More than a decade on from the release of The Lovely Bones, Saoirse Ronan is reflecting on the movie casting that almost was.
The four-time Academy Award nominee starred in the 2009 film adaptation of Alice Sebold’s hit novel as Susie Salmon, a murdered teen who narrates her story from the afterlife as her family members attempt to track down her killer.
Appearing on this week’s episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Saoirse spoke about Ryan Gosling’s much-publicised departure from The Lovely Bones shortly before filming began.
“I just loved Ryan and his dog, George, and was just sad that, you know, he wasn’t going to be around,” she said.
“But I think the reasons why they parted were totally valid. I’ve spoken to both now ... it happens. It’s not personal, necessarily. It’s like sometimes you’re just not on the same page.”
Ryan had been set to appear in The Lovely Bones as Susie’s grief-stricken father, Jack Salmon. Just days before production began, however, the Half Nelson actor was fired by director Peter Jackson, who replaced him with Mark Wahlberg.
Ultimately, Saoirse feels that Mark ― who was, by then, a father of three children ― was a better fit for the role of Jack.
“He probably had an experience ... that Ryan felt like he didn’t,” she said.
In 2010, Ryan acknowledged he’d “gotten it wrong” as far as his physical preparation for The Lovely Bones was concerned.
“We had a different idea of how the character should look. I really believed he should be 210 pounds,” he told The Hollywood Reporter at the time, also revealing he’d gained 60 pounds on a diet of melted Häagen-Dazs ice cream for the part.
After noting he and the director “didn’t talk very much during the preproduction process, which was the problem,” Ryan added: “I just showed up on set, and I had gotten it wrong. Then I was fat and unemployed.”
Despite not appearing in The Lovely Bones, Gosling went on to direct Saoirse in his 2015 film, Lost River, which also starred his wife, Eva Mendes.
Elsewhere in her Happy Sad Confused interview, Saoirse acknowledged fearing she’d be fired from Greta Gerwig’s 2017 film, Lady Bird.
“My mum flew over at one stage because I was so anxious,” she said. “I don’t know if [Greta] knows that, actually.”
Check out Saoirse Ronan’s “Happy Sad Confused” chat below. Her comments on The Lovely Bones begin at the 29:58 mark: