Saoirse Ronan recalls ‘emotional impact’ of playing an alcoholic in new film

‘It’s something I’ve been very familiar with most of my life,’ the actor said

Saoirse Ronan has opened up about how playing an alcoholic in Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun had a profound effect on her.

The Little Women actor, 30, stars in the adaptation of Scottish journalist Amy Liptrot’s award-winning memoir, which tells the story of a young woman, Rona, who returns to her rural family home in Orkney after struggling with addiction while living in London.

Ronan, who has been tipped for an Oscar for her performance in the drama, admitted the affinity she felt for the source text took her by surprise.

Speaking to Channel 4, the Lovely Bones star said: “I had no idea and was so not prepared for how much of an emotional impact it would have on me. How connected I would be to the material.”

She added: “Not only the topic itself of addiction and alcoholism but how it was being written about, the fact it was being written from a young woman’s point of view.”

The Irish actor admitted she had seen loved ones and friends struggle with alcohol addiction in the past.

“It’s something I’ve been very familiar with most of my life,” she said. “That was another reason why I think eventually it was a topic that I wanted to explore in film.”

Saoirse Ronan in ‘The Outrun’ (Studiocanal/ YouTube)

Ronan admitted she hadn’t always been emotionally prepared to explore addiction on screen. “I don’t think I felt like I was personally at a strong enough place within myself to take that on until we actually did [with filming] a few years ago,” she said.

“When you’re a loved one or a family member of someone who’s going through that particular addiction, there’s so much confusion and resentment and frustration around it,” she added.

“Alcoholism in particular, from what I know and what I’ve learnt from this experience, drink is so accessible. It’s a particular substance that we all build our whole lives around.”

Ronan in Greta Gerwig’s ‘Lady Bird' (Focus Features)

Last month, Ronan reportedly married her long term partner Jack Lowden in a secret ceremony in Edinburgh, Scotland with a handful of their closest friends and family present.

The Irish actor, who had her breakthrough role playing Keira Knightley’s younger sister in 2007’s acclaimed drama Atonement, met Lowden in 2018 on set for Mary Queen of Scots, in which she played Mary Stuart and he played the monarch’s husband, Lord Darnley.

Ronan, a four-time Oscar nominee, reportedly purchased a home with Lowden in west Cork in 2020. The pair live together in north London, with their terrier, Fran.

Lowden’s production company, Arcade Pictures, which he set up with Ronan and producer Dominic Norris, is behind The Outrun, which is slated for release in the UK on 27 September.