| SAOIRSE RONAN - 'HANNA' exclusive Q&A. |
| Written by SUPPLIED | |||||
| Tuesday, 17 January 2012 09:04 | |||||
For her physically demanding, highly challenging role in the explosive thriller 'HANNA', Saoirse Ronan embarked on a gruelling training regime that would have been daunting for actors twice her age. “Physically it was tough,” she says. “I had a lot of fight scenes to do and I did everything myself, and then if there was something that was very dangerous, the stunt double would take over. But I was very much involved in that side of it, so it was tiring. But it was fun, too.” The 16 year-old admits that her daily fitness and martial arts sessions were exhausting and sometimes painful and there were times when her aching muscles were screaming for a rest. “Every now and again I kind of felt like ‘God, can I just stay in bed today?’” she laughs. Such commitment to a role is typical of the young actress who has established herself as one of the very best in the business in just a few years. An Oscar nominee for her stunning performance in Atonement, she already boasts a remarkable CV that includes Death Defying Acts, The Lovely Bones and The Way Back. Hanna would see her reunited with Atonement director Joe Wright. In fact, it was Saoirse who first suggested that Wright would be the perfect filmmaker to tackle the project.
“We did stay in contact a little after Atonement,” she explains. “And I was really hoping we would work together again. “It was great to work with Joe again and I think it was an even better experience this time because we knew each other so much better. “We’d already had a great experience together on Atonement and got along really well and I think we became proper friends on Hanna. We have a great understanding of one another, especially when we are on set together.” Wright’s action packed film is a dark contemporary fairytale, she says. Hanna is 16 year-old girl who has to venture out into a dangerous world for the very first time and fight for her life. Hanna is intelligent and strong beyond her years but she’s also naïve and innocent in many ways. She has been trained in the wilds of Finland by her father, ex CIA man Erik (played by Eric Bana) to become a highly skilled fighter and set out on a revenge mission – to kill the ruthless intelligence operative Marissa (Cate Blanchett) who murdered her mother when she was a baby. “Joe and I worked on her movements a lot because Hanna is like a wild animal in a way, like a wolf approaching its prey, who is quite light on its feet and very focused on what its about to kill and nothing gets in the way. “There’s a fierce determination there and I think that’s something that was integral to Hanna as a person, in her energy and in everything that she does. And when she does step out into the world, it’s the same kind of thing - she’s just hunting her prey. “So all of that really helped and also, even though externally it seems like her situation is quite different to ours, really she’s going through the same thing that every teenager goes through, which is stepping out into the world when you are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, thinking that it’s going to be great and everything is going to be perfect and everyone is going to fall in love and it’s going to be lovely, and it’s not like that. “It’s hard and it’s frightening and not everything goes the way you planned. And that was something that I could relate to and I hope that other younger people and older people who will have obviously gone through it as well, will be able to relate to that too. “Hanna feels isolated – she doesn’t know anyone and she doesn’t understand anyone and there are plenty of kids that feel that way. So I was able to relate to her in that way, and that helped.” Two months before filming Saoirse started her training regime, working out for ‘five or six’ hours each day in the gym, lifting weights and building up her slender frame. Each night, she would have one-on-one lessons in martial arts, mostly Wing Chun, a Chinese discipline that focuses on close combat. “I’d never trained in a gym before or done anything like that. I did athletics and other sports when I was younger but it’s not really the same as this kind of training because you are using your whole body and you are trying to build up your strength and your physical appearance as well. So it was hard to start with but I did get used to it.
“My Dad has been involved in martial arts since he was a little kid and I really loved doing it and it was satisfying and fun. When you do the fight choreography it sort of feels like a dance because it’s very graceful. “And the style that Jeff Imada (stunt coordinator) came up with was very graceful for me and suited the character perfectly and was a lot of fun. But I also got to work with guns and knives and bow and arrows as well and that was brilliant. I mean, who gets to do that?” She also had plenty of encouragement from Eric Bana, who plays her screen father. “I had trained in LA and Ireland maybe two months before we started rehearsing and I think he started training around that time as well. Eric had done that kind of stuff before in other films. “And then when we arrived in Berlin for rehearsals we spent pretty much the whole week just fighting together and working out the choreography with Jeff (Imada). “So we went through all of that together, which was good. And on the second week of rehearsal Eric, Joe and I started to look at the scenes in depth and work out the dramatic side of it. So Eric and I spent a lot of time together.” The production filmed in exotic locations in several different countries and experienced extreme temperatures. “It was really, really cold in Finland. We all freak out here (in London) when it’s like minus 5 or something and believe me, that’s nothing compared to minus 30 in Finland. “And the harsh thing was that everyone else had these thermal suits on and Eric and I would be in costume wearing fingerless gloves. I was very cold! And then we went to film in Morocco in May or June where it was starting to get pretty hot, like 48, 50 degrees, so it was quite a contrast on this film.” Saoirse’s father, Paul, is a well-respected actor and some of her earliest memories of visiting film sets where he was working. “The first one I remember was when I was about six years old and I was doing this short movie. I was only on for a day or something and it was one of those kind of artsy, independent short movies. I was dressed as a clown – I don’t know why! And that’s the first memory I have of a film set.” She can’t remember exactly when she decided that she wanted to follow her father and become an actor but she clearly loves her chosen career. “Ever since I was born my Dad always had the camcorder out and I’ve always liked being in front of the camera. “I like being in front of the camera but I also enjoy being behind the camera as well, but yeah, it’s always been something that’s been natural for me to do. And when I got into it, I really liked it because it was good fun. “When I did Atonement, which was a very serious thing for me to do, I was only 12 at the time, and I worked with great people, and Joe is a brilliant director for any actor to work with. I had a great experience because of that and it was something that I just couldn’t imagine giving up.” In recent years, she’s worked with some of the very best directors – Peter Jackson (The Lovely Bones), Peter Weir (The Way Home) and of course Joe Wright – and filming has taken her all over the world. She wouldn’t change a thing, she says. “I don’t feel like I’ve had to grow up faster because of my job. In a way, it helps to be a child when you are acting because children always act, especially when they are younger. “As we all know, children pretend they are pilots, or firemen, or astronauts, or dogs or something. And that’s always something that they do, so it’s natural for a child to pretend. “I’ve never felt like I’ve had to grow up more quickly than others or anything like that. I think being around adults an awful lot and being involved in really in depth stories and having to think about characters, and things like that, has certainly helped me to mature. But I’ve always been kind of mature anyway, without forgetting that I’m a kid. I still feel like a teenager.”
Q: You look striking in the film. It’s something to do with the eyebrows.. A: (laughs) Completely! They structure your face and without them you are lost. At the start of filming I was very conscious of the fact that I had no eyebrows and it’s funny because it was about one season before the bleached eyebrows look came in. Last year all those models had bleached eyebrows so I was one season ahead! The make-up artist gave me make-up to fill in my eyebrows if I wanted it but it wasn’t the same. Q: You’ve made a lot of films now, so how does Hanna compare? It was obviously a very physical role, so was it hard for you in that respect? A: Yeah, it was a hard film to make - physically it was hard. It was great fun to make and the people, the cast and crew, were really great. Working with Joe again was lovely and obviously we already knew each other and on Hanna we got to know each other even better, which was nice. He brought a lot of the crew from Atonement and the other films that he’s worked on and so that was lovely too. But physically it was tough. I had a lot of fight scenes to do and I did everything myself, and then if there was something that was very dangerous, the stunt double would take over. But I was very much involved in that side of it, so it was tiring. But it was fun, too. Q: Is it satisfying to learn those physical skills? A: It is. It’s fantastic to do that physical stuff. My Dad has been involved in martial arts since he was a little kid and I really loved doing it and it was satisfying and fun. When you do the fight choreography is sort of feels like a dance because it’s very graceful. And the style that Jeff Imada, the stunt coordinator came up with was very graceful for me and suited the character perfectly and was a lot of fun/ But I also got to work with guns and knives and bow and arrows as well and that was brilliant. I mean, who gets to do that? Q: So could you handle yourself in real life? A: No one is going to mess with me (laughs). No one is going to come near me! Q: Seriously, is it empowering? A: Yeah, I did train for a few months and I knew how to do the fights. But I think I’d need to train a little bit more in order to feel safe walking down the street on my own. But I think that is something that is very important, especially for women, and men now, to have that kind of skill and that would be one of the main reasons why I’d want to do it again. Q: Hanna is only 16, so she’s younger than most male action heroes, let alone most women? A: Yeah, most of them, except for Chloe Moretz (laughs). Q: Do you think there will be comparison with your performance in Hanna and Chloe’s performance in Kick-Ass? A: Yeah, that’s the one that’s going to come up the most, I think. But I think once people see the film, they’ll see we are so different. For a start, I don’t have that awesome purple wig (laughs). But I don’t think they are that similar really. Hanna is a strange character – even if she wasn’t an action hero or whatever you want to call her. We worked on her appearance and we thought she was quite similar to a white wolf or some sort of fox. She’s been brought up in the forest her whole life and she’s only ever had human contact with her father. She trains every day, she hunts for her food and that seemed very relevant to her as a person. So that was the first thing that we worked on and we built up the character from there. It actually helped me to find her as a character. Q: What kind of training did you have to do? A: It was hard especially for the first week or so. I’d never trained in a gym before or done anything like that. I did athletics and other sports when I was younger but it’s not really the same as this kind of training because you are using your whole body and you are trying to build up your strength and your physical appearance as well. So it was hard to start with but I did get used to it. Q: Were there days when you thought ‘I’ve had enough?’ A: Every now and again I kind of felt like “God, can I just stay in bed today? (laughs). But I am a very motivated person I think and especially when it comes to work. If I know something has to be done, I’ll do it. And I knew this had to be done, so I did it. I trained in Ireland before I started on the movie and I’d go to the gym during the day and then I’d have martial arts training in the evening and it just became a routine. Q: She’s a very complex character – there’s an innocence about her because she hasn’t had any contact with the outside world, she’s naïve and yet physically very strong, almost like a wild animal. Was that difficult to play? A: We started with the physical side of the character. Joe and I worked on her movements – she’s like a wild animal in a way, like a wolf approaching its prey, who is quite light on its feet and very focused on what its about to kill and nothing gets in the way. There’s a fierce determination there and I think that’s something that was integral to Hanna as a person, in her energy and in everything that she does. And when she does step out into the world, it’s the same kind of thing - she’s just hunting her prey. So all of that really helped and also, even though externally it seems like her situation is quite different to ours, really she’s going through the same thing that every teenager goes through, which is stepping out into the world when you are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, thinking that it’s going to be great and everything is going to be perfect and everyone is going to fall in love and it’s going to be lovely, and it’s not like that. It’s hard and it’s frightening and not everything goes the way you planned. And that was something that I could relate to and I hope that other younger people and older people who will have obviously gone through it as well, will be able to relate to that too, because it is a feeling of isolation that she has and she doesn’t know anyone and she doesn’t understand anyone and there are plenty of kids that feel that way. So I was able to relate to her, and that helped. Q: Your father, Paul, worked with Cate Blanchett on Veronica Guerin. Did you meet her at that time? A: No, I didn’t. I had never met her before but I knew that my Dad had worked with her five years before and she made a great impression on him so it was nice to meet her finally. And she’s exactly what Dad said, she’s really lovely and takes her job very seriously and she’s very professional and focused and that’s fantastic. I would like to be that way as well. Q: One of the themes of Hanna is a young girl coming of age and finding her way in a strange world. Do you feel you’ve had to grow up faster because of your job and the characters you’ve had to play? A: No, I don’t feel like I’ve had to grow up faster because of my job. In a way, it helps to be a child when you are acting because children always act, especially when they are younger. As we all know, children pretend they are pilots, or firemen, or astronauts, or dogs or something. And that’s always something that they do, so it’s natural for a child to pretend. I’ve never felt like I’ve had to grow up more quickly than others or anything like that. I think being around adults an awful lot and being involved in really in depth stories and having to think about characters, and things like that, has certainly helped me to mature. But I’ve always been kind of mature anyway, without forgetting that I’m a kid. I still feel like a teenager.
Q: But some of the roles you have played have been very demanding. I’m thinking of The Lovely Bones and indeed, Hanna.. A: Yes, but it’s nice work. It doesn’t feel like office work or anything like that - it’s fun and you couldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun and you didn’t enjoy it. Because it is hard, you work long hours. It’s certainly not a nine to five job – sometimes you have to get up at 5.30 in the morning and you don’t get home until 8 at night. You do it because you love it and I love it and I’ve been luckily enough to work with great people who have been lovely to me and have been fun and interested in the same things as me. It’s been great. Q: You grew up visiting film sets but when was the first time you thought ‘that’s it, I want to be an actress?’ A: Ever since I was born my Dad always had the camcorder out and I’ve always liked being in front of the camera. I also enjoy being behind the camera as well, and but yeah, it’s always been something that’s been natural for me to do. When I did Atonement, I was only 12 at the time, and I worked with great people, and Joe is a brilliant director for any actor to work with. I had a great experience because of that and it was something that I just at the time couldn’t imagine giving up. Q: Hanna could become an action heroine for young women. Like a female James Bond – maybe Jane Blond! A: (laughs). Great! When I was younger I loved the fairytale characters, like most girls do, and I’d watch films like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty all of the time. And it’s interesting because there are fairytale aspects to Hanna – everything is sort of built up from fairytales. I loved the Harry Potter books and films when I was younger and I used to want to be like Hermione, like every young girl in the world. So that’s what I was thinking about when I was a kid. Q: How cold was it when you were filming Hanna in Finland? A: Minus 30 degrees - it was really, really cold in Finland. We all freak out here when it’s like minus 5 or something and believe me, that’s nothing compared to minus 30 in Finland. And the harsh thing was that everyone else had these thermal suits on and Eric and I would be in costume wearing fingerless gloves. I was very cold! And then we went to film in Morocco in May or June where it was starting to get pretty hot, like 48, 50 degrees, so it was quite a contrast on this film. Q: What was it like working with Joe again? A: It was great to work with Joe again and I think it was an even better experience this time because we knew each other so much better. We’d already had a great experience together on Atonement and got along really well and I think we became proper friends on Hanna. We have a great understanding of one another, especially when we are on set together. Q: The early part of the film is just you and Eric Bana, who plays your father. That must have been intense, so what was he like to work with? A: Eric is lovely and very down to earth and he’s a good actor and very funny. He’s hilarious to be around - we were in minus 30 degrees and he’d keep us laughing though the whole day. So it was great to work with someone who would keep everything sort of light. And he is very much a family man and his kids came on set a few times with his wife. He’s such a lovely guy. Q: Did you actually train together? A: Yeah, we did quite a bit together. I had trained in LA and Ireland maybe two months before we started rehearsing and I think he started training around that time as well. Eric had done that kind of stuff, before in other films. And then when we arrived in Berlin for rehearsals we spent pretty much the whole week just fighting together and working out the choreography with Jeff (Imada, stunt coordinator). So we went through all of that together, which was good. And on the second week of rehearsal Eric, Joe and I started to look at the scenes in depth and work out the dramatic side of it. So Eric and I spent a lot of time together. Q: I remember talking to you when The Lovely Bones was released and you were saying that you would like to go to college at some point. Is that still what you hope to do? A: I do want to go to college. I’d like to study film history or something like that but that’s not the only thing I want to study because I want to know about the world and not just film. I’d like to study philosophy and art and things like that – things that interest me. I think it’s really important that if you get the chance, you should have the experience of going to university. So that’s what I hope to do. Q: What interests have you got outside of work? A: Oh, you know, music, clothes and friends! (laughs). The same as every other girl my age, really. Q: Who are you listening to? A: I love Florence and The Machine. I love Fleetwood Mac, U2 and I’ve been listening to a lot of Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin – a lot of stuff my Dad likes. Artic Monkeys are awesome, obviously and I love The Beach House. I love David Bowie and The Beatles later stuff is amazing, like The White Album. And I love Lady Gaga. Q: Is it true that you and Jesscia Barden (who plays Sophie in Hanna) were doing a bit of a Lady Gaga rendition on set? A: (laughs). Yes, definitely! We used to do our Lady Gaga routine when we were in hair and make up. Dance in the Dark was our anthem on Hanna! I really love Lady Gaga, not because she shocks people but because she is a very, very fiercely creative person from New York City. She doesn’t really mix with the whole celebrity world or anything like that – she’s a very cool girl, she writes her own music, she’s a fantastic singer and she’s created her own world for her and her fans. She loves her fans and we all love her. I think she’s great. Q: Do you get to gigs? A: I’ve gone to a few and l would like to go to more but we live in the country and most of the gigs are in Dublin. I’m going to Oxygen this year, which is the music festival in Dublin, and I’m really very excited about that. A few people have been confirmed - Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Black Eyed Peas, so it’s going to be very cool! Q: That’s great. Let’s hope work doesn’t get in the way of that one A: (laughs). When I think about scripts now, I’m thinking, ‘is this going to clash with Oxygen?’ I’m actually thinking that now, honestly! It’s important. Q: What about fashion? A: Oh yes, I love clothes. I think it’s a great way to express yourself and with stores like Top Shop and Urban Outfitters and H&M, you can find really great stuff and express yourself. I love seeing what women like Lady Gaga and Florence Welch wear – they’re really different. I love clothes, like Miu-Miu, which I wore recently, and I so love their stuff. I’ve actually got a few bags from them as well! You can’t have enough bags (laughs). Q: What about films and books? A: I love to watch movies and I think there are good quality films coming out now, a lot of really good independent films. I’m getting more educated about modern film, which is important, I think. But it’s good to get away from films sometimes because it can feel a bit like work. That’s why I love music so much and I love to read books, too. I’ve been reading Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, which is just fantastic. Q: Have you got your next film lined up? A: No, nothing definite. Everything is kind of up in the air at the moment. There are a few projects that we are looking at but there’s nothing solid. So we have lots to check out. Actually, as long as I get to Oxygen I don’t care! (laughs). |
