Saoirse Úna Ronan ( ; born 12 April 1994) is an Irish-American actress. Born in New York and raised in County Carlow, Ireland, Ronan began her acting career by appearing as a guest actor on television shows at the age of nine. She had her feature film debut in the 2007 romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman. The same year, she came to international prominence after co-starring as Briony Tallis in the film Atonement, for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her one of the youngest actresses to receive an Oscar nomination. In 2008 she starred in the science fiction fantasy film City of Ember, for which she was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award and in 2009, she landed the lead role in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones for which she was awarded a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer, a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.