The World War II drama Blitz, from director Steve McQueen, features Ronan as a single mother in London who is separated from her son George (Elliott Heffernan) when she sends him away to safety in the countryside as the Germans attack.

Saoirse Ronan is in a class of her own—few other actors her age have received the level of critical acclaim (let alone four Oscar nominations). But Hollywood is still Hollywood, and working in the business since she was a pre-teen slotted her into a particular type—”precocious blonde child star,