Victoria: This week we're talking Saoirse Ronan. If your brain is tumbling over those vowels, Saoirse tells people to pronounce it sir-shuh, so that it rhymes with inertia (though I believe a more traditional Irish pronunciation is seer-shuh). Sometimes I copy RuPaul and call her Sir Shaw.
Anyway! My Irish queen. Last week, she popped up in the GQ profile of Timothée Chalamet, talking about their friendship and coworking relationship. She reflected on how much more famous Timothée is than her, even though they've done similar work (including being in Lady Bird and Little Women together). She said, "We've weirdly gone through this together for the last few years. We've both become more accessible. But he's had one sort of attention—I do feel like boys get it on a whole other level."
I like Timmy, and I do think he's very handsome, but at 24 he feels too young for me. But 26-year-old Saoirse Ronan is for me.
[ID: the meme from “Little Women” where Saoirse’s Jo says, “Women —” but instead she’s saying “Saoirse —”]
Saoirse got on my radar with 2015’s Brooklyn, which I think has now been overshadowed by her other movies, though she also got an Oscar nomination for it. That’s the year Brie Larson won for Room, and while Brie is indubitably a great actress (watch Short Term Twelve) I will just always be in awe of what Saoirse did in Brooklyn. It was quiet but moving, romantic but grounded. I have the poster on the wall in my bedroom.
I like to think of Saoirse’s three big movies together — Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women. Each is an all-time favorite of mine, and each is a period piece (she loves a period piece). In this trilogy of leading performances, Saoirse is shining a light on the ordinariness of women’s lives, and how that matters, too. Not to talk about grad school again, but, as I mentioned last week, I took a class on American history on film. On the first day our professor admitted the syllabus skewed toward stories about men, but that it was hard to find movies about women doing things that were “historically significant.”
That’s what I like about Saoirse’s work. Eilis, Christine and Jo aren’t “historically significant.” They’re just women trying to navigate their lives.
Hayley: I love Brooklyn so much and Saoirse is incredible to watch in that film. I saw Brooklyn by myself and cried multiple times throughout, because it had encapsulated this feeling I didn’t even know I had. I studied abroad in France for an entire year, and when I came home for Christmas to see my family, I felt so weird. I had been homesick for my life in the U.S. while in France, then as soon as I got home I was like actually I want to be back in France. I have a very angsty journal entry from that time period that includes the quotes, “France is the only place that makes sense to me right now” and “I feel like a stranger everywhere.” This is obviously one tenth of what Eilis experiences and I promise this isn’t just a study abroad humblebrag — it goes back to your point about how she makes movies about women trying to navigate their lives. I think Hollywood films tend to focus on the big moments that can be narratively tied together into a neat package instead of the quiet ones that never quite settle. I don’t know another actor alive who navigates the quiet moments like Saoirse.
It’s so funny because Timmy reminds me too much of my cousin to ever be attracted to him but I think he is such a good actor. Watching him and Saoirse kind of explode onto the scene in these roles has felt…please don’t make fun of me…magical. They have such wonderful chemistry and it feels like a gift to be able to watch them in real time!
Saoirse’s performance in Lady Bird is so stunning to me because I think that it would be easy to make that performance one that hinges on stereotypes or exaggerations of being a teenage girl. And of course, she does not do that. She’s like an exposed wire in that movie, all crackles and nerves in a way that is really vulnerable and punches me straight in the gut. Any film that is going to portray a teenage girl with that level of dimension and intensity is a winner in my book, and with a less nuanced performance from Christine I don’t think the movie is half as good. You said something once about Kat (Julia Stiles) in 10 Things I Hate About You that I really liked: “Kat is so smart and eager and a little misguided and a little too big for the world she’s found herself in, and she’s a little horny but also scared about what that means and she just feels real in a way few teen movie girls are.” I think Christine taps into a lot of this, too.
Something else that I think about a lot with regards to Saoirse is that I am afraid she is going to get Leo’d. She’s already been nominated for four Oscars, and hasn’t won any (though I still believe she should have won for Brooklyn, that performance was much harder to do than Brie Larson’s in Room! Change my mind!). Everyone keeps saying, oh she’s so young, she has plenty of time to win, blah blah blah. I hate this way of thinking, because it maintains that an Oscar is always cumulative and not specifically being awarded for a knockout performance. Young actors should be rewarded more frequently for their work. I don’t want Saoirse to do some god awful physically demanding role for a movie we all hate but will go see anyway just because “this is her year” when she’s like, 44.
I feel like I am incapable of talking about her without getting all worked up! She’s a star! Ugh!
Victoria: I’m sorry that I laughed at your post-France diary entry, but it is funny.
OK re: the Oscars. I definitely think the way people think about the Oscars is fucked up. Like you said, the award is not cumulative, it should be for that performance, but a lot of the time people win because they “deserved” it for another performance and lost. And of course everything is about campaigning! Like Leo was FORTY and never won and people were like “What a miscarriage of justice!!!” It was very much a narrative made by his PR people!! Going full Revenant was pathetic and silly! I don’t respect it!!
But I think best actress and best actor are different beasts. Best Actresses skew much younger. The youngest actor was Adrien Brody at 29, but he wouldn’t even be one of the 10 youngest best actress winners (Saoirse would have been second youngest if she’d won for Brooklyn). Basically because of sexism, both in the roles that are offered and in awards consideration in general, it’s much easier for a young woman to get nominated, and win. I am trying to distance myself from the idea that anyone “needs” to win an award, especially when the awards themselves are so racist and sexist (remember how Parasite swept but none of the actors were nominated??? Deeply fucked). Being an Oscar-nominated actress from a young age definitely boosted Saoirse’s career, but as long as she gets to keep doing interesting roles, it’s fine with me if she never wins.
What type of roles would we like to see Saoirse do in the future? I would be happy with her never doing another Wes Anderson movie because I do not fuck with Bill Murray in any way, though probably she will continue to do so. I would love to see her do something that wasn’t a period piece. I hope she never signs up for a Marvel movie. Of course I would love to see her in a romcom, because I would love to see anyone in a romcom. And I’d love to see her in something set in modern-day Ireland. Sally Rooney could write her something.
Hayley: You should absolutely laugh at those diary entries! Flipping through them now I’m like, Jesus Christ it’s fine.
This is probably shocking but I agree with everything you said about the Oscars! Also, I printed out a photo of Bong Joon-ho making his two Oscars kiss and it’s hanging up in my room to remind me that sometimes the Oscars are good. And also that part of 2020 was also good. Sigh.
I want Saoirse to do everything! Sans Marvel or Wes Anderson, because that’s a waste of her talents. There is nothing subtle about a Marvel movie and Wes Anderson movies make me feel insane. I would love to see Saoirse and Frances McDormand do something together — how do we feel about Saoirse in a Coen Brothers joint? I also think we deserve a Saoirse/Sofia Coppola movie. And to be honest, any time Saoirse can work with Florence Pugh and/or Timmy is going to be a good time. I also want her to do something where she can keep her accent! Maybe this is a conversation for another time, but I feel like everyone should be able to keep their own accents in movies, who gives a fuck. If they ever make a miniseries or movie of the book Pond (which they won’t) I think Saoirse should play the narrator. This is a reference for no one, but I stand by it. If you have read Pond and agree, you are morally obligated to tell me!
Victoria: Sofia, like Wes Anderson, is also infected with loving Bill Murray, but I would sign on if there was no Bill. Saoirse and Frances McDormand both are in the new Anderson, The French Dispatch, but I don’t think their storylines intersect. Would also love to see Saoirse in something with Beanie Feldstein again!! Lady Bird sequel where Christine and Julie kiss? It’s more likely than you think.
One more Saoirse pitch: Some sort of Love Actually-style rom com where she falls in love with Niall Horan. Or maybe Niall is just in the movie too? It could take place in Dublin or Belfast! Ed Sheeran is not invited!
[ID: Saoirse in “Brooklyn,” leaning against the wall. Also the image on Victoria’s poster.]
Things Hayley Likes:
If you have not yet made my Buffalo Tofu recipe, you probably should. People are still texting me photos when they make it, which warms my little heart.
I made this gentle yoga sequence with a sensory exercise for a friend last week if you want a calm and grounded way to end your day!
I am reading Eastern Body, Western Mind for the next portion of my yoga teacher training and it is a really fascinating look at psychology and energy! Highly recommend if you’re into woo-woo shit.
Aldi has a take-and-bake cauliflower crust pizza that is so good you cannot believe it. They only ever have like four of them in stock when I go, and I have to try really hard not to take all of them.
Links Victoria Thinks You Should Click:
I’ve actually been listening to podcasts lately! One of my favorites, Heavyweight, just returned. Reply All just added a new host, and his first official episode ruled. The recent Mariah Carey episode of We Stan Together had me in stitches during my walk to the post office.
This ode to the Dunkin’s ghost pepper donut.
This website basically let’s you play six degrees of Kevin Bacon with any two actors. It’s very fun!
If you enjoyed Brit Bennet’s The Vanishing Half, which has been a big, buzzy novel all year, I recommend Passing by Nella Larsen, which is thematically similar and packs a tight punch.
Gold-Plated Girls comes out twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays! Don’t forget to check out Hayley’s love letter to nail polish!