SAOIRSE RONAN has said it was because of her mother that she never became a ‘victim’ to abusive behaviour in Hollywood.

Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar the 24-year-old actress, who received an Oscar nomination at just 13 with her supporting role in Atonement, said, “I don’t know what would have happened if she hadn’t been around.”

“I wasn’t unaware that there were people in the industry who abused their power,” she said. “I didn’t leave home at 19 all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed – I hadn’t been wrapped in cotton wool – but I had been protected.”

She said her ‘mam’ is an integral part of her life adding she “was always with me” when the actress was working as a child and that devices like FaceTime keep them in close contact.

Ronan also touched on the Irish border issue and Brexit saying, “it’s such a feckin’ mess” and expressed her fears it will revive past divisions. 

Speaking about her friend and fellow actress Eileen O’Higgins who grew up in Co Down in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, Ronan says “no matter what side you’re on in the North, nobody wants to go back to that.”

Ronan, who has been nominated for three Oscars (Atonement, Brooklyn and Ladybird), will be playing Mary Queen of Scots in the upcoming historical film opposite Margot Robbie.

She says eventually she would like to try directing saying, “I’ve always wanted to do it… I was more drawn to that as a kid than I was to acting.”

Ronan will also star in the upcoming adaption of Little Women due at the end of this year.