Saoirse Ronan Biography

Saoirse Ronan is the Irish actress who was first nominated for an Oscar at age 13 for her supporting role in the 2007 film Atonement, and gained greater fame for her turn as the heroic Jo in Little Women (2019).

Born in New York to Irish parents, Saoirse Ronan grew up in County Carlow, Ireland and began acting in TV productions in 2003. As an elder teen she focused on feature films, receiving the praise of critics for nearly all her performances, even in poorly-received movies such as I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007) or Death Defying Acts (2008, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones).

She was Oscar-nominated for her Atonement role as Briony Tallis, the young teen who wrongly accuses her older sister’s lover of a crime. Over the next few years she made a habit of Oscar nominations, winning them as an Irish emigrant who finds love in Brooklyn (2015); as a discontent teen in Greta Gerwig‘s directorial debut, Lady Bird (2017); and as Jo, the proud and aspiring writer in Gerwig’s 2019 remake of Little Women.

Saoirse Ronan’s other films include The Lovely Bones (2009, directed by Peter Jackson), City of Ember (2008, with Bill Murray), The Way Back (2010, starring Colin Farrell), Hanna (2011, with Ronan as a fist-fighting Nordic teen and featuring Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana), Byzantium (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2013, with Bill Murray).