Saoirse Ronan has starred in some memorable coming-of-age films – Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019) – both directed by Greta Gerwig. However, in her next film, Steve McQueen’s Blitz, she takes a step back and lets another character enjoy her aging. She plays Rita, the mother of George, a 9-year-old black child living in London in the 1940s during World War II. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the actor opened up about her evolution from having a troubled, struggling daughter to becoming a selfless mother, which she has played very honestly in the past. (Also Read – Steve McQueen Interview on Blitz: We need to be truthful to kids about war, no fairy tale here)
Coming of age as an actor
“While I am having this feeling with my character, I myself have had beautiful experiences being a part of coming-of-age stories. I have really enjoyed it. But I’ve done that a lot. To see another young person living up to themselves, not only as a child, but also as an actor, it’s a lovely thing to be a part of, a lovely thing to support,” says Saoirse, Elliot Heffernan. Referring to the hero George who plays in Blitz. Steve McQueen also agrees that Saoirse developed a soft corner for Elliot when she was 9 years old when she started her journey as an actor.
“We got along very well from the beginning. It definitely helped both of us that I was in his shoes. I still remember very well how it felt on the sets in those first few films. How important that moment was in my life and how it shaped me in many ways as an actor and a person. I know this is a creative time for any person, especially when you are given so much responsibility. Saoirse says that having other people around who can understand you will hopefully make her feel more secure. However, he believes that Hollywood is era-agnostic. “You’re really treated as another member of the crew, which I think is great. I felt the same way about Elliot. It didn’t feel like we had to make any liberties on the set just because he was a kid,” she adds.
After making her debut as a child actor in 2007’s I Could Never Be Your Woman, Saoirse often felt as if she had been plucked from one family and transplanted into another as she moved from one film set to another. Used to go to the set. “If you were taken it could mess with you. I understand it because every project has this ready-made family, and then it ends. So it’s quite an intense experience, but I love the organized chaos of it. Now that I’m stepping into the role of a filmmaker, I’m more willing to learn how different departments work. I’m more curious than ever. So you’re constantly being educated about the work you do,” says Saoirse. She turned producer earlier this year with The Outrun, produced under her banner Arcade Pictures.
Although she was not the creator of Blitz, Saoirse says that her relationship with Steve McQueen has been based on collaboration from the beginning. “He was very interested in me, where I was from and my own relationship with my mother. Had a conversation with her that pretty much established who Rita was and what her relationship was like with her little boy. It really felt like you were definitely being heard as an actor,” she says. Saoirse feels that Steve “definitely doesn’t take any nonsense” on set, but is extremely protective of his actors. “I think he really values what an actor brings to a project more than any other department. I don’t. It definitely comes from his time as a visual artist, and the artist and the subject. How sacred and precious is the relationship between us,” says Saoirse.
He claims that Blitz is immersive “in true Steve McQueen fashion” as it features a “fresh take on a story we thought we knew too well.” “We took two wartime stories that we are familiar with – family and war – and brought them together in a really beautiful way. When you’re with one, you’re always thinking about the other,” Saoirse explains. It helped a lot that George’s equation with Rita mirrors his own relationship with his mother. “We’re mates. We’re like sisters in many ways, so that one-on-one relationship was very important to me, and it’s really shaped me as a character. It’s just the two of them and their dad that’s very valuable to them,” Saoirse says. “
historical and musical
In addition to the family perspective, Saoirse also enjoyed the musical elements of The Blitz. In a key scene, she had to play a song in an ammunition factory in front of 450 women. “The fact that there was a sea of women in that ammunition factory made it very poignant. Beyond that, it’s about the visual display, but also about what happens after. Rita’s fellow activists come on stage to express their concerns over how the public is being treated during World War II. “It was a real moment of liberation, rebellion, revolution and women coming together. It was very special,” says Saoirse.
Steve McQueen’s only concern about casting Saoirse was whether she could sing, and he was happy to report that she “sings like a bird.” Saoirse worked with a voice coach for months to prepare for the sequences prior to shooting. “Actually performing it in front of a crowd like this was the closest I’ve come to being live on stage, having my own concert. It was scary, but also really wonderful,” she recalls. Now that she’s been through this experience, would she want to pursue music? “I’ve always said I wanted to. That is my real dream. I would love to do it with Greta. Greta has become musical, and I think she wants to do that. It would be fun to do that with him. I don’t think I’d be good enough to do it on stage, but definitely in a movie,” Saoirse says.
After collaborating with Greta on Oscar-nominated upcoming films like Lady Bird and Little Women, it would make sense for Saoirse to now work with Greta on a musical film, especially after the filmmaker made $1 billion. Have mastered this style. barbie last year. Saoirse wants to do more contemporary films as she has been offered mostly period dramas so far, from Mary Queen of Scots to Ammonite. “It is just a coincidence that I have made many period films. Whatever gets made is usually period stuff. This usually boils down to the fact that its a piece of IP that people will want to remake over and over again. The history has been researched again and again, so there are many narratives that can be drawn from it,” she argues.
She would now like to mix genres, especially because contemporary films give her free rein. “I can achieve a lot in modern-day films. I don’t enjoy modern-day films as much as I’d like. You only have one freedom. You don’t need to filter that much. Most of it is so polished that I don’t have to double-check whether something is accurate for the time, or whether there are some methods or terms that haven’t even been invented yet. I remember when I made Brooklyn (set in 1951), there were still some words that no one had said until then. So you have to keep an eye on it and prepare separately for the time period when you are working on the past. So it was nice not to have to think about it on The Outrun,” says Saoirse.
Both The Outrun and The Blitz are generating tremendous Oscar buzz for Saoirse. The actress is no stranger to Academy Awards, as she is the second youngest person to earn four Oscar nominations, behind Jennifer Lawrence. Her last nomination was five years ago, for Little Women, and she claims she doesn’t yearn for more. “I don’t feel as much pressure now as I probably did before. I have been very fortunate to have experienced that journey many times so far. I can be quite realistic about this because things can change overnight. So I always take it as it comes,” says Saoirse. She just hopes that the Oscar buzz increases people’s curiosity to go to theaters and give her films a chance.
Saoirse had a secret wedding with her Mary Queen of Scots co-star Jack Lowden earlier this year, which has brought some changes inside, too. She believes that like her Blitz character Rita, she doesn’t mind giving up some professional dreams to pursue personal dreams. “You always have to make difficult decisions, especially when it comes to work. Sometimes, it’s painful, and sometimes, it benefits you more. You learn and grow from it. But it’s an experience that everyone goes through in their professional life,” Saoirse concluded. One can imagine that if this like-minded Saoirse were to write her own Little Women, she would end the scene-stealing monologue now with, “But I feel so alone. And that’s OK.”
