Saoirse Ronan will star in a film adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s memoir The Outrun, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The Irish actor (Lady Bird, Little Women) will play the lead role in the movie, which is set to be directed by Nora Fingscheidt, the German filmmaker known for her films System Crasher and The Unforgivable.
Liptrot’s book, published in the U.S. by W.W. Norton in 2017, tells the story of her return to her native Scotland, where she works on recovering from addiction. A critic for Kirkus called the book “an ordinary addiction memoir set in an extraordinary place—worth reading for the descriptions of life on a ‘beautiful, barely touched stretch of land.’”
The screenplay for the film will be written by Liptrot and Fingscheidt. Producers include Ronan, Sarah Brocklehurst (Animals), Jack Lowden (Kindred), Dominic Norris (Modern Life Is Rubbish), Ignacio Salazar-Simpson (1917), and Ricardo Marco Budé (Pain and Glory).
Ronan said in a statement that she was drawn to the project by Liptrot’s voice.
“I have been waiting to play a part like this—the messiness, hopefulness, dreaminess, authenticity and humor we want to achieve—I’ve been scared of it, but with Nora I feel ready,” she said.
Liptrot shared news of the adaptation on Instagram, writing, “And…some news! I’ve been working with brilliant director-writer Nora Fingscheidt and hotshot producer Sarah Brocklehurst on an adaptation of my book. We’re thrilled to have Saoirse Ronan onboard and are looking forward to filming later this year.”
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
