It's been a busy Sundance for Irish actress Saoirse Ronan. The 20-year-old has been in Utah at Robert Redford’s famed film fest to promote her two latest projects, Stockholm, Pennsylvania and Brooklyn.

The former co-stars Cynthia Nixon and sees Ronan play a girl who was abducted for 18 years. The film received lukewarm reviews from the trade papers, though the acting of Ronan and Nixon, who plays her mother, earned praise.

Brooklyn, the film based on the acclaimed novel by Colm Toibin, is especially dear to 20-year-old Ronan’s heart, she says. She plays the main character, Eilis, who emigrates from Ireland to New York in 1952, but problems abound, including those of the romantic and cultural variety. Ronan’s folks spent years in New York and gave birth here to Saoirse, their only child, before returning to Co. Carlow to raise her.

"I get very emotional when I talk about it; I hope I'm not going to start crying," Ronan tells The Los Angeles Times. "I never had a film affect me like that. It was very much a passion project for all the people involved."