Saoirse Ronan Says Ryan Gosling's Firing fromThe Lovely BonesWas 'Sad' but 'It's Not Personal'

Mar. 15, 2025

Saoirse Ronan and Ryan Gosling on Nov. 1, 2015.Photo:Christopher Polk/HFA2015/Getty

Christopher Polk/HFA2015/Getty

The Outrunactress, 30, said on theHappy Sad Confusedpodcast that while it was “sad” to see Gosling, now 43, leave the project, she understood the decision.

“I just loved Ryan. Andhis dog, George,” said Ronan, who recalled that they’d done some pre-production collaborating on the project but didn’t film scenes together before Gosling was cut.

“I was just sad that he wasn’t gonna be around. But I think the reasons why they parted were totally valid,” the Oscar-nominated actress continued. “And I have spoken to both now, and I complete — it happens, you know what I mean? It’s not personal, necessarily; it’s just sometimes you’re not on the same page.”

Saoirse Ronan in “The Lovely Bones” (2009).Wingnut/Kobal/Shutterstock

Wingnut/Kobal/Shutterstock

“And it meant that, you know, Mark was able to step in, and he was a father. He was a father to, like, I don’t know, three kids? He probably had an experience of that that Ryan felt he didn’t. Ryan was like 27. He was young,” she added. (Wahlberg, 53,has four childrenwith wife Rhea Durham.)

Ronan eventually reunited with Gosling to star in the 2014 filmLost River, which Gosling wrote and directed. “It was great then to work with him later,” Ronan said on the podcast. “He’s just, like, the same. He doesn’t change.”

Gosling’s partnerEva Mendes, withwhom he now shares two daughters, also starred inLost River.The pair had previously met while filming 2012’sThe Place Beyond the Pines.

TheBarbieactor previously revealed he gained 60 lbs. to play the grieving father inLovely Bones, a creative choice that ultimately led to him being fired.

“We had a different idea of how the character should look. I really believed he should be 210 pounds,” Gosling toldThe Hollywood Reporterback in 2010 of not aligning with Jackson, 62, on the character.

“We didn’t talk very much during the pre-production process, which was the problem. It was a huge movie, and there’s so many things to deal with, and he couldn’t deal with the actors individually. I just showed up on set, and I had gotten it wrong,” Gosling added. “Then I was fat and unemployed.”

Jackson’s wife and producing partner Fran WalshtoldTHRback in 2009about Gosling feeling miscast as a parent inLovely Bones.

“Ryan came to us two or three times and said, ‘I’m not the right person for this role. I’m too young.' And we said, ‘No, no, no. We can age you up. We can thin your hair.’ We were very keen," Walsh recalled at the time. “It wasn’t until we were in pre-production and we had the cast there that it became increasingly clear: He was so uncomfortable moving forward, and we began to feel he was not right.”

She added, “It was our blindness, the desire to make it work no matter what.”

Saoirse Ronan on Sept. 15, 2024.Amy Sussman/Getty

Amy Sussman/Getty

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Back in 2009 while promoting the movie,Wahlberg told PEOPLE how the emotional roleimpacted him personally.

“I would … just grab my daughter and hold her, and I would start crying,” he said. “She’d be like, ‘Daddy, what’s wrong?’ She just wanted to play. And I would try to talk to her about taking care of herself and not talking to strangers. She was 3 at the time. But, thankfully, I had another movie to go to that helped me get out of that."

source: people.com