The father of Hollywood star Saoirse Ronan has said that he had a huge influence on his daughter’s love of acting – and that is a passion passed down the generations.
Paul Ronan is a successful actor in his own right and has starred in dozens of films and TV series since the mid-1990s including The Devil’s Own, The Boxer, Ordinary Decent Criminal and Fair City.
He also appeared alongside his superstar daughter in the movie How I Live Now.
He spoke to RTÉ Guide about how his own father had inspired his lifelong love of movies.
He said: “I’m a film buff, just love the old movies. Even when I was very young, my da would allow me to stay up when there was something good on.
“Twelve Angry Men, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stagecoach, all stick in my head.
“My dad came from a very poor background, couldn’t read when he was getting married, but he remembered the name of every actor, every second of every film he saw.
“I loved the subtleties he picked up from comedy and Laurel and Hardy were his heroes. So, he was the biggest influence on my love of acting.”
Paul kept the tradition going and says that Saoirse has been a huge lover of acting ever since she was tiny.
He said: “Your children pick up a lot of what you like, just from watching you.
“Music was very big also when Saoirse was growing up and the eclectic choice of music that she was exposed to at a young age was probably influenced by my taste.
“And I can recite dialogue from films, from my love of scripts and movies, which my father gave to me and hopefully, I gave to Saoirse too.”
Saoirse has certainly taken that inspiration and ran with it.
The Irish star received her first Academy Award nomination when she was just 12 years old for the movie Atonement.
She has gone on to establish herself as on of the most talented actresses of her generation and become a bona fide Hollywood star.
Her leading roles in hit movies such as Brooklyn, Lady Bird, Mary Queen of Scots and Little Women have brought her critical acclaim and a vast array of awards.
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