After SAG Nomination, Saoirse Ronan Discusses Brooklyn's Resonance & Why Heading to Broadway Has Left Her 'Terrified'

Saorise Ronan has already picked up (among others) a New York Film Critics Circle Award and British Independent Film Award for her touching performance as Irish immigrant Eilis in Brooklyn, and on December 9, she garnered a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. She calls it a “whirlwind,” but there’s no slowing down: she’s set to make her Great White Way debut in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible this spring. In a transatlantic chat with Broadway.com, the Oscar nominee shared how a 1950s period drama strikes a chord today and why—even as an acclaimed actress whose name is dropped in every awards speculation conversation—making the leap to the stage is “terrifying.”

Congratulations, Saoirse! What a thrilling month this must be for you.
It's amazing, it really is. You expect it all to stop and then it just keeps going. The film is so personal for all of us as well. To have any kind of recognition at all is amazing.

What have the past couple hours been like for you?
I'm in Dublin, so it's nighttime here. I heard Anthony Mackie pronounce my name perfectly, which I'm very happy about. Good for him. It's lovely. I'm going to decorate my Christmas tree now, so it'll have an extra bit of sparkle just to celebrate.

You've said that you're cautious not to think too much about the ever-prominent Oscar buzz, but is that getting any harder?
In a way, it's not. You're thinking about what's just happened. We were at the BIFAs on Sunday and that all went really well, and now this has happened. You're taking it all as it comes, really. You don't want to think too far ahead. Even if it were to all end tomorrow, it's been amazing.

What would you say it is about Brooklyn and Eilis that resonates with audiences?
The idea of leaving home is something that's complicated for everyone. You don't know how leaving home is going to affect you. The film really captures that feeling so well. It especially resonates in America because that's how America was made: by immigrants. In Ireland, a lot of people connected with it because you were either the one who left or the one who was left behind. You take a story that's simply about someone's life over the course of a couple years, and everyone can tap into it.

Many theater fans know your co-star, Emory Cohen, from the TV series Smash, but he's tapping into something really special here. Were you familiar with that show or his work before?
I haven't seen Smash, but I actually just worked with Michael Mayer [on a film adaptation of The Seagull], so I heard plenty of Smash stories! The only thing I had seen Emory in was The Place Beyond the Pines. Tony is such a different character for him; it takes a lot of bravery to be as open and nice as he had to be. The go-to for younger male actors is to make something gritty or edgy or whatever, but this is essentially a story about people being kind to each other. And that really shines through in Emory's performance.

You're also making your Broadway debut this season in The Crucible. With all that's going on here, what's going through your head as you prepare for that?
All I've thought about for the last year, every single night before I go to sleep, is The Crucible! I'm terrified! [Laughs.] I've never done theater before. I didn't train or anything like that; this is completely new territory. I'm so eager to be able to work in the true sense—in theater. On a film set, you can stop and start, and there are more technical things going on. In a play, it's solely about the work. I'm looking forward to going into an experience like that after this whole whirlwind.

And what about working with Ivo van Hove? He's such a stylized director; what's in store for us with this staging?
He's amazing. I can only imagine what he's thinking of conceptually for us. I haven't actually properly met him yet, though! It'll be interesting. That's such a huge part of all of his shows, especially A View from the Bridge right now. It's so interesting how he goes about it.

You mentioned working with Michael Mayer earlier; can you tell me about your experience with The Seagull?
It'll be quite beautiful. Ann Roth did the costumes for it—the legend! We're all very well dressed. We shot it over the summer in Monroe, New York in an old Russian house. We shot it in three weeks, which is very quick. There's really great performances, from Annette Benning and Corey Stoll and Brian Dennehy and Lizzy Moss. I think it'll be interesting to have such a theater aspect added to it. To have a theater director do it was a really good move.