Saoirse Ronan feared she would never have friends or a partner after growing up in the movie industry.

The 30-year-old actress was thrust into the spotlight at the age of 12 after landing her breakout role in 2007 war drama 'Atonement' which won her an Oscar nomination, and Saoirse worried about the effect her career would have on her personal life.

However, she has since married fellow actor Jack Lowden ​and found a "beautiful network" of friends. She told USA Today: "My life has become so much more than just work. For a long time, that’s all I did; that’s how I met people and made sense of the world."

She added: "[Now] I feel like I’m part of a group, which I never thought I would have. I used to think, ‘You’ll never have friends. You’ll never have a partner.’ I was so in my own world, in a lot of ways.

"So now, to feel like I’ve got a very rich personal and social life – it’s so precious to me."

Saoirse and Jack started dating back in 2018 after meeting on the set of historical drama 'Mary Queen of Scots' and they are believed to have tied the knot in a low-key ceremony in Scotland in July. They worked together again on new movie 'The Outrun' - which stars Saoirse with Jack as a producer - and she hopes to convince him to take on a theatre project with her next.

She added to the publication: "Jack didn't want to [work together] for a long time, but I've now convinced him that's a great idea. I’d really like to do something together on stage."

She added of her partner: "Jack is a lot calmer than I am. He’s my voice of reason."

Jack previously admitted he wants to land more work projects with Saoirse so they don't have to be apart for long periods of time.

He told The Times newspaper it's "not ideal" when both partners are away for long periods filming, adding: "Making work together solves that problem, so that’s another reason why we want to do more together. 'The Outrun' gave us such a taste for it. And it can be a lonely thing, this profession."