The thing about birthing a lamb on camera is you only get one take.
Saoirse Ronan had been getting up at dawn to observe local farmers in Orkney in action, soaking in as much as she could. But soon it was her turn. Not only would she have a life in her hands: She had to look like she’d been doing it her whole life. She was terrified.
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It wouldn’t be the last time Ronan, 30, would have to step out of her comfort zone to make the “ The Outrun " (in theaters Friday), a harrowing and transcendent portrait of addiction and recovery which she produced alongside her husband, actor Jack Lowden. She’d yell and scream and say the meanest things she could think of to her fellow actors. She’d go from euphoric to inconsolable on a dime in a chaotic, drunken haze. And she’d plough the despairing depths of a very sick person about to relapse.
But after 20 years of acting, these were challenge she was ready for. There’s a reason her performance, defining and distinctive on a resume full of memorable characters, from Briony Tallis to Lady Bird, has garnered comparisons to Gena Rowlands in “A Woman Under the Influence.”
It was Lowden who put Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir in her hands during the pandemic, thinking it might be an interesting role for her.
“We tend to be drawn towards the same kind of material,” Ronan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “I trust his taste and opinion. I kind of hold it higher than anyone else’s.”
They were both at a point where they felt like they had more to give to the movies than just performing. They wanted more responsibility, more agency to help shape the material that they loved so much. And so, Ronan and Lowden set off on a journey to make “The Outrun” together. Producing, she said, made her fall in love with filmmaking even more.
“It only made the experience as an actor even richer," Ronan said. “I had history with every single decision that had been made. I was a part of it and there was a piece of me in those decisions.”
One of the first decisions that Liptrot, Ronan and German filmmaker Nora Fingscheidt made was to come up with a new name for Amy to create some healthy distance from their real life subject. They decided on Rona, after an uninhabited island visible from the Liptrot's real farm.
The production would involve an extensive pre-shoot on the Orkney Islands, on a remote corner of Scotland, to get the full scope of its natural splendor across a year, including lambs being born and birds nesting. The film skips around between her childhood, her downfall in London and her return to Orkney, with sublime asides about the history of the place, the folklore and what’s going on in Rona’s head. She finishes the odyssey in isolation on the even smaller island of Papay.
“We wanted to create a poetic film where the images and atmosphere stay with you for a long time after watching,” wrote director Fingscheidt. “A film that takes you on a journey, not just to Orkney or London, but a spiritual journey into the inner world of a young woman, raised under extreme circumstances, searching for her place in life without alcohol.”
In the chaotic London portions, in which Rona's relationship with her boyfriend Daynin (Paapa Essiedu) crumbles under the weight of her addiction, Ronan found herself apologizing often to her screen mates. To capture the full extent of Rona's cruelty, Fingscheidt asked Ronan to get mean and personal.
“I’ve never explored that before with a character to get that cruel and just genuinely mean,” Ronan said. “But you really have to kind of go, OK, I’m doing this for the sake of authenticity and honoring Amy’s life. In a way, it felt more respectful to the people who were affected by Amy’s illness. Because the cruelty and the meanness and the ugliness that comes out...I’ve experienced myself. It’s incredibly painful. If we were going to do this story and their experience justice, we needed to show all of that.”
Behind the scenes Lowden, who is Scottish and is particularly passionate about telling Scottish stories, was a helpful presence who understood the culture and the people. They worked with many locals in the small community of Orkney and Papay — which has no hotels. Ronan loved when he was able to be on set. They married in private earlier this year.
“He’s one of those enigmas where, yes, he’s a brilliant, brilliant actor and is so incredible on screen, but most of the time would much prefer to watch someone else shine,” she said. “He loves being behind the scenes, making sure everyone has what they need and making sure that the set is operating well. He’s more naturally a producer."
After the shoot, Ronan was ready to let Rona go. She had a six-week break and took herself on a train holiday around Europe to shake her off. Then she was due on another set: Steve McQueen’s highly anticipated World War II film “Blitz,” an AppleTV+ film opening in theaters Nov. 1. She plays a mother searching for her 9-year-old son who was supposed to be safely in the English countryside but has set on a dangerous journey to get back to her.
“I’m buzzing that these two films are coming out at once because they couldn’t be more different,” Ronan said. “It’s very exciting for me to stand by the two of them. They feel very personal for different reasons.”
They're also already getting her awards buzz. Ronan has been nominated for four acting Oscars, going back to “Atonement,” but has yet to win. This year it’s possible she could get both a lead and supporting nomination for the two projects. But she’s more focused on getting them out to the world. And in “The Outrun,” which she’s seen from development to release, she is proud of a performance that she’s not sure she would have been capable of a few years ago.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily something that I would have had the strength of character to take on years before,” Ronan said. “But because I felt so happy and settled in my own life, and professionally speaking, I felt ready to play someone that was as messy and disconnected as she was. I was more than ready to give in to not knowing what this character was going to be, what it was going to turn into.”
Plus, she now knows how to birth a lamb.
“You just got to get in there and do it,” she laughed.