The Lovely Bones: Youthink Talks to Oscar Winner Saoirse Ronan

Irish-born actress Saoirse Ronan may only be 15 years old, but with an Academy Award already under her belt for her work in 2007’s Atonement, she has taken Hollywood by storm.

Ronan’s latest project is the recent screen adaptation of the popular novel, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, where she stars as Susie Salmon, a teenage girl murdered and her journey through heaven to discover a way to her own freedom.

I had the chance to catch up with Ronan by phone to find out more about her experience working on this upcoming blockbuster.

YT: Is there a bit of Susie Salmon in you or vice versa?
SR: Yeah, I think both. I think I personally put a little bit of myself in Susie and she gave me a little something as well. She’s a typical teenager. She’s interested in photography, she’s a creative girl, she likes fashion, boys and things like that. All teenage girls love that kind of stuff. So yeah, I suppose in that way we like the same kind of things...

YT: You worked with some really big names, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci, for example, how was that?
SR: It was wonderful. They are all really, really nice. They were lovely people and Stanley and Susan, all of them, really looked after me. Stanley and I had some very difficult scenes to do together and he was great; he’s a very focused actor and he is so, so good in this movie. We just all got on really well and we respected each other.

YT: Did you shoot the script in sequence so you could follow Susie’s emotional progression?
SR: Most of it was in chronological order. We went to Pennsylvania first and did all the exteriors and all the stuff back on Earth. Then we went to New Zealand and did all the heaven stuff there so in that way it was in order. But there may have been a difference of a day or a week so you could do something “there” that should have been “there,” you know. But it did help though. It did help to do Earth first and then heaven.

YT: Had you read the book before being cast?
SR: No, I hadn’t read it before and I hadn’t heard of it before. I waited until I had finished the movie to read the book. I was 13 at the time and I just felt it wouldn’t really be suitable to read at the time because it was a little bit more visual and violent than the movie. I read it this year and even then, I found the first chapter very hard to read. So yeah, I waited until this year, but I really did love it though.

YT: Did you meet any challenges on-set?
SR: It was quite physical; there were a lot of physical demands on that movie. You wouldn’t think it really, but there were quite a lot of stunts. I was up in a harness sometimes and lots of running and stuff like that. So that was very tiring and in some ways that was actually more tiring than the emotional side which can quite take it out of you too.

YT: How do you separate your life as an actor from your life as a teenager?
SR: I think one of the main things is I still live in the rural part of Ireland. I am surrounded by people who don’t really know a lot about show business or don’t really have any interest in it either. So in that way you kind of put your filmmaking life to one side.

YT: What message do you think teens can take from Susie’s story?
SR: Although people might not think it, it is a message of hope. It’s Susie’s acceptance of death that finally leads her to her ultimate heaven. And how she gets there is realizing she needs the love of her family rather than getting revenge on her murderer. I suppose just being aware of what you have and being thankful for it, I know that I am, especially after [filming the movie]. Also I am very aware of these awful things that go on in the world now, that even though they are incredibly horrible, you can get past them just with love.

The Lovely Bones opens in theatres on December 11. Watch the trailer >