{"id":678942,"date":"2026-11-08T21:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T21:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/678942\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T21:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T21:56:20","slug":"saoirse-ronan-wrote-a-letter-asking-me-to-star-in-her-short-film-my-heart-burst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/678942\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Saoirse Ronan wrote a letter asking me to star in her short film \u2014 my heart burst’"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Saoirse Ronan aimed to make her directorial debut, the actress contacted a fellow Irish woman whose movie had made an impression on her.<\/p>\n

Clare Dunne was intrigued to receive the four-time Oscar-nominated Ronan\u2019s first screenplay \u2014 and was moved to learn that she was approached because of a film Dunne had made years before.<\/p>\n

During a crossroads in her own acting career \u2014 and on learning that a friend with children was facing eviction from her rented home \u2014 Dunne wrote and starred in Herself, a 2020 film that proved to be a turning point. In it, she plays Sandra, a mother trying to escape an abusive partner, who leans into the idea of self-building an affordable home.<\/p>\n

Years later, Saoirse Ronan \u2014 now making her own foray into writing \u2014 reached out.<\/p>\n

She was looking to cast Dunne in her first short film, Paper Plane, about a young girl who stages a silent protest against her troubled home life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got an email with a script and a letter attached,\u201d says Dunne. \u201cShe wrote a really lovely note to me explaining the story, the script, and how she\u2019d always hoped that I would play the role of Mam in it.<\/p>\n

\n I was absolutely delighted. I\u2019d never even spoken to her before, and I was really, really touched. She said it was because of my own film Herself. My heart burst because she even watched it and had a real take from it. I felt very honoured and very lucky.\n <\/p>\n

It helped, says Dunne \u2014 who has always had a keen eye for a good screenplay \u2014 that Ronan\u2019s debut made a strong impression.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty years of experience in the business was clear to me because her writing and her vision are really clear and succinct and powerful. I think when somebody has been on a set that much since they were younger, there\u2019s a purity of heart there because she started in it all when she was a child, and I think that\u2019s still there. You can feel it, and she clearly wanted to just express something in a piece of art, and her art is film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ronan\u2019s highly-anticipated short film Paper Plane will have its first Irish screening as part of the shorts programme at this year\u2019s Cork International Film Festival<\/a>. It\u2019s one of two movies starring Dunne \u2014 who has just wrapped filming on a third series of RT\u00c9 crime drama Kin \u2014 coming to CIFF this year.<\/p>\n

The Dubliner also stars in feature-length film The Education of Jane Cumming, among a cast that includes Cork-born acting legend Fiona Shaw.<\/p>\n

The film is set in the 1800s, and centres on a student who accuses her two female teachers of having an affair.<\/p>\n

The film is based on a true story, with Dunne playing Marianne Woods, one of the two women facing accusations. They do so after setting up a boarding school aiming to educate and inform girls about science, maths, and other subjects that were dismissed as irrelevant to women at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs usual with me, it\u2019s if the writing is good, and the writing was very good. I was like: \u2018Wow, that\u2019s a great script\u2019,\u201d says Dunne of the period drama.<\/p>\n

\n I found it a really interesting exploration, and I just thought the heart of it was saying something so pure, actually. It was such an interesting thing that it was about educating young girls and this idealism of these women trying to educate women in a time where usually they would just get married off.\n <\/p>\n

The Education of Jane Cumming is based on US historian Lillian Faderman\u2019s book Scotch Verdict.<\/p>\n

Faderman\u2019s books on lesbian and LGBT+ history have earned praise and awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read the book that Sophie [director and co-writer Sophie Heldman] and Flora [co-writer and actor Flora Nicholson] worked from mostly, which was the book that Lillian wrote about the court cases,\u201d says Dunne.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has excerpts of the court cases, the most important ones, and that was really interesting. I mean, apart from seeing how they talk about women in those days \u2014 it was kind of mad reading that \u2014 but also just seeing people\u2019s actual testimonies, and then how people speak of other people. I found that really interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her hope is that audiences will connect with the drama.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think in Ireland we probably have a lot of resonance with feelings of being repressed by the church and also the fact that homosexuality was illegal to a certain point, not so far [in our] distant history in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ClareClare Dunne: ‘When people love a character and love a series, there is a little bit of pressure when you\u2019re coming back’<\/p>\n

From Dublin, Dunne had already built a strong career in theatre<\/a> in Ireland and the UK when she wrote the screenplay that was to change her life. She started writing Herself while experiencing her first pilot season in the US. Pilot season involves actors taking part in an intensive round of auditions for several potential new shows being put forward by TV networks and production studios.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my first time experiencing that. It was at a time where they were a little bit harsher on women about looks, so I had to do a lot of covering up my birthmark [the actress has a birthmark under her left eye].\u201d While going through the intense audition process, she learned that her friend \u2014 a mum of three kids \u2014 had been given a month\u2019s notice to leave her accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was happening to a lot of people and still happens to people. This was in 2014, and if there was any house available to rent that was available on the HAP scheme, there would be a queue all the way around the block.\u201d<\/p>\n

On googling the words \u201cself build Ireland\u201d and adding the word \u201ccheap\u201d she came across Dominic Stevens, a man who had devised a plan to self-build homes at a low cost.<\/p>\n

It inspired Dunne to write and star in the acclaimed drama, about a mother who attempts to build her own home to escape an abusive relationship.<\/p>\n

Throughout her busy acting career, Dunne has continued her passion for screenwriting and has completed a screenplay for a feature-length adaptation of her 2023 short film, One good conversation. She has a cast attached and hopes to make the film next year.<\/p>\n

\n I feel like there\u2019s a bit of an energy of renaissance and revolution and change in Irish filmmakers and storytellers at the moment, and I want to ride that wave now.\n <\/p>\n

She is glad to have two films showing at Cork International Film Festival and says it solidifies her sense of connection to the county in recent years.<\/p>\n

Like many actors and filmmakers, she has become a fan of the relaxed setting and unique vibe at the Fastnet Film Festival in Schull.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only first went last year, and I went back down this year as an audience member, a complete audience punter, and I just think it\u2019s one of the best things,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited that I\u2019m in two films at the Cork Film Festival. I\u2019m really delighted that it\u2019s there and I now visit Cork very frequently to go writing, and I just love it there. When I was in Fastnet, I made so many great connections and friends, and I love knowing that there\u2019s now West Cork studios doing great work.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the coming months, Irish and international audiences are looking forward to the return of one of the most-anticipated TV shows of recent years.<\/p>\n

She plays Amanda Kinsella in Kin, the hugely popular series centred around a fictional Dublin crime family. The series was put on hold in 2022 after one of the international backers went out of business. But Dunne and her co-stars have just wrapped on series three after new financiers were found.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone that was still part of the production team, they just kept chats up and they kept things going and tried to see if they could get it going again \u2014 so it\u2019s really down to them,\u201d says Dunne of the positive development.<\/p>\n

Yet she admits to being nervous on the first day of filming, returning to play Amanda after a four-year hiatus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people love a character and love a series, there is a little bit of pressure when you\u2019re coming back,\u201d says Dunne. \u201cYou\u2019re like: \u2018I hope we meet the mark for the audiences that have so wanted it back\u2019. And so on day one, when they started rolling, I was like \u2014 \u2018Oh my god!\u2019 I actually asked somebody after: \u2018Is that her? Is she back?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I got into it, I was like: This is great. I think there\u2019s really good writing in season three… it\u2019s going to be exciting for people.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2018The Education of Jane Cumming\u2019 and \u2018Paper Plane\u2019 both screen at this year\u2019s Cork International Film Festival. \u2018The Education of Jane Cumming\u2019 is in cinemas nationwide from January 22, and \u2018Kin\u2019 is set to return in 2027.<\/p>\n

Shoot details<\/p>\n

Pictures: Nina Val
Make up: Rhona Cullinan
Styling: Fiona Fagan
Venue: The Glasshouse, Point Square Village, Dublin<\/p>\n

A note from Fiona Clark, Cork International Film Festival<\/p>\n

Last year, we celebrated Cork\u2019s extraordinary film heritage. This year, we turn our gaze to the future. Milestones offer a chance to reflect on why film festivals matter: They are places of discovery, connection, and shared experience. The lights dim, a story unfolds, and a roomful of strangers laugh, gasp, cry, or cheer together. In an increasingly fragmented world, there is something quietly powerful about that.<\/p>\n

The festival extends far beyond the screen: The conversations around a film, meeting the people who made it, and discovering connections between cinema, music, art, food, and the city around us. Over 11 days, more than 200 films bring the best of Irish and international cinema to Cork, alongside a celebration of local talent and our creative community that makes our city so distinctive. Our Cork Film Trail invites audiences to explore the city through podcasts, walking tours, a film quiz, and even a pub trail.<\/p>\n

This year, our Cinema of Foresight retrospective explores how filmmakers have anticipated the forces shaping our world. Our expanded The Bigger Picture programme brings filmmakers, artists, and experts together with audiences to debate the ideas and urgent questions of our time. Cinema doesn\u2019t simply reflect the world we live in; it can help us imagine the world we might create.<\/p>\n

This edition is particularly special for me, marking 10 years as festival director. Much has changed in Cork, the film industry and the world, but this city\u2019s affection for cinema remains constant. Cork takes pride in hosting Ireland\u2019s oldest and largest film festival. And even as streaming and AI transform how and what we watch, our audience\u2019s appetite for the big-screen experience has grown, not diminished. Since the pandemic, our festival audience has grown by 40% \u2014 a powerful reminder of cinema\u2019s enduring appeal.<\/p>\n

Now we must look ahead. I believe Cork deserves a dedicated city-centre home for independent cinema: a place for film, education, exhibition, and conversation. A permanent film destination for filmmakers, film lovers and the simply curious has the potential to elevate and strengthen Cork\u2019s standing among Europe\u2019s leading cultural cities. Making this vision a reality will take ambition, collaboration, and support. If you share our belief in cinema\u2019s importance to our city, we\u2019d love you to help us make it happen.<\/p>\n

A film can change how we see the world, introduce us to lives unlike our own, or stay with us for a lifetime. That is the power of cinema, and why its future matters. I hope you\u2019ll join us in shaping it.<\/p>\n

Fiona Clark is festival director and CEO of Cork International Film Festival<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Saoirse Ronan aimed to make her directorial debut, the actress contacted a fellow Irish woman whose movie…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69527,7328,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-678942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-cork-film-festival","tag-film-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}