Saoirse Ronan Wants to Play a Bond Villain (Opposite Her Husband!) After Beatles Biopics (Exclusive)

You've talked about wanting to be a Bond villain, and so... Or just any kind of a villain. If Jack, he's one of the people who's in the running to become Bond, so if he were to get that role and you were to get the opportunity to play on screen alongside him, what kind of villain would you want to play alongside him? I mean, to be honest, I would play a villain in anything. I've actually recently been watching Kin, which is this brilliant Irish TV series, and Jack and I have both said that if they wanted us for season three, we would gladly be in it. So I can actually see us being in Kin, first and foremost. Playing some sort of a drug mule or something like that. One of the lead characters has just been killed, so I do think there's a place for both of us to come in. So, yeah, I think actually Kin is sort of top of our list right now. Give me a number. I don't understand. You give me a number for how much it costs to raise me, and I'm going to get older and make a lot of money and write you a cheque for what I owe you so that I never have to speak to you again. Well, I highly doubt that you will be able to get a job good enough to do that. So having played a kind of ultimate unruly teen in Lady Bird, this time around you're playing a teacher dealing with a bad student. How much more fun was this for you? This was more fun just because I am older and slightly less self-aware, probably, than I was when I made Lady Bird. I mean, Lady Bird was fun in a different way, but I think it's really fun playing a character when you're fully aware of, like, the insanity of the thing that you're bringing to life, you know? I mean, we found ourselves as a crew just, like, kind of laughing and being horrified in equal measure at what we were doing. Absolutely. And so she makes some pretty unhinged choices throughout the movie, but the movie kind of works to help you try and understand why she's doing that. How did you want people to feel about her? I mean, I think that Maria, who sort of is the representative of the whole story, is, she's making you question your own morality, I think, for sure. I think it's such a simple, simplistic statement to say, I'm a good person, because there's always going to be a decision that you've made or a path you've taken that may benefit you and someone else, but could be the downfall of another or could have a negative effect on someone else, which will be a reflection on, you know, their baggage or insecurities or your relationship or whatever. But I think it's really, in a really light-hearted, humorous way, it's reminding us of the fragility of human nature, of the mind, of our relationship with right and wrong and good and bad, you know. Shut up! He pushed a girl down the stairs. Danny! You're dead! Danny! I'm going to tell everyone you attacked me. So, as a play on bad apple, what's one bad apple habit of yours which you would like to break? I mean, there's so many things that I definitely won't say in an interview, but, what are some bad apple habits? I think I, I think I interrupt too much. I think that's not, that's annoying and I think I've always done that and I noticed it, especially, like, around COVID time and then afterwards, when you would do a Zoom meeting and there's that slight delay and I think I find it difficult sometimes, unless it's in an interview environment like this or, like, you're in a scene, maybe that's why I'm like this, but I'd find it hard to know, like, when to come in and when to not say anything. That seems to be very difficult for me, so I need to work on that. Investigations continue into the disappearance of Danny Carter. I know that this isn't normal. The Ofsted inspection came in and you were singled out for praise. After playing Maria, what do you hope people walk away from bad apples talking or arguing about? I think what I hope for more than anything is that teachers first and foremost, but also parents, feel seen and understood and I certainly feel like you go and you watch Bad Apples and apart from, like, really laughing the whole way through, it's such a funny film and questioning your own morality and how good you actually are. I think that it really gives you an insight into the pressures of being a teacher to 35 kids who all think in a different way and the stress of that and the impossibility of that and also a reminder that, like, someone who's in that role from a child's perspective who seems to have everything figured out absolutely doesn't and is just as much of a mess, if not more so, than any child is. Yeah, so I think it's just a good reminder of our own humanity and fragility but more than anything else, it's just really funny. Is anyone feeling sad or anxious? No? Alright. Going from a teacher who's completely lost it to Linda McCartney, what's it like to step into... It's a natural segue. Of course. What's it been like to step into a piece of music history like that? I mean, so first of all, I'm not allowed to say anything about the film so all I will say is that I'm a huge Beatles fan, as we all are and so I think to be immersed in that world and to be with the crew who have done years of research and the boys who have done years of research and work and prep at this stage it's really inspiring to be around it and also just to learn more about Linda and how she kept the family together and how great an influence she was on Paul and how incredible a mother she was. She was so adored by everyone in her orbit so I feel so, so honoured that I'm getting to represent her in the film in something that I think will be really epic and I think will be really, really special. Absolutely. I cannot wait to see it. I'm really excited about that one. And I know you can't give anything away but you have a shared history with Paul Mescal on screen and so what's it been like to reunite with him in a completely different world? I mean, it's a completely different world but we're still married so I think we got a lot for free because we had this really intense, intimate experience making Foe years ago and we were together every second of the day and we spent all of our time together off camera as well and we're really close friends now so there was no time that needed to be spent on finding chemistry or building up a rapport with one another. We have that for free and I think that's really benefited us and the film.