Saoirse Ronan "always" wanted to star in the movie adaptation of ‘On Chesil Beach’.
The 23-year-old actress is currently starring in another Ian McEwan movie adaptation – after previously starring in ‘Atonement’ – and according to director Dominic Cooke, she had always hoped to land the part of Florence when she was "old enough".
Speaking to the Daily Mail newspaper, Cooke said: "I saw Saoirse in Brooklyn and I thought she was extraordinary.
"You can see right into her; and she’s emotionally open.
"Turns out she had always wanted to do ‘Chesil Beach’, but wanted to wait until she was old enough."
The story is set in 1962 and follows newlyweds Edward Mayhew (Billy Howle) and Florence Ponting (Ronan), who are spending their honeymoon in a small hotel in Dorset.
Despite being there to celebrate their wedding, the couple are unable to consummate their marriage because the story is set on the cusp on the sexual revolution and Edward and Florence have "never spoken about sex".
Ronan said: "They’re not able to consummate their marriage. It’s set right on the cusp of the sexual revolution; but Florence and Edward, who we play, haven’t been able to talk freely about sex.
"And they haven’t understood why they’ve had this reaction."
The film has been made under Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley’s Number 9 Films and marks Cooke’s directorial debut of a feature length.
Although Howle has not yet been seen in a feature film he has completed two, which are yet to be released.
He has filmed ‘The Sense of Ending’ with Emily Mortimer and Charlotte Rampling, and ‘The Seagull’ opposite Annette Bening and his ‘On Chesil Beach’ co-star Ronan.
Saoirse Ronan always wanted to be in On Chesil Beach
