Saoirse Ronanis having a moment.
Which is not necessarily a new experience, given she has four Oscar nominations to her credit.
I think thats become more important, the older that Ive gotten.
Saoirse Ronan in ‘The Outrun’Sony Pictures Classics
DEADLINE:What was it aboutBlitzthat drew you to it?
DEADLINE:You came out of a self-imposed break to work with Steve McQueen?
What is attractive about his filmmaking?
Elliott Heffernan & Saoirse Ronan inBlitz.Courtesy of Apple
RONAN: I love his taste.
I think hes a very smart filmmaker.
You dont often get both.
Its supportive, and it makes you feel like nothings really off the table.
DEADLINE:Youve seen his work onscreen.
What is his process like to achieve that?
RONAN: He will never overdo something.
It depends on the scale of the production.
For what, I dont know.
I dont think it really achieves anything at all.
So, to be working with a director who would never milk it, is lovely.
You really feel valued as a performer.
RONAN: Im not a mother.
I learned a lot from those dynamics.
I think I am quite maternal.
Thats a state that I feel quite comfortable to be in.
That was really built off our relationship off-set.
We became very close.
Really, I just wanted him to feel that we could be pals without anything ever feeling contrived.
Shes absolutely lived a life.
But she is still young, and I wanted to incorporate that into how she is as a mother.
DEADLINE:Would you have believed that this was Elliott Heffernans first acting gig?
As your son George?
I really wouldnt have.
He was so professional, so diligent and studious, but also very confident and relaxed on set.
He was just really in his element.
But he found his place on set very quickly and loved it.
You could tell he was empowered by it all.
And Elliott was so open and confident in what he was doing.
He was very malleable, but also was able to take the lead as well.
DEADLINE:Were there any unexpected challenges in doingBlitz?
RONAN: You know, what was hard was not being in all the time.
DEADLINE:You also came from having control ofThe Outrunas producer to solely acting again.
Was it hard to revert back to that?
Weve just lost that location, which is for a really pivotal scene.
DEADLINE:Why was Rona, inThe Outrun, the role you needed to play?
And my performance could really reflect all the ebbs and flows of that.
So, from a performance perspective, it just widened the goalposts.
I needed to get to a point where I wasnt just angry at the thing anymore.
Id spent my whole life just being angry at the thing, because thats the easiest emotion to feel.
I needed to get to some semblance of understanding, or empathy, which will always be difficult.
RONAN: I think it was absolutely essential that I didnt separate it too much.
The reason I signed up to this is because it was a personal feat that I had to overcome.
There were moments where it was fairly overwhelming.
But Im so grateful that it came along when it did.
Was it hard to shake it off at the end of the day when its so personal?
It wasnt hard because, actually, it was my therapy.
Thats what [author]Amy Liptrot says about the book.
She says that nobody comes out worse in that book than she does.
Like, shes not doing herself any favors.
We felt like we were a part of something that was calm and supportive.
If anyone needed time away from set, we could have it.
If I direct one day, I will always want to have that sort of atmosphere on my set.
But you are not alone.
Do you get self-conscious anymore when it comes to your work?
RONAN: Oh, not at all.
I get embarrassed at stupid things, but Ive never been embarrassed in that way.
I realized that recently actually.
Little Elliott was interviewing me and he asked me, What advice would you give to a young person?
Ive always felt very proud of what I do.
As in, the job that I have.
I feel very unembarrassed by it.
Theres a power that the camera has over me, which I havent really experienced onstage.
Thats also paired with wanting people to think that your performance is good.
Its such a strange contradiction, but the feeling of it is very freeing for me.
DEADLINE:Why was the singing particularly nerve-wracking?
RONAN: Because thats not my job.
I think thats a gift from God.
I can hold a tune, but Im not a singer.
DEADLINE:I want to ask about the lambing scene inThe Outrun.
I understand it was quite complicated to capture that.
Other than being able to do something very unique, why was it important to the film?
RONAN: So, we actually did it before we started.
We did principal photography in the summer, and lambing up in Orkney is around April.
At the time, I had just finished another job, and I was like, Really, Nora?
Do we really need to go up to Orkney now?
And she was adamant that she wanted to do this.
What we got was so incredible.
Its also showing us, at the end of the day, how black and white life can be.
Youre either alive or youre dead.
Theres a brutality to it.
Im glad she made me do it in the end.
I delivered, like, seven lambs.
DEADLINE:Was it just the coolest thing?
It was so intense, and the noises that those ewes made were insane.
It was so magical.
