Saoirse Ronan Opens Up About Why She Didn't Feel As Much Pressure To Play Jo 'Little Women'

Saoirse Ronan is opening up about her eagerness to play Jo in Little Women with the new issue of Variety.

Turns out that the 25-year-old actress actually just told director Greta Gerwig that she was going to play the iconic character from Louisa May Alcott‘s book of the same name in the upcoming film.

“I was ready to jump out of line and take it on,” Saoirse shared. “Jo is such an important figure for so many girls, and I didn’t feel daunted by it. I was precious with her.”

She added, “It was a big step up for me as an actor. Even with something like Lady Bird’ I was fully terrified every day. I felt, ‘I’m going to ruin this. I’m going to mess it up.’ I really felt that. It was a great experience, but I was constantly on the phone to my mom or my friends saying, ‘I can’t do it.’ It wasn’t like that with Little Women.”

Saoirse goes on to reveal that the set of the movie, which also stars Emma Watson, Timothee Chalamet, Eliza Scanlen and Florence Pugh, was very “energetic”.

“We had the most energetic, emotional set. We were loud and on top of each other all the time, making dirty jokes, messing about. We supported each other and egged each other on.”

Little Women opens in theaters on Christmas Day, December 25th.