Saoirse Ronan has recalled her sadness over Ryan Gosling getting cut from The Lovely Bones.

Gosling was originally set to play her character’s father Jack Salmon in the 2009 film, based on Alice Sebold’s hit novel of the same name. He was later replaced by Mark Wahlberg, and Ronan reflected on the casting decision during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

“I just loved Ryan. And his dog, George. I was just sad that he wasn’t gonna be around,” the actress explained. “But I think the reasons why they parted were totally valid.”

The Lovely Bones followed the story of a family dealing with the death of their teenage daughter.

It has been reported Gosling left the project due to creative differences with director Peter Jackson.

Ronan has now insisted Gosling’s exit wasn’t “personal” and the Blitz actress can understand why Wahlberg was the right choice for the role.

“Mark was able to step in, and he was a father,” she explained. “He was a father to, like, I don’t know, three kids? He probably had an experience of that that Ryan felt he didn’t.”

She added, “Ryan was like 27. He was young. It was great then to work with him later. He’s just, like, the same. He doesn’t change.”

Ronan and Gosling later went on to work together on his directorial debut Lost River in 2014.

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