Kevin McDonald talks about Saoirse

During an interview for CraveOnline, Kevin McDonald – who directed the film “How I Live Now” – talked about Saoirse. Read the article below.

CraveOnline: Saoirse told us you did not want to cast her at first.

Kevin Macdonald: [Laughs] Well, that’s not quite true. It’s not that I didn’t want to cast her. It’s just that I didn’t think of her for the role I suppose because I wanted an American and I wanted somebody who was unknown. I had it in my head that it should all be a cast of unknowns. I looked for a long time here in the States, had a great casting director, and we looked and looked and couldn’t find anybody.

Then the casting director in the U.K. said, “What about Saoirse?” And I said, “Well, she’s great. She’s a great actress but she’s Irish and she’s a bit older than the character who was meant to be maybe 16.” She said, “Well, you should just meet her.” And of course she walked in and I looked at her and was like, “All right, you’re so fantastic.” Then she read a scene and we were all in tears. Instantly I thought, what an idiot I am. Why didn’t I think of her to begin with? We would’ve saved a lot of time and pain.

Is How I Live Now your first love story?

I guess it is. I’ve done things which have a love story element in them, a romantic element in them of one sort or another. State of Play is a romantic story at it’s heart. Last King of Scotland even has a love story in it but this is the first one which I can say is a love story. That’s what it is. It is a love story. It’s about a girl who can’t love, can’t be loved, doesn’t feel she’s loved who learns to be loved and learns to give love and is transformed through the course of this tale. I was attracted to that. I wanted to make a love story. I wanted to make a story which, although it’s quite dystopian and dark and disturbing in some ways, is at its heart positive, a very positive human message.

For the complete interview, please visit CraveOnline.

Everybody Loves Saoirse How I Live Now

Published

by Jess

on Nov 22, 2013

EXCLUSIVE CLIP: Violet & Daisy

Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan discuss their roles in this surreal tale about teen assassins, working with the late James Gandolfini and creating a fantasy world. Written and directed by Geoffrey Fletcher, the screenwriter of 2009’s Precious, this film will blow your mind.

Often compared to the quirky and savage filmmaking of Quentin Tarantino, Violet & Daisy tells the story of two teenage girls who enjoy their work as professional killers when they’re not indulging in a rich fantasy life.

Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan play Violet and Daisy. Together, they describe the script as, “Surreal, original, funny, crazy and weird, not predictable in any way.” Okay, that piques our interest.

About her character, Bledel said, “Violet very much defines herself by her work. She’s also very sensitive and very vicious. She’s definitely a person who fluctuates between two extremes. For me, it’s fun because I haven’t played a character like her before.” On the other end of the spectrum is Daisy, who Ronan claims, “Is nice. I haven’t played many characters who are just really sweet. And you can see as well she’s really yearning for a normal life.”

So how do these two opposites interact in the film? “It’s like three different movies, really. It starts off in this fantasy world, then it gets a bit more real down the road, then more real and more real,” said Ronan. She continued, “Geoffrey [Fletcher] is fantastic. As we all know, he’s a really, really talented writer and he’s got a great vision. He’s been able to come up with some really interesting shots I don’t think many people would have thought of. He likes to play around with symbols, which I always think is interesting in film.”

Will fans of Precious relate to this film? Bledel thinks so. “I think people who took a lot from Precious, they might be able to find similar themes, but delivered in a very, very different style.”

A key element to the story is when Violet & Daisy meet a character with a death wish. The late, great James Gandalfini plays “The Guy”, an intimidating man with a secret.

About working with the actor best known for playing Tony Soprano, Ronan said, “I really, really like working with Jim. He’s just great, a really professional guy, very focused and we have great, meaty scenes together. It’s been lovely, especially since the writing is so good.”

Violet & Daisy will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and as a digital download Nov. 19.

Source: She Knows

Videos Violet & Daisy

Published

by Jess

on Nov 19, 2013

Saoirse’s body double talks about her

Laura Harold, 33, from Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan, stood in for Saoirse in the film “How I Live Now”, released last month. She told WalesOnline she was put through her paces during a physically-demanging shoot and appeared naked in scenes depicting a dream sequence.

She told WalesOnline “The role came about by chance. I had a friend who couldn’t do it and I got asked to send some photos in to an agent who was helping cast How I Live Now and I matched up almost. Obviously we are very far apart in age – I’m 33 and she’s 18 or 19 but when it came t measurements, we were fine.”

Laura said filming took place between May and July last year in Carmarthenshire. And she said the experience was very different to her normal on-set routine. “The next Monday I had a chauffeur show up on my door,” she said. “It was strange with where I was in life – on set and making the set – to being on it and being pampered and someone holding an umbrella and a coat.”

But Laura added it wasn’t all glamour – with frequent late-night shooting and physically-testing scenes. She said: “I really had to get my running shoes on. Most of it was running through brambles and running up a hill. It was a lot of sweaty work because Saoirse could only do a few takes as they were filming in two locations at once. You get scratched up and bruised up and there were times when I was working so hard I felt physically sick and that was quite hard work on my body. You are out there for so many hours and have to get it done in daylight.”

Meanwhile in scenes where she had to strip off, Laura took a pragmatic approach. “I don’t really mind my body,” she said. “We have all got faults.” Laura also met Saoirse and her parents on set and described the young star as “a good laugh”. “She was very down to earth and her parents were down to earth,” Laura said. “She was a good laugh, paying cards and messing around with the other kids on set.”

Sourse: WalesOnline

Everybody Loves Saoirse How I Live Now

Published

by Jess

on Nov 18, 2013

Saoirse is a nominee for the British Independent Film Awards

Saoirse’s performance as an American teenager in Kevin Macdonald’s apocalyptic teen drama ‘How I Live Now’ has earned her strong reviews, which bodes well for her chances of securing other acting nominations as awards season gets underway in the UK and US. She is nominated in the Best Actress category for her performance in How I Live Now, with Judi Dench (Philomena), Lindsay Duncan (Le Week-end), Scarlett Johansson (Under the Skin) and Felicity Jones (The Invisible Woman) also shortlisted.

Best Actress
Judi Dench – Philomena
Lindsay Duncan – Le Week-end
Scarlett Johansson – Under the Skin
Felicity Jones – The Invisible Woman
Saoirse Ronan – How I Live Now

Source: The Irish Film & Television Network

Award Shows Everybody Loves Saoirse How I Live Now

Published

by Jess

on Nov 12, 2013