A new interview with Saoirse and her “Mary Queen of Scots” co-star Margot Robbie has been published by The New York Times! The portrait released with it has been added to our gallery, and you can read the article below.
Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie Are Coming Into Their Power
The “Mary Queen of Scots” stars and former Oscar rivals are tired of being people-pleasers. “There’s a lot of power in saying no,” says Robbie.When Josie Rourke made her pitch to direct “Mary Queen of Scots,” about the royal rivalry between the Scottish ruler Mary Stuart and the English Queen Elizabeth I, she suggested thinking of the movie as a renaissance version of “Heat.” Like that thriller, which cast Al Pacino and Robert De Niro on opposite sides of the law, “what the film needed was a really great scene for two women to play opposite each other,” Rourke said.
Much of “Mary Queen of Scots” (due Friday) builds to that moment when Mary and Elizabeth finally meet — a cinematic flourish, as historians believe the two communicated only by letter. The film’s scene is the sort of centerpiece that only works if you know the women playing it are formidably matched equals offscreen, too. In casting Margot Robbie as Elizabeth opposite Saoirse Ronan’s Mary, Rourke found a pair so well-matched that they even competed against each other for last season’s best actress Oscar.
