Irish actress Saoirse Ronan has defended Peter Jackson for refusing to film the rape and murder of Saoirse's character in his adaptation of "The Lovely Bones."

Fans of the Alice Sebold book have blasted Jackson and his co-producer wife Fran Walsh for leaving out the scene.

Ronan - who plays the 14-year-old Susie Salmon - said she can't understand why anybody would want to see such horrific images.

She says, "To be honest, I really don't know why anyone would want to see a 14-year-old girl raped in a movie and killed.

"I feel very strongly about this. That's certainly not the type of movie that... (we) wanted to make. And Peter Jackson or not, that was not the kind of movie that I would want to be in. Plus, Susie actually runs away from her murder so the story is fuelled by that. By her going on this journey to trying to understand what happened to her body.

"That scene is very, very intense. So I think if we had put something else in, anything else, it would have completely overwhelmed the story."

Saoirse is a hot contender for a 2011 Oscar nomimnation for her role in the movie. Critics have raved over her portrayal of the story's murdered heroine.

Saoirse of course was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2008 for her portrayal of Briony Tallis in "Atonement."