The 13-year-old actress Saoirse Ronan was sitting, accompanied by her parents, waiting for a conference call. Her new representative from CAA, arguably the biggest talent agency in the US, was scheduled to ring. The Ronans assumed the phone call was to discuss the mundane task of fine-tuning the contractual details for Saoirse’s latest co-starring role, alongside the legendary comedian Bill Murray, in the big budget sci-fi movie City of Ember. But the call turned out to be anything but routine.

Also on hotpress.com: an exclusive web-only Q&A with Saoirse Ronan