This picture of Saoirse Ronan was taken at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala on Saturday where she was presented with the International Star Award. You can see her dress below. It’s Duro Olowu and has too many competing florals for my taste. The shoes are TO DIE FOR but sadly, I can’t find the designer ID.
My first exposure to Saoirse as an actor was Atonement. Few things can distract me from James McAvoy but by gum, she did. Saoirse navigates her career well and consistently turns in solid performances in varied roles. She is clever and engaging in interviews and appears fairly grounded; I wish she held workshops on how to adult. This awards seasons, Saoirse has already been nominated for Critics Choice, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards for her role in Brooklyn and is expected to receive her second Oscar nod. She recently did a THR Awards Chatter podcast, you can read it and download the podcast here:
On Her Name: “When I was a child and nobody else was called Saoirse — for the record, it’s ‘Sir-shuh’ like inertia, although people in Ireland actually pronounce it ‘Seer-shuh,’ so take your pick — I thought, ‘Oh, I’d like a normal name,’ just because I was a kid. But the older I got, I decided I was never gonna change anything for anyone.”
On her role in Brooklyn: “I felt a huge responsibility to not mess it up for everyone, for the first couple of weeks especially. There was nowhere to hide. I wasn’t in heaven, I wasn’t a vampire, I wasn’t an assassin. This was the hardest thing for me, to be able to play someone whose identity was so similar to mine. I mean, this felt like it was my identity, and I was still kind of coming to terms with that myself.”
On the nominations for Brooklyn: “It was the first time I felt fear, I really didn’t think that I’d get through it most days. That’s why it’s so amazing that this [the celebration of her performance] is going on! To be able to walk through that fire and have all of this happen? I’m still pinching myself and I’ll continue to pinch myself.”
On her transformation on film: “I got to wear dresses and sunglasses and lipstick. Probably for the first time people actually went, ‘Oh, she’s female! She’s a woman! She’s a girl!'”
It’s an interesting point about recognition for a role that took a toll rather than one that didn’t. Saoirse received her first Oscar nomination as Supporting Actress, along with several other nominations, for Atonement at age 13. I know some actors worry that award recognition too young can be detrimental to child actors so it is especially poignant that she feels she can really enjoy this moment in her career. I imagine as long as Saoirse is making movies, her name will come up during awards season.
Saoirse recently credited Ryan Gosling for getting Americans to pronounce her name correctly, calling him “a Blond Canadian Jesus.” I kind of love the idea of water being turned into maple syrup.
Photo Credit: WENN, PRPhotos, Fame Pictures and Getty Images
She is so beautiful.
Inside and out.
I never get tired of Lovely Bones … it’s timeless. Funny how she looks so different, but maybe she was younger than I thought.
She was amazing in Brooklyn. Any award she receives is well deserved.
I think she is deserving too! I have a story to share: my husband is a voting member of the DGA and receives screeners around this year for consideration. He has absolutely consumed the Hateful Eight, The Martian, The Revenant, The Big Short, Beasts of No Nation, Spotlight– all well made and great films in their own right. Films like “Brooklyn” and “Carol” have sat unopened on his coffee table. I made him watch Brooklyn (which I found charming and moving, Saoirse deserves her accolades), but he reacted as though I had made him watch all episodes of KUWTK. He just does not respond to anything with a female POV (as his wife, believe me on this one). It was disheartening and infuriating bc he is the one with vote, and I remember all of last year award’s season main complaint that there were too many stories from the WASP male perspective. This film had absolutely no appeal to him, and was he wrong for it? I couldn’t stand the Revenant, but bc I’m a woman,is it ok for me not to like it?
Anyway, I know this is wrong, but I’m considering poaching his ballot and submitting it with my votes. I know this is wrong, but he will just vote from his male perspective. I know I am wrong for this, but I feel that sometimes, you have to rebel and throw a wrench in the machine, esp the Hollywood one. This is my way.
Do itttttttttt
That’s really interesting, thanks for sharing it.
My feeling is, not every film is going to connect with every person. People like what they like, and that’s fine. Most guys I know wouldn’t have much interest in Brooklyn either.
But…if a person is a professional who is voting in a category, I would hope they watch every movie or performance up for consideration, and with an open mind that even if the film itself didn’t appeal to them, a performance or something else may be worthy of recognition.
I have a similar tale with friends who are in the PGA, DGA, WGA. I also have friends who work for the academy itself.
My personal beef, is that so-called women’s films tend to be weak. As in all the titles mentioned by Annaloo, that her hubby is watching, are about something. They hit you, grab you and do stuff, hold your attention. Women’s films need some patience and most people can’t be bothered. I can’t be bothered.
One of my friends has been an entertainment lawyer for more than 30yrs and he can’t watch films anymore. It’s all about the press kit. He’ll tell you how the film will unfold based on that. And he’s usually right.
Personally, 20mins seems to be my limit with films. If I stay longer than that, i’m recommending it to everyone.
In terms of the ballots, I know which films my friends are going to vote for, and if I were a voting member, I would vote the same way.
Lisa2: there are far too many films to see everything. People do become sheeple in the end in terms of voting for what everyone else is voting for or what PR is saying everyone else is voting for. Sometimes it is the one who shouts the loudest, usually Harvey in recent years, who gets his films seen. It becomes a self fulfilling PR move.
🙂 I know hijacking my husband’s ballot will not overturn the industry, but I feel like we are livingin a time when everyone is calling attention to lack of diversity in many aspects of American life, especially Hollywood… so what will or should be done about it, if at all? Is it just the natural course of things, which is why certain groups have dominated their fields so long? Is it just a given? Do we resign ourselves that women’s films are “weak”? – Honestly, I did not find Brooklyn “weak”, not in the slightest! Nuanced, yes, and building – certainly not the kick and punch of The Hateful Eight, eg – but if anything, it was enrapturing to me bc I felt I could relate via my experience as a young woman leaving Colorado to start a new life in NYC (which also brought me the aforementioned husband!) I was so pleased after watching it, I felt very touched.
I guess my question is if there is any point in fighting against the system if – like LAK creditably states – “most people can’t be bothered”? It reminds me of the mega-music festivals of the 90s, Lillith vs Lollapalooza. No doubt having someone like Sarah Laughlin perform on the same bill as Janes Addiction would be too jarring and their vibes are very different, so different festivals were born.. but awards and the accolades come from singular sources: the Oscars, the DGA, the Golden Globes, etc…there are no separate awards show, which lead to a film’s further success.
It’s like, how does the quiet person in the back of the class get someone to see the type of quiet, amazing and intimate magical work that she is doing too when all the boys are making explosions or flying spaceships in the front? Will she always be overlooked for praise and unrecognized bc she doesn’t fit the mold? Is she less valid to the masses bc she’s not got a guy trapped on the planet Mars or a man cgi not-raped by a bear? Again, those are fine films, but this POV is kind of how I see “Brooklyn” – quiet, but powerful. But we will see the Revenant will get the attention…I just hate seeing it reinforced that women or minority or alternate POV films are unrelatable to the mainstream masses at large..
It’s a very good movie, but considering it was a period piece set in the 50s and it wasn’t a ‘based on a true story’ movie, it’s kinda remarkable (at least to me), that it was made, much less well-received, since the protagonist was female and not played by HW’s usual suspects.
I think she’s so beautiful and a good actress, but I don’t think Brooklyn looks good at all – based on the trailers. It looks romantic and pretty, sure, but soo cheesy.
I don’t think Brooklyn was all that, to be honest. But I love Saoirse as an actress and hope she gets an Oscar nom because she’s so underrated.
Glimmer bunny, you should give it a go. Beautifully photographed and brilliantly acted, it is an adult love story and is anything but cheesy.
It’s a lovely movie – not cheesy at all.
I also have an Irish name and when I was small, I wished like anything that I just had a “normal name”. It’s not that my name is difficult to pronounce, but the spelling throws everyone off. Now I’m glad I have it. However it has meant a lifetime of spelling my name and then correcting folks’ mispronunciation!
How timely, Justme. I’ve always had a thing about names – I just love knowing what people are named. I’m Italian, and always had my name Anglicised, but in recent years, have reverted to my birth name. I was having lunch with a bunch if girl friends today, and the topic came around to names. I don’t know why they all were surprised when I told them I really love Irish names. Upon reflection and consideration, it’s likely because of the years I spent in a convent-orphanage after my father died when I was 5. My best friend was Irish. She was so beautiful – black hair, dark blue eyes and porcelain skin…and the kindest, funniest friend. Her widowed dad used to visit her every two weeks. After a few months, he’d bring me a little treat, along with the something special he always had for her. After three years, she left to live with her dad again. I remember being gutted…I had hopes of us being “sisters” after he married my mother…
My daughter’s friend is Saoirse as well and we have an Irish girl at work named Aoife (“eefa”). Lovely names and we made the effort to get the pronounciation right. I ask Aoife questions just to hear her beautiful accent.
I like this actress…even in The Host.
I absolutely hate cheesy movies and rom coms and romance in almost everything but i cried through Brooklyn. I think you should give it a chance.
It’s a great film and the trailer doesn’t really do it justice because the plot is rather simple but the story is really profound. It’s not rom-com like at all although there is some romance in the plot.
Read the book! Or read a review for the book, and then you’ll have a better idea of the movie. It’s sad and beautiful.
Yes! Nick Hornby wrote it, and in most cases, adaptations of his work are pretty solid.
I didn’t find it at all cheesy. It’s a quiet little film, but a good one, and her performance is worth seeing.
Brooklyn is one of my films of 2015. I hope she wins. 🇮🇪
She’s so cute! And seems lovely. (I’m having a hard time not focusing on the photo with McAvoy though!)
More Saoirse news, please!
She’s lovely, always so composed with a huge amount of talent.
I feel for her – a lot of people can’t pronounce my name properly, particularly from North America 🙁
Some of my ancestors were Irish, so I hope it’s ok if I mention that the Irish seem to have gone off on their own pronunciation tangent. I’m sure there are rules I don’t know about, but it seems like they just string letters together to form a word and decide later how to pronounce it.
Yeah it’s almost like we have our own language!
I thought most Irish people spoke Gaelic as a second language, if at all. Is that wrong?
GNAT sorry bad joke on my part in response to your comment about us stringing letters together. Most people here speak Irish as a second language but it is dying out, it is the third most spoken language with Polish now second and fun fact Saoirse is an Irish word meaning freedom. It is one of many traditional Irish names with spelling that confounds people, see also Domhnall Gleeson.
Hahahaha Zapp!!
I get what your saying GNAT but our names/words/place names all have meaning and aren’t just letters strung together or weird pronunciation, same as any language, it may seem odd to non speakers but it doesn’t mean we’re making stuff up. And yes there are rules, as with any language, letters pronunciation may change depending on the proceeding letter as an example.
Saoirse’s name is the Irish word for Freedom or Liberty.
I think Irish names are beautiful and the spelling is part of the Irish language, also beautiful. I thought Brooklyn was wonderful but then I loved the book. For anyone not convinced that Irish is a language worth preserving have a listen to Larla O’Lionaird who sings on the film. Stonking (as we say in my equally incomprehensible part of the woods)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=245xrbKuPdM
ETA – just caught Ninks comment below and changed Gaelic to Irish – glad I now know the difference
Some of my favorite Irish names: Clodagh, Niambh, Aisling. If I spelled them correctly…
Thanks Lindy79 & Frisbee. Imagine what I go through every day!
*snort*
I’ve not spoken Irish (AKA Irish Gaelic to some) in so long I’ve forgotten most of it. It is such a beautiful language.
For the record, it’s Irish, not Gaelic. Gaelic is an umbrella term and usually refers to the native language of Scotland. Irish is the native language of Ireland. It’s a dying language however, caused by centuries of cultural oppression and a century of a terrible language policy when we became independent. It’s compulsory in schools so most people have some Irish, but sadly only a small minority are fluent or use it in their day to day lives.
I have a fairly common Irish name and it can be hilarious when non Irish people try to get their minds around the pronunciation, but I travelled Australia for a few months once and ended up telling people my name was Ann because it gets tiring after a while, so I definitely feel for Saoirse. But, as a (probably) two times Oscar nominated actress, people will probably start getting her name right. At least journalists and people in the industry anyway.
GNAT – Irish might be a secondary language to many but it is still our national language. The language is in the middle of a revival beginning with Irish names – and part of that is ensuring the correct pronunciation of names both first and last.
Names in other languages can look like they were just thrown together with the pronunciation decided later and I’m sure other cultures would also want the names pronounced properly.
Well, Irish is a different language to English, you know. Any language could look like just stringing letters together if you don’t speak it. No need to be mean about it!
On the Irish name thing, I also have a very Irish name, complete with a very old Irish way of spelling it which causes confusion *everywhere* – Ireland included. Like Saoirse, I used to wish for something simpler, but I decided to try and enjoy it. Can be a pain in the arse at times though!
As I said earlier about my own Irish name — I have spelled it out my entire life! I always try to make sure people learn how to pronounce it before I let them see how it is spelled. If they see the spelling first, they inevitably mispronounce it from then on (all my teachers in school did!) I have had people snarkily say about my name, “oh those strange names parents make up for their children these days” It is nice to be able to inform them that my name is actually very very old, borne by both an ancient Irish goddess and an early Celtic saint (maybe one and the same!)
My parents named me Caitrin, which has resulted in me being told my entire 36 years that i misspell my name. Upside? They gave me an Americanized pronunciation, and then proceeded to call me Caiti.
But yeah, ladies, I feel you. For maybe a half-second I tried to convince Mr. Cait that we should give our kids Irish names. He wasn’t feeling a Fionnuala or a Niamh, though.
Justme, I suspect that we may have the same name! My name is Céire, but it’s pronounced Keira, or Ciara, or Keera, or whatever way you want to spell it. She was a Celtic Saint, but my version is a very auld way of spelling it. As you can imagine, the fada over the first e causes enough problems on its own 😀
Cait, ive not heard that version of the name before, but I really like it! I’d be tempted to soften the t in Caitrin, is that right? Kind of like Caitchreen?
My daughter is Siobhán. I have the rather pedestrian name Brenna. I grew up in an children’s home in Ireland amongst Aoibheann, Niam’s, Álainn, Caitriona, and several Máires.
I finally learned how to say Siobhán when I read a book about a girl whose name was spelled ‘Shevaun’ and the other character with the Irish name said that’s how you say my name too. I was so excited to find out. Silly I know.
If my name was Irish it would be Siobhan, and then I would have spent all these years being called Sy – o – ban and losing all the evocative glamour the proper pronunciation has in spades!
Learned how to pronounce Siobhán from Ryan’s Hope …
Lurker – yes! My grandparents (one from Cork, one from up in Fermanagh – both of them immigrants to Brooklyn!) pronounced it with that softness – Caht-chreeeeeen. However, I grew up in the south, so it’s KAY-trin. Sadly, I’m generally called Caitlin, Katrina, Catherine, Kuh-TREEN and every other derivation thereof.
Curses. ::shakes first::
@lurker. No we don’t have the same
name. I share mine with Enya!
I’m really sorry, Irish people. I was making a little joke and it fell flat and came out as offensive to you. That wasn’t my intention. Sorry for not knowing the correct name (Irish) and the umbrella thing and all the rest or thinking my comment through. Thank you for correcting me. I guess my Irish ancestors are very embarrassed right now.
But your comments produced a very interesting series of posts GNAT so it’s all good!
GNAT -you made people talk about irish names 😊 and brought the irish out to talk on celebitchy! Nothing to apologise for
Thank you both – you are very, very kind. I will try to remove my foot from my mouth without saying anything stupid. 😧
Please excuse my ignorance if this isn’t correct, but I thought Irish was originally a spoken language rather than a written one? In which case why didn’t they simply adopt phonetic spellings? I am descended from a tribal culture which also had oral traditions and when we started using written language we just wrote it the way it sounded.
As far as I know, the language did begin as spoken, but has been written since the 3rd or 4th century. It evolved like any other language. So, it wouldn’t have been possible to change it to be more like English – otherwise, wouldn’t you say the same thing about every language? Languages are weird to those who don’t speak them, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong or incorrect. I guess the best way of explaining it, is that, to Irish people, the Irish language IS phonetic. That’s how it works. 😀
I hadn’t even heard of this movie, but it sounds right up my alley. Yes, she was fantastic in Atonement.
Did you like Atonement? I read the book, and so did my husband. He completely saw the ending coming, but I was blown away. It made me so upset I was scared to see the movie. Lol
I loved most of it, but I can’t remember now what it was but part of the second half left me disappointed.
That dress is ugly
The dress is horrible, but those pearls are stunning. They’re lost against the Hippie Grannie print and the dull neckline.
Love her!
I’ve never heard her name outloud so I assumed it was “sorsha” like from the movie Willow.
Ok so HOW do you pronounce her name?
Seer-shah / Seer-shuh. Her way is Sir-shuh although depending on the region in Ireland many names have slightly different pronunciations.
Sitka – I always pronounced it Sheersha, but then I’m a culchie 😃
Lurker – it’s funny how everywhere has some little differences in saying the names. People outside Ireland might not catch it but we do :D.
I’m Niamh – Neev – Nee-of or Nee-uv gets on my tits no ends but then other Niamh’s pronounce it that way! Although it’s better than Nyam which is what my European colleagues are adamant on calling me…
I’ve always loved the name Niamh, but what’s weird is that it has to be spelled that way for me. Neev or Neve or whatever just don’t seem right.
Also, call me crazy, but I get the giggles big time when foreigners try to pronounce super Irish names. Some are straightforward enough, but the likes of Sabhdh, Siobhan, Aoibhinn, Tadhgh, etc… are totally incomprehensible to lots of people, and they seem so normal to me. I love those traditional Irish names!
Her way of pronunciation is a Hiberno-english way (if not specifically a Dublin/Leinster style), a native Irish speaker would never pronounce the name that way.
It’s kinda like the way Niall is generally pronounced differently in Hiberno-English compared to in Irish (hint – in Irish it doesn’t rhyme with Nile)
I’m Irish. My first name is British. Leslie. My last name is welsh. Vaughn. But I have to spell it every time because of All the ways to spell it. But I’ve learned so much from all of you about my own ancestry. Thanks. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znCXvlhYV-Y
The correct pronunciation is so much petter than the “say-o-REES” that my brain had been thinking. She is so talented, I hope she has a long career. I find her really interesting to watch.
I thought all these years it was “Swarsay” so don’t feel bad.
That’s how I always read it too, even after learning the correct way to say it!
for the record, please find a way to see Brooklyn!
It was a beautiful film. truly.
She’s incredible, each character was. The sets and the costumes and the script, it was all amazing.
It was like a love story to every Irish or immigrated family that started in this country with their grandparents or great-grandparents coming to America with one bag and a dollar to their name.
Just gorgeous.
Brooklyn is my favourite indie film this year after Ex Machina. I thought Sairose was just excellent in her part and well above Larson but Larson has a flashier role so the Oscar may be hers. Hope she lands a big franchise role soon. Also the pic with her and MCAvoy… le swoon.
….Yes an abducted young woman with a son forced to live in a toolshed is a “flashier” role. I do not think that word means what you think it means.
i meant from an acting viewpoint obviously.
It honestly feels like you’re trying to belittle Larson’s work. Acting viewpoint sure an actor would pounce on a role like that, but it’s a meaty role that’s why. Either way Ronan and Larson are really both talented young women. And if anything Ronan’s film is much more academy friendly. It’s far more likely she wins as two past winners are in the pool and she actually has a nom under her belt. Larson is the newcomer, there’s a very small chance she wins. The nom would be the win for her.
@korra i genuinely think Larson’s film is more geared towards Academy and Larson is winning the critics awards and campaigning hard. I did very much like Larson’s character but thought her acting was not the strongest this year but will probably get noticed more due to the nature of the film.
I really disagree. I’ve seen both Brooklyn and Room and I thought that, while Ronan’s performance was excellent and fully deserving of awards, Larson’s performance was head and shoulders above any other screen acting (male or female) I’ve seen this year.
And both movies featured Domnhall Gleeson!
He’s probably going to be at the Oscars for all the movies he was a part of this year. Ex Machina, The Revenant, Star Wars, and Brooklyn.
Yes! So many British Irish actors this year at Oscars probably.
Ammmmm British irish???? They’re Irish. Britain can take Jedward
“Few things can distract me from James McAvoy”…
It’s not only me then…
EEE by gum, I never thought I would see that expression on an American site, so well done Hecate, one out of the vaults for sure! Saoirse has always been an accomplished young actress. Her very first movie was The Lovely Bones, with Peter Jackson directing, she was wonderful in that too. I love the last picture you chose, she and James McAvoy look like they are good mates, and have a lovely scoff up (has James over imbibed a little mayhap)?
Her first movie is this lovely film she did around 13 called I could never be your woman. The writings not great but she’s an Irish kid playing American and doing pretty dang well.
The Lovely Bones – if she never did another thing in Hollywood, I will forever love her for bringing that character and book to life the way she did. She is truly a lovely young lady and such a wonderfully talented actresses.
BTW – I for one, have been butchering her name. Good to know how it’s really pronounced.
That’s a butt ugly dress, made of left overs.
Love her and I love that dress. it’s weird but it works on her.
I’ve never dared say her name out loud because my brain couldn’t compute how to say it. Too many vowels together. However, I instantly recognise it as Irish, but I can’t pronounce many Irish names because I think they are pronounced phonetically and usually i’m wrong. I’m glad she’s cleared that up, so I can pronounce it with confidence.
I absolutely LOVED Brooklyn. I don’t love how people speculate on something they’ve never seen.
I thought it was pronounced sore-shuh.
I’ve loved her since atonement. Such gorgeous eyes!
I can’t pronounce her name, even mentally. 🙁
It really annoys me sometimes. Like its our fault (public) that those names are written incorrect.
If its Sirshuh then it it should be be Sirshuh Ronan. Or Sirsha Ronan. Its not peoples fault that those names are written in the wrong way.
Same with stupid Siobhan name. Thank God for that Sarah Michelle Gellar short lived tv show that people know that it sounds like Shevon, Its your fault celebrities. If you want people to pronounce it correct then write it the way it sounds. Its not your fault directly. Your parents named you that. But its also not publics fault.
Ladies and gentleman, worship the troll.
I will officially change my name tomorrow just so as not to offend anyone who cannot understand an irish name. Apologies for centuries of culture not being simple enough for you to comprehend.
Wonder how she copes with Welsh…
Mother of God, thank you for that laugh.
How dare other languages have letters and sounds different to English. Go home, Ireland, and think about what you’ve done.
I know it should be like Sir-shuh for a long time. But still every time I see and read her name in article I say to myself “Saorsie Ronan”. Your brain just reads it on itself. They way it see it.
She should have change it to Sirsha Ronan long time ago. Before Atonement came out.
Totally. Everyone who has a name you can’t pronounce should change it. It’s only fair. That’s probably quite a narrow range of alternatives then…
By that logic, shouldn’t you change your username to Eroo?
I kind of like the pronunciation “Seer-sha” better than “sir-sha”, but if “sir-sha” is what she prefers, then thats what I’ll call her.
“Intertia”? It’s a bit funny that an article about someone correcting the pronunciation of her name has a big typo in the title.
It’s my three year old niece’s name. We say Seer-sha (we are from Derry in the north and her dad’s family are from Cork) and my family from other parts of Ireland say Sir-shuh. My neice lives in London and is too young to have encountered problems with her name but my brother-in-law heard her telling some bigger kids in the library what she was called and then saying “tricky name”. Having a lovely talented actress with the same name should help and she might not be the only Saoirse in her area now.
It’s not like it’s a hard name to pronounce, or find the pronunciation of – it only looks complicated if you don’t know anything about Irish names (or I guess the Irish language in general). I knew how to spell and pronounce Saoirse well before Saoirse Ronan came along. I’m baffled by why people struggle so much when they can just google the pronunciation in two seconds.
I’m not talking about the general population, I mean people who will actually be working with her and can’t be bothered taking a second to find it out. The only issue is that I’ve heard it pronounced both sir-shuh and seer-shuh (almost always seer-shuh) so I guess the thing to do is ask which pronunciation she uses. I feel bad for her, it’s such a lovely name.
People didn’t know how to pronounce it? It’s an Irish name, like Siobhan. I thought the name would be known enough in the US to not be mispronounced. I guess not.
Don’t think she needs to change the spelling, people should learn something new and appreciate that other cultures exist.
It’s like when Brad Pitt had to tell everyone how to pronounce David Oyelowo’s surname, or Quvenzhane Wallis has to tell people how to pronounce her name. Or Lupita Nyong’o.