Saoirse Ronan decided not to cover her acne with make-up while filming Lady Bird.
The 23-year-old has detailed her battle with the skin condition, which she’s suffered with since the age of 21. But, after signing up to star in Greta Gerwig’s Oscar nominated coming-of-age film, she was more than happy to embrace her spots in order to deliver a realistic portrayal of adolescence.
“For whatever reason I wasn’t insecure and self-conscious about (my acne),” Saoirse told The Irish Independent. “I went into Lady Bird and we were doing camera tests – we were still figuring out her hair and make-up and the whole thing – and while we were doing them, the hair and make-up girls and Greta asked me if I would consider not covering them up so much.”
“I just thought it would have been a missed opportunity to not represent teenagers as they actually are. And I also don’t think it takes anything away from (my character) either,” the Brooklyn star added.
Saoirse has been nominated for Best Actress at the 2018 Academy Awards for her role as Lady Bird, a rebellious teenager living in California, while Greta is up for the Best Director award.
This makes the Frances Ha filmmaker the fifth female director to ever be nominated, and the Irish star added she hopes this will pave the way for more recognition of female talent in Hollywood.
“I do think as well that the type of films that have come out over the last year are also a reflection on the massive, massive changes that we’ve all gone through in the last couple of years,” she told the news outlet. “I think people were hungry for a film like (Lady Bird), without even realizing it. And it’s because, really, women wouldn’t have gotten in the door. And going, ‘I want to make this film about a teenage girl’ just wouldn’t have been plausible.”
