, he’ll let you be free to – if you want to try something out he’s, you know, he’s very welcoming toward that kind of approach. But he likes to be very involved with his actors and he’s always there. He’s always up and ready to go, and he was great because he would kind of act through what we were going to do, which made me and the girl who played Holly, it made us laugh sometimes. He was just great. But, yeah, he was very hands on.
On why she always plays serious roles instead of lighter ones
Well, I don’t think I’m really that kind of actor anyway. I’ll leave Miley Cyrus to that. But I think you’re right. I think it’s important that I do something a little bit more lighthearted. I mean, you know, the first movie that I made was a romcom and it was funny and lighthearted, so yeah, it’s important for me to do something like that and, you know, there’s a few scripts that aren’t quite as serious as what I’ve done so far. So hopefully they’ll work out and you’ll see me on a lighter note.
On what she’s learned while working with more experienced actors
I think it’s just the way they are on set. I mean, I’ve worked with a lot of actors that just have a really good approach to working with other people, to being with other people every day, and you need that when you’re working on a movie. You become a family unit, so it’s very important to get on with everyone. And it’s not as much with acting itself because everyone kind of has their own thing that they do. So, the people that I’ve worked with have been very respectful towards me and they know that I have my own thing going on. So, it’s more just the attitude that they have on set and the etiquette and that’s, you know, I’ve taken that away.
During her freshman year at Syracuse University, Alice Sebold was raped in Thornden Park. In 2002 the SU alumnus published the novel, “The Lovely Bones” is a story that follows a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches her family and friends from heaven as they continue on with their lives and tries to piece together her death. A movie adaptation of the novel opened last weekend in theaters nationally. Saoirse Ronan, the actress who plays the victim in the movie, talks about her experiences working on the film.
On what it’s like to play a character in a book adaptation and whether conflicts with the director arise when it comes to interpreting a role
Well, I would focus more on the character and the screenplay instead of the book because it’s a different version of telling the story. It’s the film version, so yeah, I’m going to focus on that a little bit more. But still it’s (handy) to be, you know, making movies that were based on books as well. No, I haven’t had any conflicts really with the directors that I’ve worked with, so I’ve been very lucky. We’ve been on the same page. We’ve gotten on really well, so no, we’ve understood each other. I’m good.
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