She was speaking before a screening of The Outrun in the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin on Friday.
The project, which was co-produced by both Ronan and her Scottish husband Jack Lowden, was filmed on the Orkney islands off the coast of Scotland.
The film, which is an adaptation of a book by the same name, follows Rona, a biologist who has moved back to the island after a decade in London following a 90-day rehab program for alcohol addiction treatment.
Saoirse Ronan speaking at the screening of her upcoming film The Outrun
“I have been affected by this illness in my own way and it’s a particular topic that I wanted to explore but didn’t feel like I was strong enough to. I want to feel less angry towards it” said Ronan.
“I spent a lot of time with people who were in recovery, and it was an incredibly cathartic experience.”
The film deals with the alcohol addiction, sexual assault and mental health, and Ronan said that it was a “freeing” experience to play the role.
She recalled the difficulty of one scene where her character argues with another over alcohol use. “I had to go to an erratic place which did overwhelm me. I don’t usually experience that when I’m working. I think because I have seen loved ones in this situation, it was very difficult to play someone who was both in pain and causing so much pain, especially when I’ve been on the other side of it.”
Ronan worked on a farm as part of the role and also spoke about lambing ewes for the first time. “I delivered seven lambs. It was mad, the maddest thing. As I was doing it, I was thinking to myself, ‘How are they letting me do this?’ It was the most method I’ve ever been.”
“It’s really difficult to get a hold of the lamb, you have to pull it out and it’s really lifeless. We had to get ready at 3.30 in the morning and wait for it to happen. Our farming consultant would be telling me to tackle to sheep to the ground, and the first time I did it, I was terrified that I was going to break the lamb’s neck.”
The harsh weather and landscape plays a large role in the film and Ronan recalled a time during filming where they needed heavy winds but it was a calm day. “Jack and the art department were outside a window with leaves in a bucket and a leaf blower trying to recreate high winds; that’s just what you have to do.”
This is Ronan’s first producing credit, and she spoke about balancing creative skills in the new role. “Just to say you’re a producer doesn’t mean you can do everything. There are producers who are much more creative, and those who are better at the budgeting side of things, basically stuff that Jack and I didn’t want to do” she said.
“Regardless of what it is you want to do, you have to be able to listen. There is a lot people management involved, so you have to work with people you love and who you get along with.”
“It has always been really important to me. Irish talent that go abroad are really good at going away and doing great work, becoming successful, and then taking the work back home. That is the driving force of a lot of Irish talent I have spoken to.”
“You always want to come back to that place that made you and that is how Jack and I feel. Ireland has moved on a lot in the last ten or 15 years, but Scotland is still stuck in that place where other people were telling us who we were or portraying us in a certain way that didn’t really feel representative of us. It’s always been very important to me to create work that feels like it comes from now, and work that is representative of the country now.”
“Ireland has moved on so much in the last twenty years, and really specifically in the last decade, and I want to celebrate that. As important as they are, we need to make things that aren’t just about the Troubles. There is so much more to our country than that, and I want to explore that. Jack is the same with Scotland, as am I.”
The Outrun hits cinemas Friday, September 27.