SAOIRSE RONAN
...is the next Dakota Fanning
While most 14-year-olds are worried about pimples and algebra homework, Saoirse (pronounced SEER-shuh) Ronan is currently in Norristown, Pa., taking direction from Peter Jackson. The young Irish actress landed the lead role as the late Susie Salmon in Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, due in 2009. But 2008 will be a major year for Ronan, whose performance in romantic drama Atonement could score her an Oscar nomination thanks to her simple looks and stares, which convey an array of emotions, from jealousy to contempt to desperate confusion. She'll also appear alongside Bill Murray next October in the Tom Hanks-produced family fantasy City of Ember. Ronan's following in the footsteps of model child-star Dakota Fanning by slowly developing a rep for playing almost eerily mature characters. Pint-size or not, those are pretty big shoes to fill. —Tim Stack
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