Twilight creator ‘thrilled Saoirse’s on board’

The creator of the Twilight saga has told how she breathed a sigh of relief when Saoirse Ronan signed up to star in her hotly anticipated new film.

Stephenie Meyer, who is America’s answer to JK Rowling, has the distinction of being the author who managed to topple Harry Potter off the best-seller list with her teenage vampire blockbusters.

Carlow actress Ronan jetted out to New Orleans this week to begin filming her new film, The Host, which centres on humans fighting aliens called Souls who invade bodies and wipe their victims’ consciousness to erase their personalities.

Although the Irish teenager has been critically acclaimed for her film roles in the past, she is expected to reach a new level of fame, like Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, when the Host is released.

The world’s biggest author said she agonised over filling the dual lead role of a human girl called Melanie who has her body inhabited by an alien soul called Wanda.

She said: “We’ve been so blessed and lucky and kissed-by-fate all throughout the casting process.

“The role of Wanda/Melanie is a very complicated role and for a long time one of our biggest worries in the producer camp was finding an actress who could bring those two distinct personalities to life.

“And then Saoirse came along and we all quit worrying. If you’ve never had the pleasure of watching her act, I highly recommend her recent release, Hanna. Actually, watch her in anything she’s done and you’ll see what I mean.

“I also can’t say strongly enough how thrilled I am with our cast. The talent involved is unbelievable,” she said on her website this week.

The Irish actress has recently spoken about coping with the huge level of international fame that she expects to see.

She said: “As for preparing myself for the huge level of fame like what the Twilight cast have, I don’t know if you could ever prepare yourself for something like that.

“If it happened I will just have to deal with it.”

The author said on her website this week that she is very excited about filming, which began earlier this week.

She said: “After Saoirse joined us, amazing actor after amazing actor signed on until none of us could believe our good fortune.

“Just the other day I got to meet William Hurt in full Jeb beard and hair, and it kind of choked me up. He looks amazing”.