Home › Entertainment › Film and TV › News

Watch: Jessica Chastain upholds Hollywood tradition of mispronouncing Saoirse Ronan's name

Jessica Chastain and Chris Hemsworth speak onstage during the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

January 8 2018

Irish actress Saoirse Ronan looks set to once again bring fear to the stars of Hollywood this awards season, as they continue to struggle with the pronunciation of her name.

The Co Carlow star is currently gaining huge acclaim for her role in the Oscar tipped Lady Bird, which saw her win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical on Sunday.

Great news for Saoirse, not so much for Jessica Chastain who was charged with announcing her as the winner alongside actor Chris Hemsworth.

In fairness to Jessica, she did look to Chris for help only to be met with a look that said: "There's no way I'm attempting that", resulting in her announcing that 'Sher-sa' had won the award.

This is all despite actor Ryan Gosling famously clarifying the pronunciation back in 2016 as "Ser-sha, like inertia".

Saoirse also addressed the issue herself last month while making her Saturday Night Live hosting debut. She provided a public service announcement on how to pronounce her name.

She joked: 'I am very Irish, and I have an extremely Irish name. Some would say too Irish. It’s Saoirse. It means freedom. But I’ve got a little problem; it's spelled wrong. It’s a full typo.'

Chris Hemsworth absolutely bottled it with Saoirse Ronan’s name #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/NW4SJ3qtbr
— Kevin McAnena (@KevinMcAnena) January 8, 2018

As expected, Twitter found Jessica's pronunciation of Saoirse hilarious.

"We are all the panic on Jessica Chastain’s face when she saw she had to pronounce Saoirse Ronan #goldenglobes," one user wrote.

Another added: "Omg I’m dead at Chris Hemsworth not wanting to pronounce Saoirse Ronan’s name when Jessica Chastain held out the envelope to read together."

"Jessica Chastain clearly didn't see Saoirse Ronan's SNL appearance, or Ryan Gosling's explanation, for pointers on her name..." said one user.

Hollywood has a long history of mispronouncing Saoirse's name, with Dennis Quaid famously announcing "Sheesa" Ronan was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2016.

JESSICA CHASTAIN HAS MET SAOIRSE RONAN AND STILL GOT HER NAME WRONG.
— Kristen Titus✨ (@titusofgaul) January 8, 2018

Dear Saoirse Ronan, I’m sorry Jessica Chastain just mispronounced your name when giving you your award but I love you!!!
— Bene BOO 👻 (@bbbbbbbbbene) January 8, 2018