Saoirse Ronan mentored by Greta Gerwig

8 May 2018

Saoirse Ronan continues to be mentored by her idol Greta Gerwig after they worked together on 'Lady Bird'.

Saoirse Ronan

The 24-year-old Irish actress starred in the '20th Century Women' helmer's directorial debut in February, and has revealed even before they met in person they had "giggly" Skype sessions.

In an interview with Time Out London magazine, Ronan said: "I was a huge fan of Greta Gerwig before I worked with her on 'Lady Bird'.

"Meeting Greta and knowing that she knew who I was and wanted to talk to me about the script was so exciting. We Skyped before we met and we were so giggly, like two kids in high school. She's been very supportive since."

The 'On Chesil Beach' star hopes to be just like the 34-year-old actress, director and producer one day.

She said: "She's everything I want to be as an actor and as a filmmaker. I could feel myself going from being like, 'Maybe one day I'll direct, to looking at Greta and going, 'I really want to do this.' "

Ronan will next be seen taking on the titular role in 'Mary Queen of Scots' - alongside Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I - set for release in January 2019, but she'll be taking the rest of the year off to work on small projects and to travel.

She said: "I'm going to take most of the year off and travel, do a bit of writing and work with my friends on something small. We're all around the same age, which is unusual for me because I'd always been the young person working on my own."

The most challenging part of her role in the drama - based on Mary's real-life attempt to overthrow her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, resulting in years of imprisonment before facing execution - was wearing four skirts, as she couldn't sit down properly.

Asked about the costumes, she said: "Oh, corsets every day.

"We had, like, four skirts to wear at a time so you couldn't sit in a chair because you might crease the dress. We had to sit on these little swivel stools. You'd lift up your skirt and just drop it down over the stool so wouldn't even see it."