Saoirse Ronan said she feels like she missed out on her teenage years due to being a famous child star - but said it worth it to have been able to follow her dreams.
The 28-year-old has been in the limelight for most of her life, having first shot to fame on screen at the age of nine playing the role of Rhiannon Geraghty in RTÉ television drama The Clinic.
The young star went on to get her first ever award nomination at the tender age of 13, for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Briony Tallis in Atonement.
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But almost two decades on, the Hollywood star said that whilst being catapulted to fame at such an early age meant she missed out on some things, the four time Oscar nominee said it was just the price she had to pay to get to where she is today.
"I do feel like there are things I have missed out on but to be honest like you're always going to feel like you have missed out on something,” she said, speaking on The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Friday.
The Carlow raised star, who is the daughter of Fair City star Paul Ronan went on: “And sure there are things, especially when I was a teenager, that I wish I could have been a part of more socially…because it is such a formative time.
“I think being part of younger people's social circles, I wasn't really around that as much."
“But even though I wasn’t necessarily with a bunch of people my age from like say 15-18, it was only a few years, I was working with, yes people that were older, but people who were very kind of free in their expressions and I really learned a lot from them.
“I mean it wasn’t like I was training to be a doctor or something, although I'm sure there is fun in that as well,” she laughed.
“But like, I was in a play group essentially.”
“But yeah, there are always going to be things you feel you missed out on.
“But whatever price you have to pay for doing something you really love and feel really free doing, then I ultimately think that is worth it.”
She went on: “I was in a very sort of surreal environment some of the time growing up, but actually, what an amazing place to be a kid, to be surrounded by adults that were very comfortable letting go of their inhibitions and being silly and feeling nerves, but like working through it anyway and creating something out of that feeling.
“I think it is quite a healthy outlook if you use it in the right way and don’t get too in your head about things.”
The star was speaking to promote her new mystery comedy film See How They Run, which is released in cinemas this weekend.
The movie is set in the West End of 1950s London, where she plays an eager rookie who finds herself on the case of a whodunit mystery.
Saoirse admitted she was nervous about doing comedy, but felt comfortable as she was able to use her own brogue for the role.
She explained: “I insisted on using my own accent, because I'm sure I've said to you[Ryan] in the past how scary I find comedy. And I think the only way I was willing to properly give it a go was to use my own voice. It is just too many things to think about otherwise.
“So they let me use my own accent and it was great. I dunno it was really nice to finally enjoy being Irish and not having it be a thing that she was Irish. It is not something that is commented on, it’s not really a part of her character which I really appreciate.”
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