Saoirse Ronan Touched by 'Outpouring of Love' After Heartfelt Brooklyn Performance

Saiorse Ronan first fell in love with the character Eilis Lacey when she was only 16 years old. Now, five years later, she says she never could have anticipated the response to Brooklyn.

"It's honestly been one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had," she said on the red carpet at the BAFTAs on Sunday, where she's up for best actress.

The 21-year-old, who plays an Irish immigrant to Brooklyn, New York, in the period film, said she first picked up Colm Toibin's book "just for pleasure" when she was a teen.

Years later, she was happy to see the script floating around – and nab the part.

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She told reporters on Sunday that the best part of embodying the role hasn't just been awards recognition – Ronan has also enjoyed fan response to the heartwarming love story: "Especially when you don't expect something like that to happen and you get that outpouring of love."

She added, "And when people tell you it's their parents' story."

Ronan previously detailed an encounter with a moviegoer who revealed his own parents had a tale similar to Brooklyn's sweet lovers.

"Someone last night came up to me at a [Q&A] – he's from Brooklyn, his dad is Italian, his mom's Irish, he grew up in New York and the story just really resonated with him," she said ahead of the Screen Actors Guild Awards. "And he said that he could really appreciate what they had gone through. And I thought that was lovely. Out of everything, to get a response like that is the world.