Irish eye on hollywood By Tom Deignan Saoirse Ronan didn't take home an Academy Award at the
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Irish eye on hollywood
By Tom Deignan
Saoirse Ronan didn't take home an Academy Award at the big show on February 24, but the 13-year-old Hollywood star has a busy 2008 planned. Ronan was nominated as a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Atonement. Prior to the Oscars, Ronan was happy just to be going to the show, which was nearly canceled because of the prolonged writer's strike.
"It will be really nice . to go to the big ceremony and get to sit at the fancy table and everything, that would be pretty cool," she was quoted as saying.
This October, look for Ronan in a starring role alongside Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and Martin Landau in City of Ember. Based on a novel of the same name, the film will also feature a slew of Irish actors and actresses in smaller roles since it was shot in Belfast.
The film is set in a city of dazzling lights called Ember. As the film begins, Ember's powerful generator is losing power, threatening to plunge the city into darkness. Ronan and her co-star Harry Treadway scour Ember in search of a way to preserve the city's light. In the process, they reveal secrets which may expose the mystery of the city's origins. All indications suggest that this will be a breakout starring role for Ronan. City of Ember director Gil Kenan has said: "I won the lottery with Saoirse Ronan. She's about to take over the world. She's amazing. I don't know if any of you have seen Atonement yet, but she's like mind-blowing. She fills the screen with light, which is exactly what she needs to do in every frame."
Acting is sort of a family business for the Ronans. Saoirse's father Paul has appeared in U.K. television shows such as Ballykissangel. Ronan will also appear in the highly anticipated 2009 release The Lovely Bones, based on the best selling Alice Sebold novel.
In keeping with the theme of young Irish talent, 18-year-old Liam Aiken (whose mother Moya was born in Ireland) has recently signed on to join the cast of a comedy-drama entitled Will. The film will also star Lisa Kudrow and High School Musical cutie Vanessa Hudgens. Aiken (whose middle name is Padraic) has had a series of increasingly prominent roles in films such as Road to Perdition and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Will began shooting in January.
