Top actress and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon has tipped Irish starlet Saoirse Ronan for an Oscar nomination for her lead role in 'The Lovely Bones.'

Sarandon, who also stars in the movie about a young girl looking down on her family after her murder, said that the movie had some standout performances.

"I definitely think Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci (who plays the killer in the film) should be nominated," said Sarandon, who won her own Oscar for her role in film 'Dead Man Walking.'

Ronan and Sarandon attended the premier of 'Lovely Bones' in Sydney yesterday and the Irish actress said Sarandon (63), who plays her grandmother in the film, continued her motherly ways off screen.

"Susan did look after me," she said. “Just being around someone as experienced as that is great."

Ronan was born in New York and is the daughter of Irish actor Paul Ronan. She was raised in County Carlow and was exposed to film sets at an early age, sometimes accompanying her dad on the set of films he was working on,  ‘The Devil's Own’ and ‘Veronica Guerin’ among them.

Ronan has already an Academy nomination on her resume after she received a Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Briony Tallis in ‘Atonement.’