‘Success is due to my parents’

IRISH hopes are on Lady Bird actress Saoirse Ronan, who credits her acting success to her loving upbringing.

She has already picked up a Golden Globe for her role as troubled teen Christine “Lady Bird” Mcpherson in the comingof-age movie.

Director Greta Gerwig was so determined that the talented young actress should play the part that she delayed filming for a year.

Saoirse, 23, revealed: “She waited because of the Crucible (her Broadway play), so we would meet up and so we sort of got to know each other and then we just went straight into it.”

Her portrayal of Christine is a far cry from her own childhood with dad Paul who “did all sorts of jobs” and mum Monica “a nanny”. She said: “Basically, everything stems from your childhood. The way I am, the decisions I make or the way I react to certain things – it’s because of my relationship with my parents.

“I had a great relationship with my dad growing up. My mom is just everything. She is my hero. I’m very, very lucky to have her.”

Saoirse believes that starting early in TV series like The Clinic, aged nine, films such as Atonement, at 13, and then being the lead in 2011’s Hanna, means she doesn’t suffer from nerves. “You don’t overthink anything,” she said. “When you’re a kid you just do it.”

She laughed at suggestions she is a veteran of the Oscars – she got her first nod 10 years ago for best supporting actress on Atonement.

Saoirse, who plans to support the Time’s Up campaign tonight by wearing black, said: “The thing that excited me was the fact I had watched the Oscars on the telly since I was very, very young.”