There is only one actress in Hollywood who’s compared to the legendary Meryl Streep, and that is Saoirse Ronan.
She’s the Irish actress who’s been captivating audiences ever since she was little. She sparkled in Atonement , The Lovely Bones , Lady Bird , and Little Women , just to name a few.
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If you don’t know much about her, it’s time to change that. Here are 10+ random facts to get you started.
1. She’s from Ireland:
While she was born in the Bronx , her Ireland-born parents moved the family back to Dublin when she was just three.
This is how she developed her Irish accent and why she was perfect for the role in Brooklyn .
2. She was nine when she landed her first acting gig:
This was for the Irish television series, The Clinic .
Her appearance was brief, which might be why she moved on to feature films, such as I Could Never Be Your Woman and her breakout role in Atonement .
3. She was almost in *Harry Potter*:
She auditioned for the role of Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, . Producers thought she was too young, though, and the role went to Evanna Lynch.
As a Potterhead, this was a huge disappointment for the star.
4. She has a twin on TikTok:
Woah. It’s hard to believe that this isn’t Saoirse.
This TikTok user even recreates acting scenes that the Little Women star has done. While no one can be as talented as the actress, this user comes pretty close.
5. She doesn’t read her movie reviews:
She avoids them as a way to protect herself.
“There will be something that sticks in my head, because it’s not a natural, normal thing for people you don’t know personally to write about you,” she told The Guardian .
6. In addition to that, she doesn’t watch her own movies:
She’s missing out! But the actress told Vogue in 2018 that doing so gives her massive anxiety.
“I just get so anxious whenever I watch anything that I’m in,” she said.
“I’m fine with the way I look now. But I wouldn’t necessarily be looking at photographs of myself all day.”
“I don’t want to become too consumed by the image of myself.”
We love how humble and grounded she is!
7. Her mother was her chaperone on set when she was a kid:
“She was the perfect movie mam,” Saoirse told The Gentle Woman .
“She wasn’t one of those crazy mothers who was living vicariously through me, or so crazy protective that she wouldn’t let anyone do anything.”
“But she protected me and kept me away from all the grown-up stuff that can kind of ruin you a bit when you’re a kid,” she continued.
She credits her parents for always keeping her away from the pitfalls of fame, such as drugs or alcohol.
“I had such a brilliant mam and dad and great agents with their own kids, and they were all very aware of how it could turn out, she explained to The Guardian in 2018.
“There is no way in hell my mam would have ever allowed anything to happen,” she said.
“If she’d seen any flash of that, I would have been pulled out. I had a wonderful combination of being encouraged, and being brought back to normal life as soon as the job was done.”
8. She loves trying new accents for roles:
In real life, the actress has a thick Irish accent.
In 2019, she told Harper’s Bazaar that being able to change her accent is what prepares her for a role.
“It’s how I get into the character,” she explained. “What can be more difficult than the actual sounds is the cadence and melody.”
“I found that quite a challenge on Lady Bird. Greta kept having to say, ‘Make it a bit flatter!’ And I’d think I sounded like a robot.”
9. She’s aware of the double-standard in Hollywood:
“It may have taken me a while to see how dynamics on set weren’t fair,” she told The New York Times about the difference between how male actors and female actors are treated.
“But I’ve always known, from the age of 12, that I was being asked different questions by interviewers than men.”
She continued: things like “‘Who’s your celebrity crush?’ ‘Are you putting on all the dresses?’ All about image and crushes. That always infuriated me.”
10. She’s picky with the kind of roles she takes on:
“From a purely selfish point of view, I’ve always wanted to play characters who are well-rounded and interesting and smart, or who are intelligently written,” she told Harper’s Bazaar .
No wonder she’s had such a successful career.
11. She wants to try her hand at directing someday:
She even told Harper’s Bazaar that she was more drawn to that as a kid than to acting.
“I love working with actors, but I always learn the most from the directors,” she said.
“It’s their vision you’re bringing to life, you have to adapt to their way of working.”
“I like having to stretch myself to fit in with their requirements,” she continued.
She’s BFFs with Greta Gerwig, the director of Lady Bird and Little Women .
12. She’s often likened to Meryl Streep:
This is such an honor. Leading UK casting director, Nina Gold said this about her:
“The nature of her talent seems to stand out in the way that Meryl Streep’s talent stands out among all her peers. She’s really, really good.”
13. She grew up very poor:
Her mom, Monica, was a nanny and her father, Paul, was an aspiring actor.
Together they had “about 20 cents to their name or something stupid like that,” she told The Gentlewoman back in 2015.
