The go teen

I fall for the Ronan family’s natural charm seconds after picking up the phone. Expecting the clipped professional tones of an American PR agent, I’m instead greeted by the Dublin accent of Monica Ronan, who cheerfully tells me that if I’m ready, “the rugrat” is ready to have a chat.

The “rugrat” is also known as Saoirse Ronan, the 17-year-old Oscar nominee whose intimidatingly impressive CV makes me feel very old and very unproductive.
“Roe, what are you talking about, you work for Hot Press. That’s amazing, it’s so cool!” she exclaims.
Now obviously, everyone at Hot Press is the epitome of cool. Still, we can’t quite compete with Oscar nominations and working with Peter Jackson, Joe Wright, Peter Weir, Stanley Tucci, Cate Blanchett and Ed Harris to name just a few.
This month Ronan lends her vocal talents to Arrietty, the Japanese animated film from the Oscar-winning team behind Spirited Away. Ronan plays the titular character, a tiny Borrower girl who lives with her family below the floorboards of a regular house. Much like her roles in Hanna and The Way Back she plays a young girl isolated from her peers and surrounded by people much older than her. The film holds some personal resonance for the actress, growing up as she has on film sets.

“It’s just kind of normal for me really. People ask, ‘What’s the normal you like?’, but this is my normal life. When you’re surrounded by adults all the time you embrace it. You also try not to forget that you are a kid. I don’t ever try to be an adult because I’m not – I’m 17 years old. I think you become open to so many different types of people on a film set. When you’re in that kind of artistic atmosphere the whole time, it does change you. In the film business you grow up. You have to deal with a lot of crap, like with the media.”
Whoops. That’d be me, then.
She laughs. “It’s not just the media, there’s a lot of crap within the industry that other people wouldn’t hear about too. It’s just people who aren’t genuine, and dealing with it is definitely a big step in growing up.”
Which she has. Before speaking to Ronan (or her Ma) I’ve been told not to ask about her much-publicised experiences of bullying in her school, or about her having a boyfriend. The actress needs no such protection. She is endearingly down-to-earth and genuinely friendly, probing me on my opinion about the latest Harry Potter film. She also slags Amanda Brunker’s performance at Oxegen.
“I don’t want to be mean,” she says. “But come on! It means I could headline next year. My friend and I are learning the ukulele and are going to hula-hoop. You could join! We could have a hula-hooping ukulele trio on the Main Stage next year! We’d have to take out Jessie J again though. But hey, I’ve trained as an assassin. Twice. I’ll sort it out.”

For all that, she is very aware of her own boundaries, and skilfully avoids anything too close to home.
“I’ve been asked about boys and stuff a good bit, it’s what they do – what you guys do! It’s what people are interested in. It doesn’t mean I’m going to give them details about my personal life.”
Imagine being constantly probed about your personal life at age 17? I not only understand her desire not to have her experiences with lads or jealous ex-friends available for public consumption, but admire it.
“It’s a skill,” she admits, “Irish people are naturally charming so it helps when you want to nicely dodge questions! I’ve had certain people who’ve changed because they expect me to change, and that’s strange. But honestly, it’s not something that really affects me because the people who haven’t changed are my real friends.”
She even denies wealth has affected her at all.

“I’m not a millionaire by any means! I haven’t bought anything extravagant. And I can honestly say that when I’m working on a film, I never think about the money. I mean, when I’m older I’d like to invest in houses, because that’s what a lot of people do when they have cash. It’s secondary to the work. I‘m just lucky I get paid to do what I love.”
And she’ll be doing what she loves a lot for the next while. Next up is Geoffrey Fletcher’s Violet And Daisy, where she plays a teenage assassin alongside Alexis Bledel. And then?
“Hopefully I’ll be doing a film with Neil Jordan – a really nice guy, such a gentleman - called Byzantium.”

She’ll play the vampire daughter of Gemma Arterton that’s two more films where she has violent tendencies and somewhat dysfunctional personal relationships – should we be calling in a child psychologist here? “It’s the guns Roe, they can’t keep me away from the guns!”
She’s also hoping to actually use her natural accent sometime in the future, saying, “Get me in a Jim Sheridan film and I will!” and lists Tarantino as top of her collaboration wish-list, before expressing an interest in writing and directing herself down the line. But she denies wanting to emulate any of the directors she’s worked with so far.
“I think I’ll find my own style,” she muses. I don’t doubt her for a second.