Ellise Shafer Saoirse Ronan discussed the relevance of Steve McQueen‘s WWII drama “Blitz” amid escalating global conflict during the film’s press conference at the BFI London Film Festival, saying that it was her first time not being able to “escape” from a project. “The thing that made this so real as a filming experience is that you’d shoot certain scenes where there’s total chaos and pandemonium and we’re having to portray characters in abject fear and horror, and then you would leave set and you’d turn on the radio and you’d hear exactly the same thing, and you’d put on the news and you’d see exactly the same thing,” she said. “It was the first time I’d ever had an experience on a project where there wasn’t really an escape from it.” Ronan added that she was “grateful” for the experience, though she wasn’t sure if that was “insensitive to say.” “I think it gave you so much motivation to continue on with the picture because, again I hate to say ‘relevant,’ but it does feel incredibly relevant,” she said. “For some reason we still haven’t been able to break this cycle.

So yeah, it made it incredibly real.” Ronan stars in the historical drama as Rita, a distraught mother who frantically searches for her 9-year-old son George (newcomer Elliott Heffernan) after sending him away from London to the countryside during the Blitz.

The cast also includes Harris Dickinson, Erin Kellyman, Stephen Graham, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller, Leigh Gill and Benjamin Clementine.

Saoirse Ronan Says There ‘Wasn’t Really an Escape’ From WWII Drama ‘Blitz’ While Filming: ‘You’d Put on the News and See Exactly the Same Thing’

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